Faust: Part Two

Part Two follows on from the first part of Goethe's play and draws on the old German legend of Faust, though it is looser in structure than a conventional drama. Goethe wrote it as a tribute to classical Greek culture, drawing on the storytelling and myth at the core of the Greek tradition and borrowing some material from the Arabian Nights. Faust, an impatient and merciless seeker, travels with the mocking demon Mephistopheles to ancient Greece in pursuit of Helen of Troy. Back in the modern world, he tries to crown his ambitions by mastering the forces of nature. When he dies he is taken upward into unknown realms, still chasing the "Eternal Feminine."

David Luke's translation of Part One won the European Poetry Translation Prize, and here he again keeps the varied verse forms of the original. His version is intended to read smoothly and to be performed on stage. The edition includes an introduction, extensive notes, and an index of classical mythology to help readers with the many allusions.