Eumenides

Within The Eumenides by Aeschylus, one of the main themes is Justice. Justice is a virtue perfecting the will, which enables one to give others their due. Justice involves punishing actions that are wrong and defending what is right. According to the play, justice is essential for order in society, for everyone must be given their due. Without justice, there would be a lack of order and peace. In an ordered society, justice is necessary for everyone must be treated fairly. Regardless of a bad

what makes one unjust? Who gets to decide? These are some of the problems both the Greco-Roman societies faced as they tried to impose justice on evildoers. As shown by the authors of Eumenides and Metamorphoses, justice and vengeance are common themes. Revenge and justice are far from the same thing, in the Eumenides written by a Greek we see a society that reconciles and transforms from one form of justice to another, whereas in Metamorphoses written by a Roman no change takes place and the societal

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

his/her kin by killing the person responsible for the murder. The Greek justice system allowed retribution in the form of murder. Retribution was a measure of justice. Justice in the Eumenides moves from Clytemnestra being the executioner, to Orestes being judge, jury and executioner to finally trial by jury. In the Eumenides, the view of what is justice is no longer a culture of violence but a rule of law. The development of the rule of law will no longer be blood for blood eliminating personal responsibilities

discerning who is at fault and what the fairest outcome of conflicts should be. Without this, justice becomes entirely subjective and becomes a relentless cycle of revenge following the ‘an eye for an eye’ mentality. Through the trial of Orestes in The Eumenides, Aeschylus highlights the transition from the old law of the Furies, based on personal retribution for wrongs done, to the new law of Athenian democracy held in the hands of the state and backed by the new gods (Aeschylus, 571-888). While it is known

others and would try to fix the conflict. Both The Eumenides and The Bacchae depict the conflict between the rational and the irrational, yet the act and solution are presented differently. Whereas The Eumenides portrays it through killing the family by committing matricide and homicide, The Bacchae portrays it through killing the family by committing unconscious homicide driven by the desire of the forbidden. The most powerful characters in The Eumenides, starting

October 2017 “ “: Eumenides as Critique of the Polis Athens functions as the polis or the pinnacle city-state of the time, and in Eumenides, it takes on the role as the birthplace of modern civic justice, leading the progression of humanity’s ability to determine morality in contrast to past models of vengeance in order to avoid anarchy and tyranny. However, Aeschylus’ story of the trial of Orestes implicates many of the imperfections of the Athenian justice system. In Eumenides, Aeschylus uses the

The Oresteia, which is a trilogy that includes the plays Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides has justice and revenge as the central theme. In the world that we live in today it is hard to imagine a justice system that is similar to the one mentioned in the trilogy. It is that very system that allows one to view Clytemnestra’s murder of Agamemnon as a form of justice rather a cold-blooded, ruthless murder in the first part of the trilogy. On one hand, murdering Agamemnon is an act of

The War-of the-Sexes in Eumenides   In this essay I will examine the war-of the-sexes taking place in The Eumenides, the final play of The Oresteia. The plot of The Eumenides pits Orestes and Apollo (representing the male gods and, to a certain extent, male values in general) against the ghost of Clytemnestra and the Furies (equally representative of female values.) Of more vital importance, however, is whether Athene sides with the males or females throughout the play. The character

Blood Bonds, Antigone, and The Eumenides Every human on this earth has a bond to another. These bonds, as well as their significance, differ between people. This paper will focus on the bonds of marriage and blood, and their role in the plays Antigone and The Eumenides. How do they relate to each other? Is one more important than the other? How does the divine and mortal world interpret these? Through a review of the two plays and a comparison of their presentation of the bonds of blood and