Explore every episode of the podcast Greek Tragedies

The King of Thebes denies the divinity of Dionysus and persecutes the women of the city who have begun practicing the mystic rites of the god. In Euripides’ telling, Dionysus visits the city and its King to exact his revenge in horrifying detail.

Agamemnon returns home from Troy. His wife Clytemnestra welcomes him home as a conquering hero, but secretly plans to kill him for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia before he left for the war.

After the death of Achilles at Troy, Odysseus and Ajax competed for the arms of Achilles. The army awarded the arms to Odysseus as the second best warrior. Ajax, in his humiliation, planned to kill Odysseus and the Greek captains for dishonoring him.

At Aulis the Greek fleet is stalled by a divine prophecy: Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to appease Artemis so the armada can sail to Troy. The play follows Agamemnon’s guilt and the tensions between commanders, the army, and family. Iphigenia learns her fate and chooses to accept death for the sake of Greece. Achilles vows to defend her, but at the altar the goddess intervenes, substituting a deer and sparing the girl, allowing the fleet to depart.

After stealing fire from heaven, Prometheus is chained to the side of a mountain but refuses to relent.