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Description edit
The importance of Æschylus in the development of the drama is immense. Before him tragedy had consisted of the chorus and one actor; and by introducing a second actor, expanding the dramatic dialogue thus made possible, and reducing the lyrical parts, he practically created Greek tragedy as we... read more
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Characters/People edit
- Clytemnestra: Wife of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra is the only character to appear in all three plays of the trilogy. She is the sister of Helen of Troy. She is also the mother to Agamemnon's three children Iphigenia, Orestes and Electra. Clytemnestra became bitter and angery over the death of their eldest daughter Iphigenia; who was sacrificed to allow her father and his troops to leave for the Trojan War. During Agamemnon's ten year absence, she planned murderous revenge. Clytemnestra has also engaged in an adulterous affair with Aegisthus, Agamemnon's first cousin and the sole survivor of a dispossessed branch of their family, who is determined to regain the throne he believes should rightfully belong to soley him. Once Agamemnon returns, she plays the loving, waiting wife and attempts to persuade Agamemnon to step on a purple (sometimes red) tapestry or carpet to walk into "his" palace as a true returning conqueror. Clytemnestra later kills Agamemnon and Cassandra. In "The Libation Bearers" Clytemnestra and Aegisthus are murdered by Orestes in retribution for Agamemon's death. In "The Eumenides" Clytemnestra appears as a ghost to the Erinyes, urging them to continue hunting Orestes.
- Orestes: The son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra he seeks to exact vengeance for his father's death. Orestes is intelligent and determined, just like his mother and strong and willful like his father. Orestes is well spoken and quick to do whatever is necessary to do justice to his father's memory, even though he knows that he will have to face the consequences. Orestes is then presented with a difficult situation: in order to avenge his father, he must kill his mother. Orestes' familial duty to his father is fundamentally opposed to his familial duty to his mother. At the end of the "Libation Bearers" he carries out this vengeance by killing Aigisthos and Clytamnestra. But as soon as that is done is becomes haunted by the the Erinyes. He must absolved of his crimes in court. The the Erinyes prosecuting while Athena and Apollo defending. He is clear of his blood guilt and goes back to Mycaene.
- Cassandra: An enslaved Trojan princess and priestess of to the god Apollo, is she brought back by Agamemnon as his slave and concubine. Cassandra has been cursed by Apollo. He had given the gift of clairvoyance to Cassandra so she would be his paramour. But she renegged, and in retribution for rejecting his advances he cursers her. While she has the ability to forsee the future, no one who hears her prophesies believes them to be true. In her soliloquy, she runs through many gruesome images of the history of the House of Atreus as if she had been a witness of them, and eventually enters the palace knowing that her fate is preordained and unavoidable.
- Troy: Add a description of this character.
- Electra: Orestes' other sister, Electra cared for him as a child and loves him dearly. Since Agamemnon's death, Electra has been treated like a slave in the palace, and tells Orestes also that Clytamnestra is about to marry her off in order to break her bond with the house. Like most Greek woman, Electra was totally under the power of her father until she was married, at which point she joined her husband's household and was no longer considered part of her original family. Electra is fiercely devoted to her father's memory. She loathes her mother and is quick to transfer all of her love to Orestes when he reappears. After going into the palace in silence at Orestes' command, she does not reappear again in the play.
- Priam
- Pallas
- Helen
- Zeus
- Agamemnon: Agamemnon, King of Argos, returns from the Trojan War. He believes his wife Clytemnestra is waiting for him. Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigeneia ten years prior to Agamemnon in order to advance his campaign against Troy; Clytaemnestra then kills Agamemnon to avenge this sacrifice. He is central figure in the plays due to the fact that all of the acts of vengeance committed in the play stem directly from his sacrificial murder of Iphigineia.
First Sentence edit
Dear gods, set me free from all the pain, the long watch I keep, one whole year awake .. propped on my arms, crouched on the roofs of Atreus like a dog.
Themes & Symbolism edit
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Western canon according to Harold Bloom. (community list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Aeschylus (Author)
Other Contributors:
- Frederic Raphael (Translator)
- Robert W. Corrigan (Introduction)
- Richmond Lattimore (Translator) - English
- Kenneth McLeish (Translator) - English
- Philip Vellacott (Translator)
First Edition edit
Original Language: Greek
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Publication Date: -458
ISBN: Add the ISBN.
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Publisher: Add the publisher.
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Publication Date: -458
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Classification edit
- Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
- Dewey: 882.01
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