Of course it would be better if we could read these powerful plays in Greek, but just because we cannot hear the sound of the language does not mean we cannot be moved by the passions expressed in it: jealousy, pride, anger, revenge, love. These are common in every language, every age, every civilisation and that is why these plays are still relevant today, why they can still move us, why we still find in them echoes of our own moral dilemmas.

Next term we are going to read “Hippolytus” by Euripides. This is a tale of a young man who angers a goddess by ignoring her – a very unwise thing to do. He has to pay a terrible price, but not only does he have to suffer:  his stepmother is caught in the coils of a forbidden passion and his father makes a dreadful misjudgement. Beware of angering the gods!