The Oresteia And Agamemnon

Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis provides important context regarding the sacrifice of Iphigenia and Clytemnestra’s past with Agamemnon. Clytemnestra is ashamed after talking to Achilles about the wedding between him and Iphigenia that he is unaware of. After discovering Agamemnon 's true intentions, she decides that she will no longer “let shame prevent” her from seeking Achilles’ help to stop Agamemnon because “whose interests should [she] consult before [her] child’s?” (Iphigenia at Aulis 24). Her concern for Iphigenia overpowers the indignity she feels because her child’s well being is greater than her own. Both women’s anger and desire for vengeance grow as their children are endangered or harmed as “vengeance makes grief bearable” (Medea 2.55). The playwrights show each as either a good or bad woman based on if their vengeful actions are ultimately in favor of their children or not.

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.

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.

Even though Agamemnon made a success for his homecoming, what was waiting for him was her wife’s conspiracy with Aegisthus and his death (262-263). Namely, his nosmos was rather a failure and he also faced fate of his failed household. This Agamemnon’s gives a comparison with Odysseus future success for preserving his family and throne. Furthermore, Clytemnestra’s unfaithfulness and infidelity provides a foil to Penelope’s faithfulness and loyalty. Clytemnestra’s merciless and brutal actions, not sealing Agamemnon’s eyes while he was dying, adds contrasting characteristics between Odysseus and Agamemnon’s wives. Note that here, the story of successful vengeance for Agamemnon by Orestes gives a foil to Telemachus’ weakness and deficiency. Orestes here is depicted as a heroic example with murder of Aegistus after he comes of age (264). On the contrary to Orestes who saved his household and restored order in his family’s kingdom, Telemachus, as he came of age, couldn’t serve as protecting his household and repel his mother’s suitors in the absence of his father. In the light of comparing each heroic figures’ sons, the son of Achilles is also depicted as successful warrior with great strength and fame in the battlefield against Trojan, adding a foil to Telemachus’ unsuccessful position as a son (266).

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

The Chorus discusses how Helena’s name is very appropriate since she brought destruction upon the Acaians as well as the Trojans. Then, the chorus reflects upon the concept of suffering and who suffers. They deduce that people of goodwill are more likely to suffer despite their goodness while evil people create righteousness. (The Chorus is insane because chaos and pride definitely does not lead to righteousness- it leads to death and destruction. As for good people suffering, that’s the problem with evil.) Agamemnon comes home with Cassandra and the Chorus praises him for defeating the Trojans even though they doubted him at first. Clytemnestra declares her “love” and entices Agamemnon to walk on a purple carpet. Agamemnon refuses

Bathsheba became pregnant and David tried to hide his sin, instead of accepting and confessing to God what he had done, he calls Uriah and asks him to go sleep with his wife to cover up that the child she was waiting was Uriah’s son and not David’s. Uriah does not accept to do what David and, David takes Uriah and sends him to the front of the battle so he can get killed. The big problem here is that God was watching what David was doing, he knew his heart, then send the prophet Nathan to confront him and David recognizes that he has sin. Nathan tells him that God will not punish him with eternal sin, which is death.

The long-term effects of David’s affair with Bathsheba were that he had to have Bathsheba husband, Uriah killed in the line of war so that he could bring her into his harem. After Bathsheba mourned the death of her husband she was invited into the harem of King David. Bathsheba became pregnant with David’s first child, from the time of birth the child was ill and David mourned. Once the child died David cease mourning and not long after the death of that child Bathsheba birthed Solomon. Nathan declares to David that God will rise up trouble in your own home.

Instead of saying The Oresteia is a tragic trilogy that many people are killed, it would be more appropriate to generalize it as the extension and the termination of vendetta. Even though Oresteia doesn’t cover the origin of the whole feud of the twins, Atreus and Thyestes, the whole trilogy never digresses from the main theme: revenge. As the first observable vendetta in the trilogy, Clytemnestra’s revenge to Agamemnon is dramatic and thought-provoking with the specialty of her role in her family and her reasons to kill Agamemnon in the story. For the mariticide in Agamemnon, reflecting Clytemnestra’s attitude to Agamemnon is way more significant than marking as the first murdering in the trilogy.

Finally, in the play “Agamemnon,” Clytemnestra murders her husband after learning he sacrificed their daughter to Artemis. Gaea,

Clytemnestra, the wife of Agamemnon, displays acts of deception and ambiguity throughout the play Agamemnon. Clytemnestra is at home for about 10 years while Agamemnon is away at the battle of Troy. While Agamemnon is away at war, Clytemnestra cheated on him with Aegisthus. This leads to much of the deception and ambiguity leading up to and after Agamemnon’s death. Clytemnestra believes she is doing the “just” thing by murdering Agamemnon because he had their daughter, Iphigenia, sacrificed.

Electra's attitude to the others is Sophocles's attitude and the only right position. Electra becomes the center of the play: she stands near Agamemnon's tomb and people come to her and speak, so the reader can understand their position in the tragedy. Meanwhile, Orestes plays the role of the weapon, but Electra is the force behind him. She says to Orestes: “You never were your mother's boy so much as mine” (Sophocles, Electra 1113). At the end of the play, when the siblings are revenging, Electra is at the height of her cruelty.

The first play, Agamemnon, tells about the return of the King from the Trojan wars and how his wife has chosen to react to the reunion. Clytemnestra is the queen who was angered by the fact that Agamemnon was away for a decade and that the King sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to one of the gods. In one part of the play, the Chorus of Elders chants "Zeus who hath paved a way for human thought, by ordaining this firm law 'He who learns, suffers'" (Aeschylus, trans. 1893, 1.176-179) which speaks to the law that was formed by the words. The people of Greece followed the law that a person who commits a crime, whether that be a recognized law or one that the punisher deemed appropriate, is subject to some form of punishment. In Agamemnon's case, Clytemnestra believed that his actions justified his death. She did not believe that it was murder because his actions justified her actions.