The Best Translation of Electra
Electra was written in Ancient Greek. 3 recommended editions, ranked — with Gröblé’s verdict on which to read first.
David Grene
University of Chicago Press · 2013
Grene's Electra in the Chicago Complete Greek Tragedies. His literal hand suits this play, Electra's grief and fury come through without anyone smoothing them out into something more decorous.
Every recommended edition, compared
Lloyd-Jones is the Loeb edition with facing-page Greek. Scrupulous and quietly authoritative, the one to keep open beside another translation when you want to check what Sophocles actually said.
Carson strips the play to bone. Spare, modern, deliberately ugly in places where ugliness is the point. Part of the Oxford Greek Tragedy in New Translations series, and unlike anything else on this list.
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Reading Electra in translation
Electra was written in Ancient Greek, so unless you read Ancient Greek, the translator decides the book you actually experience — its register, its pace, how it sounds read aloud. Two editions of the same work can feel like different books.
The ranking above is Gröblé’s: one reader’s verdict on which English gets you closest, not a publisher’s blurb. Start with the top pick; reach for the others when you want a different angle on the original.