Oresteia

credence in godly figures is exemplified, especially in Aeschylus’ The Oresteia, and Homers’, The Odyssey. Although both archaic works concern the ideologies and practices of faith in the Greek mythological gods, the reasoning for violent actions and their means of justification differ in their aspiration for and fulfillment of vengeance, their justification through the divine, and their means of punishment. In The Oresteia, Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, was exiled from the House of Atreus by…

In the Odyssey, Athena is a fundamental factor in Odysseus’ quest home, and eventual slaughter of his wife’s suitors. Her intervention creates an unfair advantage for Odysseus, thus making his retribution against the suitors not fully just. In the Oresteia, the forced intervention of Apollo telling Orestes to commit Matricide is what causes the Furies to flock to Orestes, claiming that he needs to be punished. Orestes’ trial for redemption was also a forced win due to Athena’s intervention of an…

this person. Through this relationship, the individual is what allows the message to have an influence on history. Two examples of this personal connection between people and the messages they are given are the dream that Clytemnestra has in The Oresteia, and the oracle recounted by Herodotus in The Histories. The dream Clytemnestra has is very personal, yet to the audience it reveals attitudes and values present in Athenian culture that might not have been obvious otherwise. In The Histories,…

Human societies have always required systems to maintain balance, order, and control. The foundation of human civilization spawned from a rapid growth in population during the neolithic era, compelling communities to form hierarchical systems, and early ideas of law. While, during the millennia that followed, ideological and technological progress compelled these systems to evolve and improve, history reveals a repetitive continuity connecting the past and present. The decisions, systems, and…

in the founding of Athens, The Oresteia, a play by Aeschylus, the people clearly state a foundation for this new city. The foundation they set, Saxonhouse asserts, is one where the familial ties must be suppressed in favor of working towards a better society for the citizens of Athens. This is clearly supported through the trial set forth by Athena, the speech given by Apollo during the trial, and the slow deconstruction of Orestes’ family throughout The Oresteia. The argument set forth by…

Throughout the works of Greek history and mythology, mankind’s relationship with the gods play a vital role in the understanding of civilization at that time, but what kind of relationship does mankind have with the gods? Before one can discuss how humans maintain a right relationship with the divine, the question arises: What is a right relationship in the first place? Secondly, how does one maintain a right relationship? Fundamentally, a relationship with a god should meet certain requirements…

The Oresteia tells the story of a killer getting killed, the killer of this killer getting killed, and the killer of that killer finally going to court instead of being killed. Aeschylus presents it in this matter to show the absurdly long chain of killings, among other problems, caused by the former system of justice. For the final killer, however, he presents a new system and shows its superiority. The justice shown in the beginning of The Oresteia matches the system in Homer’s Iliad nearly…

In the Oresteia, the city of Argos is tragic due to the need for vengeance and the curse that runs in the house of Atreus. Agamemnon is a war hero who carries a curse in his family bloodline. The family carries this curse since they have a desire to gain power and punish through murder. The family of Argos only focuses on their own belief of what they view as just and act from that. They seek revenge and reasons to murder to gain justice and punish those who are guilty. Since they only consider…

In Aeschylus’ play Agamemnon, the dynamic, strong female character of Clytaemnestra is introduced. Left alone for ten years, she has become bitter after Agamemnon had sacrificed their daughter, Iphigeneia, in order to sail to Troy. Clytaemnestra is waiting for her revenge. Clytaemnestra’s two speeches after Agamemnon has returned to Argos and is entering the palace reveal that she is convicting him of the murder of Iphigeneia and sentencing him to death. In Clytaemnestra’s first speech when…

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…