Amphitryon FROM OUR EDITORS
Moliﾽre's comic play about the goings-on of ancient Greeks & Greco-Roman gods sparkles in this ebullient translation from the French by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet & recipient of the PEN award.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Richard Wilbur, the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, dazzles the reader with his English verse translation of this most unusual of Moliere's plays—a play whose characters are not seventeenth-century Frenchmen but ancient Greeks and Greco-Roman gods, a play combining the flavors of vaudeville, fantasy, high comedy, farce, and even opera. The play begins with irreverent midair banter between the gods and only literally comes down to earth thereafter. Moliere's ebullient verse, so brilliantly captured by Wilbur, adds sparkle to the proceedings throughout. In serving up this very funny tale of Jupiter's successful ruse to bed the wife of the Theban general Amphitryon, Moliere takes lusty aim at the high-handed amorality of the powerful—and says more than a few things in passing about love and marriage. "Amphitryon" shows Jupiter, Moliere, and Wilbur all at the peak of their form.
FROM THE CRITICS
Booknews
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Richard Wilbur's English verse translation of an amusing play which tells the story of Jupiter's successful ruse to bed the wife of the Theban general Amphitryon. No index or bibliography. Contains an afterword by Wilbur. Paper edition (unseen), $12.00. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
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