Eumenides

1. The Russian-American sociologist Pitirim Sorokin categories three cyclical waxing and waning value systems of Western history, the sensate, which focuses matter alone as the ultimate reality and our sensory perception as the means to truth, the ideational, which holds that true reality is beyond the material world in the spiritual/metaphysical realm, and the idealistic, which attains the highest and noblest expression of both sensate and ideational values systems. Using the primary texts and

After Orestes avenges his father’s murder, he himself is now involved in the cyclic bloodshed; however, instead of him being killed by kin, he is hunted by the punishers of matricides, the Furies. The last play of Aeschylus I, The Eumenides, marks the change from antiquated Argos to abreast Athens. It also highlights the transition of men from upholding the violent, Lex Talionis tradition to a trial based system of justice. Though by thought this was an achievement, from barbaric to civilized thinking

The dramatic presentations of ancient Greece developed out of religious rites performed to honor gods or to mark the coming of spring. Playwrights such as Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides composed plays to be performed and judged at competitions held during the yearly Dionysian festivals. Those plays were chosen by a selection board and evaluated by a panel of judges. To compete in the contest, Greek playwrights had to submit three tragedies, which could be either based on a common theme or unrelated

Lauren Postma Cultural Heritage I Professor Gianini 12, September 2014 Justice and Reason with the Gods As a society, we value justice as one of the highest virtues a state can have. Courts are the image of justice and what is right in America, and we trust that those in charge will just and make the most reasonable decisions for our country. Thanks to the systems of justice put in place by the civilizations of the old world, we have come to this point in our society. In reading works by Plato

strategically used in determining the outcome of the play, but that the role of Athena is vital in creating this balance. 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

York University Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies Department of Humanities 2012-2013 AP/HUMA 1105 9.0 Myth and Imagination in Ancient Greece and Rome Course Web Site: https://moodle.yorku.ca/moodle/course/view.php?id=493 Course Director: Dr. Donald Burke 250 Vanier College dab135@yorku.ca Tel. (416) 736-2100 ext. 70476 Course Secretary: Rowena Linton 209 Vanier College Tel. (416) 736-2100 ext. 33214 Expanded course description and learning objectives

In Aeschylus’s trilogy, Oresteia, the tragic manifesto paints a bloody chain of murder, adultery, betrayal, and kinslaying, in which DIKE (justice) and the relation of women to social and family structure serve as central themes. The Greeks were a misogynistic culture, in which women were relegated to an inferior status in society. Women were only given a limited voice because the family was the sovereign unit of society. The rule of justice stood for patriarchy. Cassandra’s importance is merely

their children. The ironic nature of the rivalry between Apollo and the Furies began at Apollo’s temple in Delphi. They both possess ideals that were similar but sought to establish order and justice in the world in separate ways. In the last play, Eumenides, Apollo takes center stage to defend Orestes against the murder of his blood mother, Clytemnestra. They appeared in a courtroom like setting with the goddess Athena to judge the trial of Orestes for matricide. The prosecution (The Furies) began the

Aeschylus was an ancient Greek playwright who wrote “The Oresteia” post Athens win over Persia, in the Persian War around 465 B.C. During that time Athens and democracy were seen as strong and Aeschylus portrays the strength of Athens and democracy in his plays. He wrote in hope of people understanding that for a society to work there have to be rules and force, but not so much of either that circumstances are not taken into account. Throughout “The Oresteia” there are family ties that take

Oedipus’ and Theseus’ minds, onto the polis from the oikos. The transition of power onto the polis with Theseus is further explored during the encounter with both Creon and Polynices. When Creon arrives, he misunderstands the whole meaning of the Eumenides. He is surprised that Athens would accept Oedipus due to the outrages he committed within the oikos. He believes that he is freely able to bring Oedipus back to Thebes due to their blood-bond. However, when Oedipus refuses, he takes Antigone and