This is a book jot from June 2021:

I just finished reading Electra (c. 420 BC) by Euripides, translated by Philip Vellacott. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Euripides, and tend to really like stories about the House of Atreus and any connected in some way to the Trojan War. The fate of those who sailed back from Troy is as compelling as the Trojan War itself.

I won’t mention too much about the plot, but suffice to say that the characters’ motivations and justifications play with the reader’s sympathies. Euripides excels at depicting individual characters’ points of view and rationalizations. Although dreadful and grotesque at times, the play is noticeably less forlorn than many others dealing with these characters and situations.

The themes of retribution, duty, and especially justice predominate, as the reader contends with the magnitude of Electra and Orestes’ decisions.

Famous were the ships
Which sailed long ago from Hellas to Troy,
When the dancing of oars without number
Joined in their journey the dancing sea-nymphs,
Where, drawn by the music of flutes,
Dolphins were leaping and rolling
Beside the purple-painted prows,
Bearing on his way the son of Thetis,
The light-footed leaper Achilles,
Who went with Agamemnon’s army
To the rocky Trojan coast and the Simois river.