Justice And Vengeance In The Oresteia

Throughout the trilogy of plays, The Oresteia, one of the most prevalent themes is the contrast between justice and vengeance. Within the trilogy, there are many instances of this concept being referenced, and one of the most interesting parts of the play is the moral grey areas that the characters lie within. Clytaemnestra is one of the most intriguing examples of this moral grey area. She ignites the action within the play by concocting and acting upon a plan to murder her husband and allow his brother to usurp the throne. However, Aristotle states that the two main emotions that a tragedy seeks to invoke are pity and fear, but Clytaemnestra appears to be a fully pitiable character. Furthermore, her death by the hands of her son seem to emphasize the pitiable state she is in, but she isn’t simply a character worthy of sympathy. Clytaemnestra’s death is not only justifiable, but also deserved, and she is not a character which should be related to Aristotle’s concept of catharsis. The cathartic nature of tragedy that Aristotle writes of in the Poetics states that the action of a play should use characters and plot to invoke pity and fear within the audience. There are varying definitions that have been drawn from his use of catharsis, but the act itself is irrelevant if the …show more content…
She is a tragic character who is unworthy of the audience’s catharsis, as defined by Aristotle, because she is unworthy of pity or fear. Truly, the death of her shows the interesting moral dilemma that Orestes faces, but he ultimately acts justly. Furthermore, she is ultimately the cause of her own death by choosing power over her children, even though she claims to be avenging the death of one. Clytaemnestra is a fully contemptible character who serves as a foil to the typical women of ancient Greece. Even though she serves this purpose well, her death is well-deserved and