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The Oresteia

            
             When I began to read the Oresteia, I have to admit I thought it was going to be another boring Greek mythical story. To my amazement the story turned out to have a great moral which also allowed me to relate it to many lessons in life. The following paragraphs are depiction's of my own identifying; the consequences for acting without thought, the bitterness of grudges, the need to avenge, and the power of guidance.
             The first play of the story is named after the great Agamemnon whose greatness ends up being his downfall. The beginning gives us an overview of the ten year war and the image of Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter. It appalled me to even fathom the idea of a father willing to sacrifice his innocent daughter so that he could to go to war. After I thinking about it I realized that he made a kind-hearted gesture because one lost life can save the lives of many. It is sort of similar to Genesis 19, when Lot offers of group of men his virgin daughters to save the lives of two angels. Both stories show the lack of respect for their daughter as well as their wives. Agamemnon and Lot, both wanted to preserve themselves by killing innocents. Consequences come when one chooses to abuse their power. Not only did Agamemnon lose a daughter but, he became a great warrior and his wife's most hated opponent.
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             Bullard- 2.
             As Clytaemnestra enters the story, you get the sense of a wishful wife awaiting her husband's return. We later learn that her excitement comes from an enraged wife who has a strong desire of killing her husband. I believe she was the true picture of woman who only used men for how she saw fit. That purpose being power. She gave me the impression that she only wanted Aegisthus because he was weak. She appeared to only want him because he was, probably, one of a few who wanted vengeance against Agamemnon and wouldn"t ask to many questions. Felt she was doing the law and revenge was not an option.


Essays Related to The Oresteia

1. The Oresteia

... to rely more on science and reason, rather than myth. All of this is portrayed in the play, specifically in the latter part. The fourth and last transformation that takes place in the Oresteia, is the transformation from old to new. The old being the furies and the new, being the new Olympian gods. "The furies were actually transformed into beneficent powers" (Greek Drama, Pg. 53) This transformation is ... shown extremely well in the third book of the trilogy when the furies enter the play. They speak directly to Orestes and say, "Yea from you ... to new. When the play is over, althou...

  • Word Count: 950
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

2. Oresteia & The Parthenon

... all art, certain creations stand out as being the best. Among these are the Parthenon and the Oresteia. The difference between the methods of communication lie in their respective structures'the first of which is in its architectural design and the second is in the method of diction, character development and the organization of the plot. The structures of these two monumental achievements reflect the efficacy with which they communicate a common message to ... depicted in the Oresteia. For instance, the Furies, a trio of Solemn Goddesses, hideous beyond the imaginations of men, bent on...

  • Word Count: 1317
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3. Hair Nets, Fish Nets, And Nets Of The House Of Atreus

... written language. Thus, it is not as surprising that ancient literature such as Aeschylus" the Oresteia would have many references to hunting, and one of the most prominent and promising methods to hunting, the use of traps and nets. In the Oresteia, what is normally the hunt of animals for the consumption and survival of human beings is combined with war also, resulting in negative connotations ... of Justice," (Ag. 1643). Although this statement seems harsh and pitiless, it concludes the first part of Aeschylus" trilogy with the image of the monster being hunted, trapped, and killed wi...

  • Word Count: 1605
  • Approx Pages: 6
  • Has Bibliography
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4. Betrayal and Revenge in the plays "Medea" and "The Libation

... 458 B.C. Aeschylus produced his great trilogy, "The Oresteia". The Oresteia was said to perfect the vision of warning and reward, which in other words also can be thought of as betrayal and revenge. The Oresteia originally consisted of four plays-Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Euminides and Proteus. Proteus did not survive, though the three tragedies form a unity in themselves as the only Greek trilogy we have. In this essay ... named Atreus and Thyestes) with betrayal and revenge all amongst family members, I believe that it all started with Tantalus, a barbarian whose spirits haun...

  • Word Count: 1623
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5. Justice (from The Oresteia)

In The Oresteia, after Orestes is bidden by the god Apollo to kill his mother, the gods known as the Furies sentence him to be haunted. Due to the opposition of the wills of the gods, there was a divine trial, and the outcome was to be wagered by a jury of twelve men and the court's judge, the wisest goddess Athena. The nature of conflicting divinity clearly defines the line between devotion (on Orestes" part ... come in differing severities, if it even comes at all? While most punishment today for murder is jail or execution, the concept of The Oresteia is what occurs if a person goes unpuni...

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6. Justice in The Oresteia

... we live in today with a judicial system that gives fair punishment for most crimes. In "The Oresteia" justice works much differently, where there are no judges or a court system to resolve disputes, instead there is revenge. Revenge ... Atreus' house, which cannot be destroyed while the judicial system of revenge as justice is still in place. Someone who is impartial to the crime and to the accused should administer justice. The person who is most impartial in the Oresteia is the wise goddess Athena.Though not the top god was able to decide what should be ... done with Orestes very swi...

  • Word Count: 923
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Ancient Greeks and the Divine

... balance and justice, was also seen in the play Agamemnon in the Oresteia. The death of Agamemnon embodied the focal point of Ancient Greek perception of justice, demonstrated in the downfall of the House of Agamemnon. As believed by the Greeks, it is the role of the divine to create balance through divine justice and retribution. The role of the divine in the lives of the Greeks was the aetological function on why things were ... goddess are not perfect, with actions, like humans are unpredictable (Pomeroy et al.84). As seen in the Odyssey, the Homeric Hymns and the Oresteia, the lives ...

  • Word Count: 1605
  • Approx Pages: 6
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8. Gender Conflicts in the Oresteia

... 's argument secures Orestes' justification concerning the matricide (Lebeck 140). Concisely, gender in its totality is the major issue in the Oresteia. The trial in the Eumenides reveals the deep-rooted battle of gender under which Apollo takes the role of resenting the male, while Erinyes represent the females. Apollo defeats the Erinyes and successfully puts together the gendered rhetoric whiles the Erinyes' focus on the issue of pollution. However, the Erinyes' focus on pollution turns ... ineffective because the Erinyes themselves are polluted. The Agamemnon and the Choephori tends t...

  • Word Count: 1671
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9. The Historics Of Greek Theatre

... . Prometheus Bound, a work of uncertain date, portrays the punishment of the defiant Prometheus by Zeus. It is probably the first play of a Promethean trilogy, the others being Prometheus Unbound and Prometheus the Fire-Bringer. The remaining three plays, Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides, produced in 458 BC, form the trilogy known as the Oresteia, or story of Orestes. In Agamemnon, one of the greatest works of dramatic literature, King Agamemnon ... his blood guilt and set free by the ancient court of the Areopagus, through the intercession of Athena, goddess of wisdom....

  • Word Count: 2321
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