Abuse of Power Reflected in the Politics and Drama of Ancient Greece

Clytemnestra fits the character of one of the Argos’s contaminations because of her adulterous acts with Aegisthus and her psychotic murderous plans to kill her husband Agamemnon. In her point of view, justice will only be obtained of she avenges the death of her daughter Iphigenia by killing the one who murdered her, Agamemnon. Cassandra mentions this cycle of fertility and decay when she talks about “the babies wailing, skewered on the sword, their flesh charred, the father gorging on their parts” referring to Thyestes’ babies (A 1095-1097). More blood vengeance and violence only fuels what becomes a never ending cycle of death and decay within the House of Atreus. When Clytaemnestra finally kills Agamemnon she cries, “So he goes down, and the life is bursting out of him—great sprays of blood, and the murderous shower wounds me, dyes me black and I, I revel like the Earth when the spring rains come down, the blessed gifts of god, and the new green spear splits the sheath and rips to birth in glory!”, and she feels reborn from his death and even calls it a gift from the god (A 1410-1415). Not only does Clytaemnestra feel renewed from murdering Agamemnon, but she feels that it was the proper and just thing to do. Although the Furies don’t go after her since this is not a crime of matricide or patricide, killing her husband is unwise and unfair because in Agamemnon’s

Achilles, on the other hand, can almost be fully comprehended from his initial disagreement with Agamemnon. Agamemnon's unreasonable actions seem to justify Achilles' refusal to engage his men in battle, primarily, because his pride will not allow him to act. Achilles believes himself to be the most important man in the army and the injury cannot be forgiven. Even when a diplomatic escape is contrived by Agamemnon, Achilles sees his position as unchanged-doubtlessly, Odysseus would have relented but Achilles is unable to forget past grievances.

In book three of Iliad, “illustrious king” (9.126) and his Achaean armies fight the Trojans to stop wife stealing but despites that he still dishonors and takes Achilles prize, Breseis. Agamemnon in the Iliad can be seen as the mortal Aphrodite. In book three of Iliad, Helen disobeyed Aphrodite and she responds with rage and so does “lord of men” (9.112) in book one. Agamemnon feels that Achilles disobeyed him, so he answers with wrath just to show “how much greater [he] [is] than [him]…. for hoping to rival [him] strength for strength” (1.219-221). His statement makes Achilles furious with rage. “Why, why in the world if not for Helen with her loose and lustrous hair? Are they the only men alive who love their wives, those sons of Atreus? Never!” (9.411-414). Achilles expresses his feeling on how contradicting the whole Trojan war is and that is he going to involve himself, it will be for Bresies only. Bresies is who he loves not

Achilles claims that a King who fights no battles should get no prize, but as explained before no king should should be expected to fight on the front lines of every war. The fight between the two grows after Achilles throws an offside insult to Agamemnon when telling him the rest of the war spoils have been given out. “Just how, Agamemnon, great field marshal . . . most grasping man alive…” After this insult Agamemnon need to fire back, because he can’t be torn down in front all of the nobles and warriors present. The insults escalate until Agamemnon and Achilles are ready to kill each other. In this situation they were both being childish and petty but Agamemnon is still the “least wrong.” Achilles fired the first shot in this case and Agamemnon needed to protect his reputation. He could have stepped away and showed he couldn’t be brought down by insults but in the heat of the moment, he wouldn’t have been thinking the clearest. Now addressing the obvious, Briseis was rightfully Achilles’ prize and Agamemnon stole her from him to replace Chryseis. As a King, Agamemnon would be expected to have the best prizes after the

Agamemnon in the realm of Hades goes on to reveal how, “ There is no being more fell, more bestial than a wife in such an action, and what an action that one planned! The murder of her husband and her lord. Great god, I thought my children and my slaves at least would give me welcome. But that woman, plotting a thing so low, defiled herself and all her sex, all women yet to come, even those few who may be virtuous,” (Homer 6.496-504). This had been spoken by Agamemnon to Odysseus in the Underworld after his wife had plotted his murder along with one of her servants. Readers had been past exposed with Telemachus to this situation , “ But the Lady Klytaimnestra, in the first days, rebuffed him, being faithful still; then, too, she had at hand as her companion a minstrel Agamemnon left attending her, charged with her care, when he took ship for Troy,”(Homer 3.285-289). This had been discussed by Nestor to Telemachus when he inquired about the events after the Trojan War. While Agamemnon was revealed as an honorable man his wife was portrayed as a scheming backstabber or adding to the foil between husband and wife The Odyssey experiences.

Clytemnestra is Agamemnon’s wife and has been ruling Argos while he was away fighting. With help from Aegisthus, Clytemnestra made a plan to kill Agamemnon. She killed Agamemnon for the political power, for the ruthless revenge and for the curses blame. (Core 22: Series of introductory phrases using the same preposition – phrases must have balance.) Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon to avenge their daughter Iphigeneia. Agamemnon sacrifice her in order to have success in the war, but never told Clytemnestra. Clytemnestra, feeling fake sadness over her daughter’s death, felt that she was wronged and had to get back at her husband. Not only did she kill him, but she had an affair while he was away. The sacrifice is why she had the affair with Aegisthus.

In Greece, monarchies were found when the Mycenaeans ruled Greece during the period 2000 to 1100 BC. Monarchy is defined as a system of government where a single ruler has supreme power. The word “monarchy” comes from the Greek words “monos” meaning “single” and “archo” meaning “rule”. This single ruler, known as a king, ruled for life and passed the rule on to his heir when he died. The most famous monarchy was that of King Alexandra of Macedonia who ruled all of Greece from 336 BC.

Everyone is going to die. This is no secret to the audience of the Greek play Agamemnon. Rather than surprising us with the murders that befall at the hands of vengeance, the Greek playwright uses this common story to display the underlying theme that one must first suffer before they can reach the truth. To understand the significance behind the story of Agamemnon, one must understand the passions and how they relate to the human person, Zeus’s law of suffering into truth, and Aeschylus’s motives for writing Agamemnon and how he reflects Catholic teaching.

Agamemnon is the first book in the Orestiean Trilogy written by the famous Greek tragedy writer, Aeschylus. Agamemnon is a story of justice and revenge. The story takes place in a city called Argos. It starts with Agamemnon, the king of Argos, away at the Trojan War. The city is eagerly awaiting the news of their king’s welfare and the outcome of the war. Watchmen are posted in the city, watching for the beacon that would report the capture of Troy and Agamemnon’s return. Beacons are set up from Troy to Argos; when one beacon is lit, the next one will be lit, until the last. The play starts when a palace watchman discovers the beacon and tells Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, the good news.

Agamemnon in the realm of Hades goes on to reveal how, “ There is no being more fell, more bestial than a wife in such an action, and what an action that one planned! The murder of her husband and her lord. Great god, I thought my children and my slaves at least would give me welcome. But that woman, plotting a thing so low, defiled herself and all her sex, all women yet to come, even those few who may be virtuous,” (Homer 6.496-504). This had been spoken by Agamemnon to Odysseus in the Underworld after his wife had plotted his murder along with one of her servants. Readers had been past exposed with Telemachus to this situation , “ But the Lady Klytaimnestra, in the first days, rebuffed him, being faithful still; then, too, she had at hand as her companion a minstrel Agamemnon left attending her, charged with her care, when he took ship for Troy,”(Homer 3.285-289). This had been discussed by Nestor to Telemachus when he inquired about the events after the Trojan War. While Agamemnon was revealed as a honorable man his wife was portrayed as a scheming backstabber or adding to the foil between husband and wife The Odyssey experiences.

Achilles retaliates with even harsher words to Agamemnon once Athena disappears, calling him a coward who sits behind the scenes whilst his men fight and die for him and vows to not take any part in the war from this point forth, for he has been scorned by the wordings of Agamemnon.

The incident showcases how violence appears frequently in ancient Greek families. Moreover, Greek Tragedy also demonstrated the importance of fate that prophet and oracles play a large role in the story. In the story Agamemnon, Cassandra, daughter of King Priam of Troy, insanely tells the fate of Agamemnon and his family; despite the oracle sounds unbelievable, it came to reality at the end of the story, which showcases the irresistible fate of Agamemnon cannot be stopped. More importantly, Cassandra was also murdered by Clytaemestra, which stands as another act of violence. The stories in Greek Tragedy demonstrate a pattern that a violent action would lead to another violent action. Besides, ancient Greeks in this period also view fate as their belief. However, heroism is viewed less important since ancient Greek culture in Greek Tragedy focuses more on concerns of the

Greco-Roman mythology is rich in names, characters, and events. Dozens of gods, goddesses, and mortal women and men participate in a variety of activities that reflect or exemplify behaviors and power relations in Greek and Roman societies. A wealth of literature was written about the relationships between mortals and immortals in Greco-Roman mythology. Much was written and said about the place humans occupy in the complex mythical hierarchies. However, the role and place of women remain the topic of the hot literary debate. In Greco-Roman mythology, the image of woman is always

illustrated the struggle between men and women, democracy at play and the rise of a tyrant. With the theme tyranny in mind, we look to find examples that illustrate the former. The most appropriate example of tyranny is the famous carpet scene between Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. It begins with Agamemnon returning from the Trojan war along with Cassandra, is greeted at the palace with a long red carpet presented by Clytemnestra his wife. The carpet symbolizes tyranny in it’s imagery through colour, betrayal and logic.

Tragic Greek dramas featured tragic heroes, mortals who suffered incredible 
losses as a result of an inescapable fate or bad decisions. According to Aristotle, a tragic hero is a character, usually of high birth, which is pre-eminently great, meaning they are not perfect, and whose downfall is brought about
 by a tragic weakness or error in judgment. The three Greek heroes Oedipus, Medea and Agamemnon, who each killed a member of their family, carry most of the qualities that make up a tragic hero: being of noble birth, being surrounded by an extraordinary circumstance, and gaining self-awareness or some kind of knowledge through their downfall. There is an important need for the audience to identify with the Aristotelian hero through