Jean Racine (1639-99) remains to this day the greatest of French poetic dramatis
ts. Britannicus (1669), the first play in this volume, takes its themes from Rom
an history: the setting is bloody and treacherous court of the Emperor Nero. Pha
edra (1677) dramatizes the Greek myth of Phaedra's doomed love for her stepson H
ippolytus. Athaliah (1691), Racine's last and perhaps finest play, draws on the
Old Testament story of Athaliah, Queen of Judah and worshipper of Baal, who is t
hreatened and finally forced to concede victory to Joash, a son of the house of
David and survivor of Athaliah's massacres. Racine's tragedies portray character
s wrestling with ambition, treachery, religion, and love. In this translation, s
pecially commissioned for The World's Classics series, C.H. Sisson has captured
admirably the lucidity of Racine's language, both analytic and passionate, and t
he rhythm of his four-part Alexandrine, a combination that previous translators
have consistently failed to achieve.
