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Previously published as Alcestis and Other Plays, the Penguin Classics edition of Euripides Medea and Other Plays is translated by John Davie with introductions and notes by Richard Rutherford. Medea, in which a spurned woman takes revenge upon her lover by killing her children, is one of the most shocking of all the Greek tragedies. Medea is a towering figure who demonstrates Euripides unusual willingness to give voice to a womans case. Alcestis is based on a magical myth in which Death is overcome, and the Children of Heracles examines conflict between might and right, while Hippolytus deals with self-destructive integrity. These plays show Euripides transforming awesome figures of Greek myths into recognisable, fallible human beings. John Davies accessible prose translation is accompanied by a general introduction and individual prefaces to each play. Euripides (c.485-07 BC) was an Athenian born into a family of considerable rank. Disdaining the public duties expected of him, Euripides spent a life of quiet introspection, spending much of his life in a cave on Salamis.