Atreus

What started the Trojan War? About thirty centuries ago, on a land known as Troy, a war started between Grecians and Trojans on due to three discrete reasons (Trojan War, History.com). As a result of this war, many lives were lost but the Grecians eventually won after ten gruesome years of fighting (Cartwright, Mark. "Trojan War."). This war was fought because of the “capture” of Helen. It is said that the disappearance of Helen was a result of a curse on the House of Atreuis. However, others…

ancient Greece, trouble was brewing in the city of Argos, following the alleged Trojan War. Aeschylus’s The Oresteia depicts an ancient family’s struggle for vengeance and justice. Throughout The Oresteia, the descendants of brothers, Thyestes and Atreus, appear to have been in a seemingly ceaseless cycle of blood crimes in the name of vengeance. These descendants were constantly pursued by the wrathful Furies, which represent the ancient law system of Greece. The Furies would stop at nothing to…

In the three plays of the Oresteia, we encounter the themes of justice, power, and retribution, being present in all the plots. The occurrence of these themes in the plays allows a clash head-on in a supposedly interminable cycle of bloodshed and violence. However, this cycle is broken in the last play, the Eumenides, with divine intervention and the establishment of a system of trial by jury. In this paper, I intended to discuss how these themes deepen our understanding of the primordial…

I was told a prophecy that one day a man by the name Odysseus would blind me, of course I was doubtful and I didn't think the day would ever come. I went about my business as usual until that fateful day. I was tending the fire, proving and prodding the flame, then I saw them.I had not been expecting visitors today, especially not thirteen humans. I felt the pang of hunger in my stomach and the thirst for blood in my throat. “Strangers who are you?,” I asked in a gruff voice,” and where from?…

Agamemnon the first of three stories to one of the most brilliant Greek tragedies the story takes place right at the ending of the ten-year Trojan war and begins at the homecoming of the soldiers of Argos. Agamemnon is a war hero, he is a man who brought one thousand ships to Troy, the man who led the army to the defeat of the Trojans, and the King of Argos. But, throughout all that he took drastic measures to get his army to Troy this action was the sacrifice of his own daughter Iphigenia to…

The son of the King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra of Mycenae. After Agamemnon returned from the Trojan War, he was killed by his wife and his cousin Aegisthus. Orestes, a young boy at the time of his father's murder was smuggled to safety by Electra, his sister and taken to stay with their father's old friend King Strophius of Phocis. Strophius raised Orestes with his son Pylades, they became close friends. Upon manhood, Orestes killed Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, since it was the best way to…

However, the reader can see that Agamemnon’s fated death is a consequence of what his father, Atreus has done in the past leaving behind the Curse on the House of Atreus. Later, when he goes off to war, he would be forced to kill his daughter because “Fate will be heavy if I do not obey, heavy as well if I hew my child” (205-206). This shows that he had no other option but to kill…

In the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus, there are multiple characters that have questionable morals. But Aeschylus does give us one reliable person amidst the chaotic setting, and her name is Cassandra. She is easily the most trustworthy person in the play. Cassandra was a lady from the ruling house in Troy. When Agamemnon’s Greek forces took control of the city, she was taken back to Argos as a symbol of triumph over her home. Out of all the main characters she remains the most truthful, but…

The house of Atreus was also cursed to such a fate when Tantalus served his son Pelops to the Olympian god. In the Oresteia Aeschylus tells the story of Tantalus descendent Agamemnon. Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia "What can I say? Disaster follows if I…

Compare and Contrast: Odysseus’s Rhetoricals There are many different examples of Greek epic poetry, one of the most notable being “The Odyssey”, attributed to Homer. The epic hero of this poem is Odysseus, who has all of the characteristics of an epic hero, such as being of great national importance and being a strong male warrior. He is also able to deliver great rhetorics, or formal speeches. In “The Odyssey”, Odysseus gives two very different yet somewhat similar rhetorics in “Sailing…