Heracles (Euripides)

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Heracles

The madness of Herakles by Asteas
Written by Euripides
Chorus Old Men of Thebes
Characters Amphitryon
Megara
Lycus
Iris
Madness
Heracles
Theseus
Setting Before the palace of Heracles at Thebes
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Heracles or Hercules Furens is a play by Euripides (c. 416 BC). While Heracles is in the underworld obtaining Cerberus for one of his labors, his father Amphitryon, wife Megara, and children are sentenced to death in Thebes, Greece by Lycus. Heracles arrives in time to save them, however the goddesses Iris and Madness (personified) cause him to kill his wife and children in a frenzy. It is the second of two surviving plays by Euripides where the family of Heracles are suppliants (the first being Heraclidae). It was first performed at the Great Dionysia festival and did not win any prize.

[edit] Translations

  • Edward P. Coleridge, 1891 - prose: full text
  • Aurthur S. Way, 1912 - verse
  • Hugh Owen Meredith, 1937 - verse
  • William Arrowsmith, 1956 - verse
Plays by Euripides