Aeschylus, Oresteia, Loeb Classical Library 146, Edited and Translated by Alan H. Sommerstein This version of the myth of Orestes is made of three parts, each detailing an episode of the matricide and the punishment of Orestes and Electra. I will pay a closer look to the first book, Libation Bearers, and the last one, Orestes. The first book witnesses the murder of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, while the last part depicts Orestes’s descending into madness, followed by furies, two episodes reminiscent of Hamlet. I included the three parts in my bibliography, as I found interesting to watch the psychological journey of Orestes, from the first mention of murder to his judgement, as a parallel to Hamlet’s own psychological journey. Euripides, Electra, Loeb Classical Library, 9, Edited and Translated by David Kovacs This version of the myth of Orestes is called after Orestes’s sister, yet, she is not the main character. The story varies from other myths, for instance characters had been added, such as Electra’s younger sister. Euripides, Hecuba, Loeb Classical Library 484, Edited and Translated by David Kovacs This play dramatizes the tragic destiny of Hecuba, former Queen of Troy. She is directly …show more content…
‘For Hecuba or for Hamlet: Rethinking Emotion and Empathy in the Theatre’. Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism, vol. 25, no. 2, 2011. This article deals with the emotional impact a play. And to do so, she uses the embedded play in Hamlet, in which an actor mention Hecuba, embodiment of sorrow, in act 2, scene 2. The cultural background of the story of Hecuba adds a layer to Hamlet’s tragedy. Thus, as Cook explains, the play within the play creates a transfer of emotion, from Hecuba to the actor, to Hamlet, and then to the spectator of Hamlet. The author of the article does not exactly draw a parallel between Hamlet and Hecuba, but rather transforms Hecuba into the vehicle of Hamlet’s