Aeschylus Eumenides Essay

In The Eumenides and Agamemnon of The Oresteia trilogy, Aeschylus constructs an over-arching metaphor for elements of the new Athenian democracy. The chorus in each play represents the people who feel under-represented and disrespected, by the society's changing values. In The Eumenides, the chorus of Furies is frustrated with the younger gods and infringements on their power; in Agamemnon the chorus fears more the control of an effective woman in Clytemnestra rather than the leadership of fruitless

Oresteia - The Issue of Justice in Aeschylus' Eumenides 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

The Philosophy and Psychology of Sophocles’s Antigone and The Eumenides in Aeschylus’ Oresteia There is a consensus among readers of the poetry or plays written in the fifth century that the plays succeed with inspiring profound movement on the audience. The methods or reasons for the reader to be moved by a text are often disputed. Specific to tragic works the concepts of philosophy and psychology are critical elements to understand the cause of the stirred emotions of individuals who

From the classical period until present day, artists have attempted to portray Aeschylus’ The Eumenides in various forms of art. However, in order to appreciate the work of these artist one must first become familiar with the subject of the myth they depict. According to Greek and Roman mythology, the Furies were female spirits of justice and vengeance. Known especially for pursuing people who had murdered family members, the Furies punished their victims by driving them mad. There are various

The Importance of Gender in Aeschylus' Oresteia          Gender is made explicit as a theme throughout the Oresteia through a series of male-female conflicts and incorrectly gendered characters dominated by the figure of Clytemnestra, a woman out of place. This opposition of gender then engenders all the other oppositions of the trilogy; conflicts of oikos and polis, chthonic and Olympian, old and young can be assigned to female and male spheres respectively.  In this essay I will look at how

4 Life Lessons From Aeschylus's Oresteia Greek tragedy contains valuable life advice. Revenge! Faster, Kill, Kill! Aeschylus (525-455 BC) retells a story first made popular by Homer. What develops in “Oresteia”’s three tragedies – “Agamemnon”, “The Libation Bearers” and “The Eumenides” could be the plot of “Revenge! Faster, kill, kill!”, but behind all this fun stuff philosophical questions peek out. Beyond the stories told in ancient tragedies, there are topics that were of interest and dispute

The trilogy of Aeschylus’ The Oresteia follows a bloody feud within the House of Atreus. With this feud there are many boundaries that get crossed and challenged dealing with revenge and murder. A clear shift in justice is observed over the course of the three plays and Aeschylus shows that this shift in justice as an evolution that must happen to shape a society. The Oresteia provides a message that a society must come together to define justice in order to become unified and it must protect the

unchanging like so many want to believe. For the Ancient Greeks in the 8th century, blood justice is the only way to settle disputes. By the mid-400s BCE, there are glimpses of what will later become a trial by jury in a democratic judicial system. Aeschylus’ plays show a distinct shift from blood justice to a more democratic system. Even Homer, when writing his epic works, seems to hint at a better way to resolve conflict than the “eye for an eye” mentality. The Iliad acts as book ends to the transformation

to hopefully save it from what seems to be the inevitable end to the Peloponnesian war, one might consider either Euripides or Aeschylus. Both are excellent tragedians. Based on one’s political beliefs, one will probably easily choose one over because they stand on opposite sides of the political spectrum. Euripides is for a more socially progressive state whereas Aeschylus is for a more conservative form. However, there is a third, and in fact better option. Aristophanes, as a result of preferring

and Aegisthus by Apollo, “…if I failed to kill my father’s killers…….to kill the two of them as they killed him, in the same way. He said that otherwise I’d pay the debt with my own life, and it would be a life of torment that would never end” (Aeschylus, Liberation Bearers lines 307-313). He has this threat hanging over his head and any time he starts to waver, his friend Pylades, his sister, and the chorus encouraged him. “the third and last storm battering their house. In the end, Orestes does

In this essay I intend to discuss how Aeschylus presents Clytaemnestra in the Oresteia and how he marks the extent to which traits of Clytaemnestra's character remain defiantly unchanged as she manipulates events and characters around her. Clytaemnestra is the only character who appears in all three plays in the trilogy, but despite her immense stage presence she remains a troublesome character to interpret due to the highly ambiguous nature of her words. I intend to show that the key to unlocking

as darkness, light, fate, patriarchy, and justice are intertwined to make up Aeschylus’ tragic tale, however all of these elements are directed by one central force: balance. The word balance itself suggests a state of equilibrium or a stable environment. Balance is often looked at as a scale; if one side of the scale is overpowering the other, then it creates a state of disorder, irregularity, and even chaos. Aeschylus meddles with the scales of balance but, in the end, reinforces the equipoise

Imagery in The Oresteia Sleep—it's what divides the day and the night; the conscious and the subconscious; the aware and the unaware. It's image, then, is a powerful tool for polarizing such extremes. In his trilogy, The Oresteia, Aeschylus utilizes sleep imagery to divide between those who are aware and those who aren't. Though sleep's meaning changes throughout the plays, Clytaemestra is always able to use it to her aid. Her story accompanies a shift in a justice system that defines

In “The Oresteia” trilogy, the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus advocates the importance of the male role in society over that of the female.  The entire trilogy can be seen as a subtle proclamation of the superiority of men over women. Yet, the women create the real interest in the plays.  Their characters are the impetus that makes everything occur.  The most complex and compelling character in the three plays is Clytaemnestra.  Clytaemnestra is consumed with thoughts of

Justice and Gender in the Oresteia Justice and gender are put into relation with each other in Aeschylus’ Oresteia. In this trilogy, Greek society is characterized as a patriarch, where the oldest male assumes the highest role of the oikos (household). The household consists of a twofold where the father is the head, and the wife and children are the extended family. The head of the oikos is the only one who possesses the authority to seek justice. This is because the father acquires the authority

Aeschylus Writing Assignment “The Oresteia” written by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, who showed three events of the play Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides. The three plays were performed at the annual Dionysia festival in Athens in 458 BCE. The play highlighted different types of themes but the most important one is the theme of justice and injustice. Both themes were seen in different parts of the play where even the gods played a role in determining the justice and

and Clytemnestra, Orestes and Electra, who (with some urging from Apollo) avenge the death of their father by killing both Aegisthus and their own mother. The Furies, enraged by Orestes’ violation of the filial bond, pursue his punishment. The Eumenides covers the taming of the Furies, the reconciliation of the dominant opposing forces in the trilogy, the establishment of Athena’s court of law, and, as J. J. Pollitt argues, “brings us out of the earlier dark irrationality into what seems an enlightened

“how you can swagger so over the butchered body of your husband” (Aeschylus, Agamemnon lines 1596-1597). They continue further saying”, Woman, what foul food nursed deep in the earth, or what drink drawn from the flowing sea could you have tasted to take on yourself so horrible a sacrifice and the people’s curse? You have cast away, you have cut away, and away will you go from the city, under the full weight of the city’s hate” (Aeschylus, Agamemnon lines 1604-1611). She shows the difference in the way

In the Oresteia, revenge drives the characters to act. Although they call it justice, it is not. Aeschylus uses net imagery to symbolize faith and destiny. When Clytemnestra murders Agamemnon and Cassandra, the net imagery acts as a symbol of terrible fate. However, then fate reverse. Now, Orestes is caught in Apollo’s net and kills his own mother. Lastly, Athene changes the meaning of the net from one of chaos to that of order and justice. These uses of the net imagery help the reader focus on a

performed at the Dionysia and won first place, was the main location. After the 2 wars, I settled down and produced major plays and they are: The Persians, Seven against Thebes, The Suppliants, The Oresteia, Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides, and Prometheus Bound. I returned to Sicily to visit the city Gela in 458 BC and that is where I died. He died in 446 or 455 BC. That’s all the history they have so I am done speaking in first person. His lost plays are: Myrmidons, Nereids, Phrygians