Aeschylus

1.The chorus feels scared after hearing the oracle’s proclamation. When begin their large prayer to the gods, the chorus proclaims “terror shakes my heart (OT 172). They are fearful of the wave of death and of what is to come. They are also feeling grief and dread. They cry “I worship you in dread” and “the miseries numberless, grief on grief no end” (OT 174, 191). The chorus truly believes that there is no good outcome and they feel it will take the power of all the gods at once to save them.…

In Aeschylus’ Agamemnon and Lysias 1, the characterization of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon’s relationship is similar with Euphiletos and his wife; however, when we focus on the character’s specific gender roles, they are immensely different. Both marriages are built on deceit and lies. They also revolve around the concept of adultery but each individual responds in a certain way that is unique to their role. On one side, Euphiletos murders the adulterer, Eratosthenes, and defends himself as being…

Aeschylus is postulated to be the author of Prometheus Bound, written in the mid to late fifth century BCE. The story follows Zeus’ punishment of Prometheus, a Titan of old, for for bestowing the gifts of fire and civilization to humankind in spite of Zeus’ desire to destroy humans. For his actions, Prometheus is brought to Scythia, where he is chained eternally to a rock by Hephaestus’ impermeable chains. The scene quoted above depicts the encounter between Prometheus and his fellow Titan,…

and bleed until it is bled dry - the closing moments of Aeschylus’ Oresteia depict, more optimistically, the very best of what Aeschylus hoped society could be. Yet to ignore the issues of gender and sexuality - the binary opposition and conflicting gendering of its two female ‘heroines’ and their subsequent inversion of societal norms, for example - is to confine the text and its characters unnecessarily. It is a disservice to limit Aeschylus’ sprawling text - to fail to see the unambiguous…

Sophocles’ Oedipus the King is a play that has confounded many scholars throughout the ages. There is debate over Sophocles’ purpose in writing this play–what message was he trying to get across? Almost as is important is the controversy over Oedipus’ guilt–was he really guilty? Two particular scholars attempt to explore these questions–P.H. Vellacott and Edwin Muir. In “The Guilt of Oedipus”, Vellacott argues that Sophocles wrote the play with a deeper intention to portray a just punishment for…

A tragic hero is not equivalent to the heroes that people think of today. A tragic hero does not necessarily display courage, bravery, and strength in grim times, making them different than the heroic characters people think of today. Many famous Greek playwrights wrote about tragic heroes, but each one chose to focus on different characteristics, depending on how they defined a tragic hero. This is why when examining the characters Oedipus, in Oedipus the King (Sophocles), and Hippolytus, in…

Everyone has to face the truth at one point or another. Anyone can run from the truth, anyone can hide, but the truth always catches up. Arthur Miller and Sophocles portray their anti-heroes trying to dodge the truth in their pieces: Death of a Salesman and Oedipus Rex. Both Oedipus and Willy run and hide from the truth, both have to face it eventually, and both could have done something other than run to prevent their downfall from happening. Point is, no one can hide from the truth for forever…

Sophocles’ plays Oedipus Rex and Antigone present the Greek city state of Thebes in turmoil as citizens attempt to deal with the problems created by their leaders’ questionable actions and decisions. The chorus of Antigone presents the concepts of paternalism and anarchy in opposition in order to depict Antigone as ironically trapped between the edicts of two paternal figures: her uncle the king Creon and the ultimate father--Zeus. Throughout Antigone, Sophocles establishes anarchy as a…

The Efficacy of the 1957 film Oedipus Rex to Convey Sophocles’ Intended Meaning The William Butler Yeats adaptation of the play, Oedipus the King, directed by Sir Tyrone Guthrie, is said to provide the most realistic viewing experience compared to what one would’ve witnessed in Sophocles’ day. The Stratford Shakespearean Festival Foundation successfully produces a piece that stays true to the genre of Greek drama and tragedy; the regal, yet, expressive, way in which the actors spoke, the…

Antigone and the Death of a Salesman Most plays focus on a central theme. The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller and Antigone by Sophocles are two examples of plays which use betrayal as their central theme. Antigone is a Greek play by Sophocles. It is a Greek tragedy full of loyalty, betrayal, love and death. The play Antigone features many central themes with betrayal being the main theme of the story. The theme of betrayal is evident in the beginning of the play when the king Creon betrays…