Mister Heracles after Euripides.

Bookseller Notes

Signed by the poet on the title page. Commissioned by the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Armitage's rendition of the epic tale focuses on the individual psychology of the hero in relation to the collective psychology of the state, using, as he puts it, 'a full-spectrum approach': 'In Mister Heracles, it is as if the whole of human history has occured within the lifespan of one family. Atomic weapons and spears are spoken of in the same sentence, quantum physics and spinning wheels considered in the same thought.' (Introduction)