Aeschylus' Oresteia Essay

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Orestia

Ancient legends are known throughout the world and retold in versions generation after generation. Authors take an old story and reimagine it and reinvent it to fit the perspective of their own generation. The first known version of the Agamemnon story comes from The Odyssey. In Homer's book, The Odyssey, the author relates the story of King Agamemnon and his untimely death, as well as the resulting familial tragedy that follows that event. In each version, Agamemnon was a king who returned from the war in Troy to his, supposed, loving wife and family. Unfortunately, his wife is not so happy for his return. This queen, named Clytemnestra, is unwilling to give up sole power of their kingdom. This is the point in the story where versions change the order of events and the various players in the game. The subsequent versions of this same story change certain details in order to prove the intended point of the author of that work. In Greek mythology, there is a great difference between the concepts of vengeance the need for revenge. Vengeance is a strong desire which overcomes all other emotions or desires in the need for the act of revenge. In all versions, the need for vengeance and the need for revenge are counterpointed with the filial duties of a son. In Anne Carson's version of the story, told in her book, An Oresteia, the author takes these basic plot points and alters other moments in order to support her own perspective of that story.

The rest of the story goes like this: Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, murder her husband and his prize from the wars, the cursed seer Cassandra. It is not only for power that Clytemnestra wishes her husband dead. Agamemnon sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to the gods in order to aid his side in battle against the Trojans.

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Clytemnestra feels vengeful to her husband. Though his motivations for sacrificing their daughter are pure, Clytemnestra cannot accept the deed, thus she becomes consumed with a need to avenge the child. The woman's anger surpasses her understanding of her religion and the acceptable behavior of her society. To kill her husband, first Clytemnestra tries to get the Gods to be angered with Agamemnon and thus either kill the king themselves or forgive Clytemnestra for the murder of her husband. She does this by trying to get her husband to step on a carpet. Some version label the carpet as red and other times purple. Walking on this carpet and entering his castle would be an act of hubris and an action which would symbolize Agamemnon's elevating himself to a level of idolatry fit only for the Greek Gods and Goddesses. When this fails, Clytemnestra risks the wrath of the Gods in order to fulfill her own desire to have her husband dead. She is so bent upon her vengeance that she is no longer fearful of the ramifications.

In The Odyssey, the legend of Agamemnon is told by the brother of the deceased king, Menelaus. Agamemnon's family was a cursed one. Being from the house of Atreus, Agamemnon and his family are born doomed because of the actions of his relatives in the past. It is a continuous cycle of revenge for past misdeeds. The difference between vengeance and the desire for revenge becomes apparent here. It is not a heated, violent anger that dooms Agamemnon, but a retributive process designed by the gods. He was not the only person in the story doomed from the start.….....

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