Classics: Aeschylus' Oresteia

Front 1

Eagle and pregnant hare

Back 1

omen that depicts two warrior kings (Agamemnon and Menelaus) tearing apart a pregnant hare (Troy), they will be successful in campaign, but receive retribution for their terrible acts

Front 2

Calchas

Back 2

seer who prophesized that Agamemnon would have to sacrifice his daughter for good winds from artemis

Front 3

Artemis

Back 3

demands a human sacrifice of Agamemnon’s daughter Iphigenia for good winds to sail to battle

Front 4

Aulis

Back 4

place of sacrifice where Iphigenia is lured by Agamemnon with false promises of a marriage to Achilles

Front 5

Iphigenia

Back 5

Clytemnestra and Agamemnon’s daughter who Agamemnon sacrifices for good winds from Artemis

Front 6

Oikos

Back 6

household/hearth, main concern of Clytemnetra, angered that Agamemnon ignored oikos by killing his own daughter

Front 7

Polis

Back 7

the people/rule of the government, Agamemnon’s main concern is winning a glory for his people as their leader

Front 8

Chain of beacons

Back 8

Clytemnestra claims that a system of beacons from Troy to Argos have lit up bringing news of the fall of Troy to the Greeks

Front 9

Helen

Back 9

Menelaus’ wife whose capture began the Trojan War

Front 10

Tapestries

Back 10

Clytemnestra presents tapestries at Agamemnon’s feet when he steps off the chariot to make him seem like he leads a lavish life to his citizens, wants to put him in bad light

Front 11

Cassandra

Back 11

Trojan princess captured by Agamemnon, his slave and mistress, a prophet who is cursed by Apollo to be believed by no one, predicts Agamemnon’s death and Orestes’ revenge

Front 12

Aegysthus

Back 12

Agamemnon’s cousin and Clytemnestra’s lover, Agamemnon’s father forced Aegysthus’ father to eat his own children, in exile and waiting for revenge on Agamemnon

Front 13

Thyestes

Back 13

Aegisthus’ father, who was fed his own children when he committed adultery with his brother’s wife

Front 14

Electra

Back 14

Orestes’ older sister, loathes her mother and is fiercely loyal and loving to her brother

Front 15

Pylades

Back 15

companion of Orestes

Front 16

Delphi

Back 16

site of the Oracle and Delphi and Apollo’s island

Front 17

Athens

Back 17

Site of the trial where Athena acts as judge and puts power of decision in the hands of the jury

Front 18

Orestes

Back 18

on trial for killing his mother after she kills his father, Agamemnon

Front 19

Apollo

Back 19

defends Orestes, says that he told Orestes to kill his mother

Front 20

Athena

Back 20

acts as judge over the trial and forms a jury who decides Orestes’ guilt or innocence

Front 21

Furies

Back 21

Chorus, creatures that believe that matricide is the worst possible crime to commit, act as Orestes’ prosecution

Front 22

Matricide

Back 22

killing one’s own mother, Furies believe this is the worst possible crime

Front 23

Mother’s right

Back 23

Apollo argues the mother isn’t actually a blood relative for her son, she is a vessel that carries the child of the father

Front 24

Areopagus

Back 24

location at Athens where the law court is formed and remains in Greek literature