Justice In The Eumenides

Socrates, soon to be determined either guilty or innocent. This trial will occur in the People’s court over a nine-to-ten hour period. King Archon will appear as the legal magistrate in the Royal Stoa. Located in Agora, the civic center of Athens, 500 male citizens over the age of 30 will volunteer to be involved in the jury. Famous disciple of Socrates, Plato will join in the court. All jurors must swear by the gods of Zeus, Apollo, and Demeter the Hellenistic Oath. The jurors declare that they swear to cast their vote in agreement with the laws and decrees passed by the Assemblies and the Council.

During his trial, Socrates did not conform to the usual practices of the Athenian justice system. While another man on trial might lose all dignity, and beg for the charges to be dropped, Socrates’ plan was instead to “inform [the jury] of the facts and convince them by argument” (63). His belief was that “I do not think that it is just for a man to appeal to the jury or to get himself acquitted by doing so” (63). Socrates valued truth and logic above all else. In his eyes, he had no need to appease the jury or resort to the emotion-provoking measures that were

Throughout The Oresteia, the themes of justice and revenge are often used as reasoning for certain events that take place. In many instances, the characters refer to certain events as revenge, while others see them as justice. For example, Clytemnestra kills her wife in pursuit of justice, and can be displayed as just due to her motives and reasoning. Orestes’ killing of Clytemnestra may be viewed as just in his eyes, but in reality, is revenge. In The Oresteia, revenge, often portrayed as a selfish act, regards experiencing a spiteful joy caused by retaliation, while justice is displayed primarily as a rational decision, rather than an emotional one.

Justice in our times is almost completely different from what the ancient Greeks considered as justice. Justice, today can be defined as the quality of being just, the principle of moral rightness. In the ancient Greek era and most certainly during the time when the story of the Odyssey happened; Justice was frequently instantaneous and severe, almost unswerving. Odysseus is sometimes seen as being the one carrying out justice or being the one affected by justice. In the Odyssey, we see justice as revenge, and areas in which we can use to say that Odysseus is a just man.

Orestes’ father, Agamemnon, is suffered for the truth of the prophecy, the child is the price: if he kills his child, his country will win the war. Due to this prophecy, Agamemnon is tortured and agonizing between his two important roles: father of his family and father of the country. If he chooses his family and doesn’t kill his child, they will lose the war. All people in the country will be tortured as slaves and colonists. However, if he chooses the win, the peace and the pleasant from a family will not exist anymore. His family will be demolished. Eventually, in the middle of the story, he decides to kill Iphigenia. Agamemnon chooses his country, his subjects, and the win, not his family’s peace. He makes Iphigenia drink three solutions including the pills which make her die. “I feel like I’ve done something so wrong that my whole life, my family, nothing will be able to- the worst mistake. I got it wrong. It was wrong. It was wrong” (Aeschylus, 56.) This demonstrates how he is suffered by the truth that he killed his daughter. His choice, even

The chorus finds Aegisthus guilty of the treasonous act of killing the king and just hopes for Agamemnon’s son, Orestes to return and end this injustice.

In this play, there are many cases in which the word balance can be substituted for the word justice. The final play, The Eumenides, is significantly based on the idea of balance. Aeschylus puts it as “justice waits and turns the scales”(line 61), meaning that justice is purposeful, and is one of the components that forces the balance within the play. By analyzing the reference to the tipping of the scales, we can assume a reversal of fortune and what is fated to happen. With the trial being the main plotline of the last play, it reveals the scales tipping towards justice and leaves us with a sense of harmony. The two sides of justice are seen

There are many similarities between courtrooms of today with this courtroom in Athens. Although the jurymen of The Eumenides are a silent role, it is assumed to be a small group of citizens, just as today where there are always twelve jurors in a courtroom along with one judge to preside over the entire case. Athena acts as the judge whom would give the deciding vote if the jurors were tied, "' For while this council-chamber is being filled it is beneficial that the whole city and these men assembled be silent and learn my ordinances for all time to come, so that a just determination may be made of the case.'" (Aeschylus, The Eumenides lines 570 – 573).

Even in today’s time, there is much controversy in the severity of punishments issued to law-breaking citizens. There is much disagreement when it comes to the offer of a death penalty, as some view it as fair justice and others see it as constitutionally banned cruelty. A similar theme is touched upon in “The Odyssey” when Odysseus orders that the suitors and all involved with the suitors be killed. However, based on the time period, the suitors’ plan, and the women’s involvement in this plan, Odysseus’ route of punishment is justified.

    The beginning of the progression from darkness to light can initially be seen in the second play of the trilogy, The Libation Bearers. Orestes is the embodiment of this light, a beacon signalling a possible end in the evil that has infected the house of Atreus. It is true that Orestes, in revenge for Agamemnon, kills his mother Clytaemestra. Yet the darkness that is expected from such a murder, a matricide, is negated by one of the main reasons that Orestes commits the murder: his fear of the wrath of Apollo, who has ordered him to commit the deadly act. Aeschylus provides Orestes with a justification for his action in the form of the oracle from Apollo. For not only does Orestes' murder of his mother fail to differ greatly from Clytaemestra's murder of Agamemnon, but it can in fact be seen as a worse crime because of the blood ties. Therefore, in order to convincingly prove his assertion that Orestes is justified in killing his mother, Aeschylus must include the order from Apollo, who by no mere coincidence is the god of light. With the divine support of the light god on his side, Orestes is the beginning of the progressive illumination towards goodness and order in the Oresteia.

“Justice is served” is the cliché line heard in courtrooms throughout the world of fantasy. How to define justice proves to be more difficult. Many definitions state it as an action that is the result or punishment for a negative action. The trouble lies in what defines what is just, the law, society or morality. Plato’s use of Socrates in “Crito” argues that justice is defined as the laws of a city or state as well as what a person’s own perception of justice is.

The Oresteia depicts the transformation of a system of justice which is unorganized and based on vengeance into an organized system of justice based on law. This transformation is effected by several changes involving both gods and humans. Among these changes are: the shift from a view of the individual as the victim of a crime to a view of the community as the victim of the crime; the change in the nature of the Furies, who start as vengeful spirits and have their nature so completely changed that they become the Eumenides, the kindly spirits; and the formation of a system of justice based on a court system, which has a balance between punishment and mercy, allows citizens to represent their community in the the court, and promotes equality between the defendant and their accusers; and all of the advantages which these changes provide within the community.

In today’s world, justice is served periodically in order to keep conformity in society and it’s usually served because of acts of vengeance. The line that separates justice from vengeance is very thin. Justice benefits society and vengeance benefits the individual, or retaliation. In the play “The Oresteia” there are numerous acts of vengeance committed by the characters Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and Orestes and justice is considered “served” for their actions. Each character feels as if their actions are justified and morally right.

The concept of justice is manifested through the three plays of Aeschylus' Oresteia. The old tradition of justice, the private blood feud, caused an ungoverned succession of violent acts that spiralled uncontrollably. Aegisthus, Clytemnestra's lover, is introduced in Agamemnon; he desires vengeance for the plot contrived by Agamemnon's father (Ag: 1605-1611).1 Neither Agamemnon nor Aegisthus took part in this "plot" and yet as the chorus explains (Ag: 755-6)

Therefore, Socrates held that it was necessary for citizens themselves to comprehend the essence of justice so that they could avoid being slaves to those who managed to hold legal influence at the time (Plato, 1974, 98, 505c). Such that those who held legal influence may be blind towards the “good” or essence of justice (Plato, 1974, 98, 505c). Therefore, Socrates' second motivation for using the elenchus was in order to promote the valuing of justice, and other traditional values, in hopes that Athenian citizens could identify for themselves the things which adhere to the essence of these values.