King Agamemnon And Clytemnestra

My client Orestes, son of the late king Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, is on trial for the murder of his mother. Athenians of the jury, you have heard testimony today that has painted my client as a ruthless murderer who has sunk so low as to have killed his own family. I implore to look past the duplicitous rhetoric of the prosecution and understand that this is not an issue of murder, but rather justice. Orestes may have very well killed his mother, but we must stop and think about why a son, who has always been loyal to his family would be pushed to such drastic actions. Clytemnestra is not innocent mother that the furies depict her as. She herself was a murderer, who plotted and succeeded in killing her husband. King Agamemnon who had to sacrifice …show more content…
She entered an adulterous relationship with Agamemnon’s cousin Aegisthus who had qualms with the king for deposing his family. These two secretly plotted to murder the good king in his own household, the very place where Clytemnestra sullied their marriage on a frequent basis.

The furies are suppose to be the necessary fear that keeps humanity in check, but failed to punish Clytemnestra for her crime. How can we be critical of a son who’s goal was to avenge as great of an injustice as the murder of his father? The prosecution is biased when attempting to avenge injustice they overlook Clytemnestra’s sins and continue to excessively attack Orestes. My client, Orestes was justified in the murder of his mother. He was granted the authority to act in this manner by myself Apollo, who demanded that retribution be had. I ordered him to kill his mother because my father who you all know, Zeus, the God of justice believed it was the right course of action. We cannot deny the request of the Gods, unless you want to be struck down were you stand. This was Orestes destiny, to avenge the death of his father and take the life of his treacherous mother. In order to cleanse the blood stain on the