Iphigenia in Tauris by Euripides was first performed in 414 BCE. Euripides and the Greeks considered it a tragedy even though these days literary folk like to argue otherwise. But no one dies! There is no blood and keening, no eye gouging! It kind of has a happy ending! What ancient Greeks considered a tragedy is quite different from our modern day definition and it seems completely pointless and silly to waste ink arguing over how to classify this play. But I guess scholars need something to do and it is harmless in the scheme of things.
If you recall your Greek stories, Iphigenia is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Agamemnon sacrificed her in order bring the winds that would get the Greek fleet to Troy where the dastardly Paris had absconded with Helen, his brother’s wife. That’s Agamemnon’s brother, Menelaus, not Paris’s brother, Hector. Clytemnestra killed Agamemnon on his victorious return from Troy ten years later in part as revenge for him murdering her daughter. Orestes, Cly and Agie’s son, eventually shows up and kills his mother and her new husband in revenge for his father’s murder. As punishment for the matricide, the Furies are set loose on Orestes. Well and so.
Iphigenia, however, according to some, was not actually sacrificed. At the last moment Artemis saved her by substituting a pig/lamb/calf (take your pick) and whisked Iphigenia away to her Temple among the Taurians somewhere on the Black Sea (there was never an actual country called Tauris yet the people were called Taurians but I can’t for the life of me find out what their country was called, if it was even real so if you know, please enlighten me). Euripides chooses to go with this version of the story. Obvs.
So for all these years Iphigenia has been the High Priestess in the Temple of Artemis among the Taurians who think that human sacrifice is a pretty awesome thing. They especially like to capture strangers who are driven to shore by the freak tides and dangerous waters around their country and offer them up to Artemis. In spite of the excitement sacrificing humans must be, especially when you yourself were at one time supposed to be a human sacrifice, Iphigenia seems rather bored. She spends quite a lot of time missing Greece and wishing she could go home (she has apparently forgiven her father for his attempted sacrifice of her). If she knew all that had been going on, she might change her mind, but she doesn’t because no one from Greece has set foot on Taurian shores in all the years Iphigenia has been there.
Until now.
Two young Greeks land their boat on the shore and then hide it and themselves because they don’t know how friendly these barbarians are. On a side note, when you come across anything in ancient Greek stories that talk about barbarians, it usually isn’t referring to specific barbarians (like Conan for instance or even Cohen and Nijel the Destroyer for that matter), but to anyone who is not Greek. The Greeks thought very highly of themselves and if you were not Greek, you were a barbarian which goes a long way towards explaining quite a lot of ancient Greek history.
Anywho, these stealthy Greeks had been sent by Artemis to “recover” something from the Temple, an icon made of wood. They are none other than Orestes and his best bud Pylades. Even though he is on this mission for Artemis he is still also being chased by the Furies. Since Artemis knows that Iphigenia is at this temple and she and Orestes are siblings, one can’t help but think this an elaborate ruse to get them to meet. The pair of icon thieves are captured by Taurian guards even before they get to reconnoiter because Orestes has a crazy Furies moment and starts yelling and waving his arms about on the beach in front of everyone. So much for stealthy.
The Taurians are delighted to have prime Greek humans to sacrifice. They are brought before Iphigenia. No, she does not recognize Orestes because he was just a boy when he was fostered out elsewhere for his own protection. Before getting to the sacrificing bit, Iphigenia starts pumping them for information about what’s been going on in Greece all these years. She realizes pretty soon that these two are actually from her hometown and the more questions she asks, the more evasive Orestes gets. He has no idea he’s talking to his sister. Round and round they go.
Finally in desperation, Iphigenia strikes a deal. She’ll only sacrifice one of them if the other one will carry a message back home for her, letting the family know she is actually alive and hoping that maybe someone will come for her. This bargaining is all carried out without once mentioning family names. But the men agree and then the pair proceed to argue over who is going to be the one sacrificed. Orestes thinks being killed would be pretty okay, it would, after all, rid him of the Furies. Pylades, says no, I love you too much, let me be killed so I can die happy knowing you are still alive even if the Furies are chasing you. After many declarations of love and bickering over whose life is worthier, Orestes gives in and Pylades is thrilled that he gets to die for him.
Since Iphigenia doesn’t know how to read or write, she has to tell Orestes the message for her family at which point Orestes and Pylades gawp at her because they realize who she is. Orestes reveals himself as her brother but Iphigenia makes him prove it which he does by telling her something only a family member would know. Happy reunion scene ensues followed by a what-do-we-do-now conference since Iphigenia is supposed to kill them.
But they work it out as only the children of Agamemnon can. All three escape from Tauris and Orestes and Pylades even get the icon they came for. The king is about to send his navy after the three but Athena appears and tells him that it wouldn’t be prudent. The king knows which side his bread is buttered on, calls off his men, and places a help wanted ad in the local paper for a new High Priestess for the Temple. Meanwhile, Orestes, Pylades and Iphigenia sail off into the sunset.
You can see why scholars are into arguing how to classify this play. It’s also not the most exciting or interesting Euripides play ever. There is lots of longing for home from both Iphigenia and Orestes, and how that homesickness can really drag on a person. The play sets up a scenario where you could really dig into the psychology of longing and exile and the meaning of home, but this being a Greek tragedy, it only flits around the edges, psychology not having been invented yet.
One more thing, it’s really hard to type “Pylades” over and over and not “Pilates.” I’ve never done Pilates but I am sure there are plenty of people in the world who have and wouldn’t mind seeing Pilates sacrificed in the Temple of Artemis. But then that would be an entirely different story.
Is there a moral to the family? It’s Greek, so assuming there ought to be, but maybe not.
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“Story”, not “family”. Eeeeek! Typing from the phone sucks!
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darkorpheus, heh I understand about typing on a phone! No, there is no moral to this play. Euripides is a rebel and doesn’t always have one 🙂
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Oh I am sympathetic to your Pylades/Pilates difficulty. I had to write the word “tumbler” several times over the holidays (doesn’t matter why, nothing to do with alcohol consumption), and
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Argh! I accidentally hit reply before I was finished! Was going to say, And I have a very hard time typing the word “tumbler” like the thing you drink whiskey out of instead of “tumblr” like the social media platform where everything is gifs forever.
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Jenny, that’s pretty funny about tumbler/tumblr. Oh these words, they can be tricky sometimes! One slip and the entire meaning changes 🙂
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Stefanie ….you re-telling is way funnier than Euripides intended…you summary had me ROTFL all over…especially the Greek understanding of Barbarians and the joy of Pylades on finally getting the opportunity to sacrifice himself…LOVED the help wanted piece! Jokes apart…there is no tragedy…I mean they all escape back to their hometown unless that is tragedy…it could have been deemed a tragedy because of what you say the exile and longing for home….but even then it does not seem to match to usual “tragic” standards of Greek tragedy!
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cirtnecce, I am glad you enjoyed it! No, Euripides did not intend the play to be funny at all but I felt like it’s lack of excitement needed to be spiced up a bit 🙂 I think in the case of this play the tragedy is supposed to be the family tragedy that all happened off stage, but also the tragedy of exile from Greece. Because you know, the Greeks though so highly of themselves to not be in Greece and exiled among the barbarians really was a tragedy. I think it is akin to how New Yorkers feel when they are “stuck” in the midwest.
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Love it! Reading this has been a very enjoyable start to my morning!
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Glad you enjoyed it widget! I hope your morning continues on an up note!
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Thank you, this is fabulous. Please feel free to ‘translate’ all the stories because I am woefully lacking in this area of knowledge. I feel ever so much smarter now. Truly!
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Care, heh, if only Oedipus were so interesting 😉 Glad you enjoyed this. It was fun to write and Euripides seemed like he needed a little help plumping things up a bit.
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I saw a production of Oedipus Rex this past summer in Stratford, Ontario, and it really made the audience feel how pathetic Oedipus is at the end by having him do about ten minutes of his last scene completely naked. By the time someone came onstage and brought him a raincoat, I was overly grateful.
I think more of this kind of staging (not nakedness, but finding a way to make the audience feel some of what the original audience would have felt) would make more of the Greek plays intelligible for modern audiences.
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Jeanne, oh my that sounds like quite the performance! I think you are right about updating the staging to help make the plays more relevant to modern audiences. I saw a two-woman production of Medea several years ago all done on an empty stage and it was really amazing.
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Too bad neither psychology nor pilates had been invented yet. But you could well write a retelling, those are very bestsellers these days!
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smithereens, heh, I’ll have to take that into consideration! 😉
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I love the send up, but I also love the plays when they are actually staged. They work far better than you wold ever think possible and one of my most memorable theatre experiences was seeing the Oedipus trilogy all in one day. If you ever do get the chance to see any on stage do take it.
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Alex, thanks. You are right, the plays work much better staged. Though it would take a lot of work to make this particular one interesting. I’ve seen pieces of Oedipus Rex and it was very good. I have also seen a modern version of Medea which was very powerful. How cool that you got to see the Oedipus trilogy all in one day just like at the festival in ancient Greece! Was there a satyr play afterwards to help wash away all that tragedy?
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Unfortunately not. I remember reeling out of the theatre in an emotional turmoil, torn between horror and exhilaration.
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Proving that there was a reason three tragedies were followed by a satyr play! Those Greeks knew what they were about!
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Well, you can never call a Greek play boring! I liked the refresher of my mythology–it has been way too long since I have read any and so this was quite nice. I was wondering if you would share any plays you’ve read–it’s been a while. I am still contemplating which classic to read and it had crossed my mind to choose a Greek play, so now you put poor Virginia Woolf in danger. 😉
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Danielle, modern day soap operas have nothing on Greek plays! All of the backstory to a play can get really convoluted sometimes but reading Greek plays has forced me to string it all together which is something I’ve never managed to do before but it turns out to be really interesting! Sometimes though I feel like I need a flow chart to keep track of it all! Greek tragedies are super short, only around 80 pages or so and can be read in an afternoon so don’t let that stop you from reading Woolf too! 😉
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Haha this is way better than what I remember from the play we were forced to read in school, so kudos! 🙂
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Bina, thanks! Glad you enjoyed it 🙂
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Tauris is an old name for the Crimea: see ‘Tauri. and ‘History of Crimea’ on Wikipedia
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