What's the Best Reading Order for Greek Tragedies?
A Suggested Reading Approach with Mythic Coherence
Last week, an attendee of my Short Great Books reading group asked me what order I would recommend for reading the Greek Tragedies. She is new to Greek Mythology and wanted suggestions for reading them in a way in which the myths would build upon one another.
I just spent the past 12 months (off and on) reading through the Greek Tragedies. I approached them in the following haphazard manner:
I read them by author chronologically with Aeschylus first, Sophocles second, and Euripides third.
For Aeschylus and Sophocles, I prioritized their most famous works first (The Oresteia and The Theban Plays, respectively) and then proceeded to their other works.
For Euripides, I tried to read his 19 surviving plays in chronological order from his oldest to his newest.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Greek Tragedies, however, I noticed two main problems with my approach:
Aeschylus is much more difficult to read than Sophocles or Euripides (at least it was for me). I would have been better served easing into the tragedies with a play by Sophocles or Euripides.
There was no mythic coherence in my approach. 23 of the surviving 33 Greek Tragedies fall into two story lines, the Theban and Trojan Epic Cycles. The other 10 are mostly mythical one-offs. By reading them by playwright, I was jumping all over the mythological timeline.
If I had read them in mythological order, the stories would have built upon each other, offering a much clearer and more coherent understanding for a Greek Mythology novice like me.
A Suggested Approach
The Theban War, a major feature of the Theban Epic Cycle takes place mythologically before the Trojan War. However, if you’ve read the Iliad and the Odyssey, you will be much more familiar with the characters and stories in the Trojan Epic Cycle. So, despite the Theban Cycle occurring earlier, I suggest starting with the Trojan Cycle.
I. The Trojan Epic Cycle
Ancient Greeks would have been familiar with an eight-work Trojan Epic Cycle consisting of the entire history before the Trojan War into its aftermath and Odysseus’ return home. Only two of these eight works survive - the Iliad and the Odyssey. Despite that, we know many of the stories in the other six works that didn’t survive as they are referenced in other works and in these tragedies.
Here is a suggested reading order for the Greek Tragedies dealing with the Trojan Epic Cycle that contain mythic coherence from the oldest to the newest parts of the story. Any linked titles lead to my podcast episode about the tragedy:
Euripides - Iphigenia at Aulis - pre-Trojan War - the Greek army can’t get to Troy to get Helen unless Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter, Iphigenia.
Euripides - Rhesus - amidst the Trojan War where Trojans face off against Greeks.
Sophocles - Ajax - towards the end of the Trojan War - the Greek army decides on the greatest warrior between Odysseus and Ajax.
Sophocles - Philoctetes - towards the end of the Trojan War - the Greek army cannot finish the job without Philoctetes and his bow.
Euripides - The Trojan Women - immediately after the Trojan War - the suffering of the conquered women.
Euripides - Hecuba - immediately after the Trojan War - the suffering of Hecuba, wife of Priam and mother of Hector and Paris.
Aeschylus - Agamemnon (Part 1 of The Oresteia) - Agamemnon’s return to Argos after the Trojan War. It doesn’t go very well.
Aeschylus - The Libation Bearers (Part 2 of The Oresteia) - Agamemnon’s son Orestes returns to Argos to avenge his father’s murder.
Aeschylus - The Eumenides (Part 3 of The Oresteia) - After committing matricide, Orestes flees to Athens where Athena establishes law and deliberation to hear his case.
Euripides - Orestes - a different take on the aftermath of matricide, with Oretes remaining in Argos instead of going immediately to Athens.
Euripides - Electra - a look at the sister of Orestes and her assistance in the murder of their mother.
Sophocles - Electra - another look at Electra’s role in the matricide.
Euripides - Andromache - a look at the life of Hector’s wife, Andromache, now a slave in Greece.
Euripides - Iphigenia in Tauris - an alternate reality where Iphigenia is saved from sacrifice (see #1 above where Iphigenia is sacrificed by her father - or was she).
Euripides - Helen - an alternate reality where Helen was whisked away to Egypt to wait out the Trojan War.
Euripides - Cyclops - a Satyr play about Odysseus’ encounter with the Cyclops Polyphemus.
II. The Theban Epic Cycle
The Theban Epic Cycle deals with myths set in and around the city of Thebes (Northwest of Athens). Most of the stories deal with Thebes’ founder, Cadmus, the curse on the house of Laius, the family of Oedipus, and the Theban War. Most of the stories of the Theban Epic Cycle would have preceded the Trojan War by a generation or two.
Here is a suggested reading order that unveils the story in chronological order:
Euripides - The Bacchae - a tragedy play about the god Dionysus. Pentheus, king of Thebes wishes to rid the people of Dionysus. It doesn’t end well for him.
Sophocles - Oedipus the King (Oedipus Rex) - Oedipus unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother, thus fulfilling a prophecy.
Sophocles - Oedipus at Colonus - Oedipus at the end of his life.
Sophocles - Antigone - The sons of Oedipus, Polynices and Eteocles battle each other in the Theban War. Antigone decides between family and city.
Aeschylus - Seven Against Thebes - a battle between the sons of Oedipus
Euripides - The Phoenician Women - an alternative take on the battle in Seven Against Thebes.
Euripides - The Suppliants - the mothers of the Argive warriors killed in the Theban War beg the king of Athens for help in retrieving their deceased sons for burial.
III. Other Myths
These myths do not fit in either the Trojan or Theban Epic Cycles. They are either one-offs or are tied together. The first three in this list deal with the Heracles myth and are presented in order from oldest to newest mythologically. From there, the plays are presented in the order in which they were written by the playwrights:
Euripides - Heracles - Heracles is driven mad by Hera and unknowingly kills his wife and children.
Sophocles - The Women of Trachis - a look at the death of Heracles that ties into the Philoctetes tragedy by Sophocles.
Euripides - The Heracleidae (Children of Heracles) - after Heracles’ death, his children are persecuted by Eurystheus.
Aeschylus - The Persians - an incredible look at the defeat of Xerxes' navy at Salamis from the vantage point of the Persians. Aeschylus fought in this battle.
Aeschylus - The Suppliants - Different from Euripides’ Suppliants, this play highlights the Danaids fleeing Egypt for Argos as suppliants.
Aeschylus - Prometheus Bound - a look at the titan Prometheus who gifted fire and hope to mankind.
Euripides - Alcestis - Admetus is set to die. His wife Alcestis offers to take his place.
Euripides - Medea - this takes place during Jason’s quest for the Golden Fleece and tells of Medea’s shocking killing of her own children as revenge.
Euripides - Hippolytus - Phaedra, the stepmother of Hippolytus, falls in love with him despite being his stepmother.
Euripides - Ion - in this play, Ion is reunited with his mother Creusa.
In Conclusion
If you are planning to read all of the Greek Tragedies (which I highly recommend) and you are new to Greek Mythology, the order above will offer the most mythically coherent order. Do read Homer first. Aeschylus once said that his plays were “slices from the banquet of Homer.” Get the Iliad and the Odyssey under your belt and it will greatly enhance your reading of the Greek Tragedies.
Each play took me around 2 - 3 hours to read. You could try focusing on one a week. If you find it just too hard to enter into the world of Greek Mythology, consider reading Mythology by Edith Hamilton. It’s a great primer on all of the major myths.
Additionally, for more background into the Epic Cycles, I suggest the Loeb Classical Library edition of Greek Epic Fragments.
Other Options
Here are a few other ways in which to approach the reading of all of the Greek Tragedies:
By playwright: starting with Aeschylus first, Sophocles second, and Euripides third. This will help you focus on difference in style but you will lose the mythic coherence.
By Composition Date: in the order in which they were written (which I highlighted last week).
By Theme: there are some overarching themes across many of the plays.
As someone who has been staring at his collected Greek Plays anthology (unread) on the bookcase for 9 months, this is greatly appreciated...
This is wonderful, thank you. I’ve read quite a few while studying but I really want to read them all and had an idea to read them in the order they were written, but this gives me a good option.