1 h 55 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Would you risk your chance of escape rather than tell a lie?
Far from Greece, Iphigenia serves as Diana’s priestess in Tauris and longs for home. Thoas, the lonely king, wants her as his queen and expects obedience for his kindness. When two Greek strangers are seized on the shore, her struggle between loyalty and freedom grows urgent.
The prisoners are Orestes, tormented by guilt and the Furies, and his practical, loyal friend Pylades. As escape plans take shape, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s five-act verse play asks whether saving lives can justify deceit. In the sacred grove before Diana’s temple, conversation becomes a test of courage, trust and conscience.
What you’ll discover
- A priestess far from home Meet Iphigenia at the edge of a sacred grove, longing for Greece.
- A king’s lonely demand Explore Thoas’s wish for a queen, and the obedience he expects in return.
- Two friends under pressure Follow Orestes and Pylades as suffering, loyalty and clever plans shape their choices.
- Truth against cunning Face the question of whether a lie becomes right when lives depend on it.
- Courage without the sword Discover a heroine who seeks to end cruelty through honesty rather than force.
Who will love it
For readers who love Greek myth, classic drama and plays driven by conscience and conversation, with themes of exile, loyalty and moral courage.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A priestess longs for her distant home
- A king asks for her hand
- Two strangers are taken prisoner
- Orestes, Pylades and the curse of the house
- Truth against cunning is the heart of the play
- How Goethe builds the play
Who’s who
- IphigeniaDaughter of Agamemnon and priestess of Diana at Tauris. She longs for Greece and wants to end cruelty without lying or violence.
- ThoasKing of Tauris, proud and lonely after losing his son. He wants Iphigenia as his queen and expects obedience in return for his kindness.
- OrestesSon of Agamemnon, tormented by guilt and the Furies. He arrives in Tauris hoping for release from his suffering.
- PyladesOrestes' loyal friend, practical and full of plans. He wants to save both men and trusts in courage and cleverness.
- ArkasThe king's faithful servant. He tries to calm Thoas and serves as a messenger between the king and the priestess.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 1 h 55 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 8 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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Ifigenia en Táuride
by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1787
A priestess in exile must choose between honesty and a lie that might bring her home.
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In short
Iphigenia in Tauris is a play in five acts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. He first wrote it in prose in 1779, and it was staged in Weimar with Goethe himself in the part of Orestes.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A priestess longs for her distant home
The play opens in a sacred grove before the temple of Diana, the goddess the Greeks called Artemis, on the shore of Tauris. This is a land at the edge of the known world, usually placed by the Greeks around the Black Sea. Iphigenia serves here as priestess. She is the daughter of King Agamemnon of Argos, and she has lived in this place for many years.
Her story reaches back to the Trojan War. When the Greek fleet was held at Aulis, she was to be sacrificed so that the winds would rise. In the myth, the goddess saved her at the last moment and carried her away to Tauris. Since then she has been cut off from her family, her language and her country. She speaks of herself as a woman in exile, and she says she feels more a prisoner than a priestess.
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What is Iphigenia in Tauris about?
It is about Iphigenia, a Greek priestess living in exile at Tauris. When a king presses her to marry and two Greek prisoners arrive, she must choose between honesty and a lie that might bring her home.
Is Goethe's Iphigenia in Tauris based on a Greek play?
Yes. It draws on Greek myth and on the tragedy by Euripides on the same subject. Goethe changes the tone, making the heroine's honesty and humanity matter more than trickery and escape.
When did Goethe write Iphigenia in Tauris?
Goethe wrote a first prose version in 1779, which was staged in Weimar. He rewrote it in verse in 1787 during his time in Italy, and that later version is the standard one.
The author
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
1749–1832 · German poet and novelist
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was Germany's towering man of letters — poet, novelist, playwright, and scientist. The Sorrows of Young Werther, the novel that made him famous across Europe in his mid-twenties, helped ignite the Romantic movement.
More by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
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