Euripides, Herakles

Wilamowitz-Moellendorff's edition of Herakles was published in 1895. The renowned German philologist delivers a detailed reading and translation of Euripides' classic tragedy, and also provides the reader with an introduction to the context in which the tragedy unfolds. Volume 1 is divided into three parts. The first is a thorough account of the origins of the story and a characterisation of the figure of Herakles as he first appears in Greek mythology. Herakles belongs to the Dorian tribe and deeply embedded in their self-understanding is, according to Moellendorff, the belief in the divineness of the righteous Dorian man. In the second part of this volume Moellendorff interprets Euripides' version of the Heraclian figure and explains where and how this version of the tragedy differs from the original mythological framework. Part 3 gives Euripides' Greek text and Moellendorff's translation of the drama into German.