The Themes of Law and Order in Oresteia - 823 Words

The Themes of the Oresteia The play termed the Oresteia is actually a trilogy that is built around the family of Agamemnon. Traditionally, one of the primary themes of the three plays is a movement from a traditional belief in revenge for wrongs to one of justice and the rule of law. The purpose of this paper is to discuss all three of the plays and look at how justice is conceived in each. Agamemnon The first play, Agamemnon, tells about the return of the King from the Trojan wars and how his wife has chosen to react to the reunion. Clytemnestra is the queen who was angered by the fact that Agamemnon was away for a decade and that the King sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to one of the gods. In one part of the play, the Chorus of Elders chants Zeus who hath paved a way for human thought, by ordaining this firm law He who learns, suffers (Aeschylus, trans. 1893, 1.176-179) which speaks to the law that was formed by the words. The people of Greece followed the law that a person who commits a crime, whether that be a recognized law or one that the punisher deemed appropriate, is subject to some form of punishment. In Agamemnons case, Clytemnestra believed that his actions justified his death. She did not believe that it was murder because his actions justified her actions. She is advised against injuring the King and also believes that since he has returned from the Troy with a concubine, Cassandra, that Cassandra must be killed also. The play ends withShow MoreRelatedAeschylus Oresteia and Prometheus Bound: Hubris and the Chorus1666 Words   |  7 Pageswhich could be either based on a common theme or unrelated, and one comedy. However, relatively few of these ancient Greek plays survive today. Known as the father of tragedy, Aeschylus introduced a second actor on stage, allowing for action and interaction to take place and establishing a caste of professional actors (Bloom, 45). He let the chorus converse with the characters, introduced elaborate costumes and stage designs. Two of Aeschylus plays, Oresteia and Prometheus Bound, illustrate theRead MoreThe Oresteia By Sophocles, The Libation Bearers, And The Eumenides1276 Words   |  6 PagesAeschylus Writing Assignment â€Å"The Oresteia† written by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, who showed three events of the play Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides. The three plays were performed at the annual Dionysia festival in Athens in 458 BCE. The play highlighted different types of themes but the most important one is the theme of justice and injustice. Both themes were seen in different parts of the play where even the gods played a role in determining the justice andRead MoreThe Significance of Animal Symbolism and its Effect on Gender Role1699 Words   |  7 Pagesmetaphor or simile which better visualizes the authors true meaning. 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For example in The Oresteia, Clytaemnestra and Orestes are both tragic heroes, and yet their understanding of â€Å"good† conflicts each other. In Agamemnon, Clytaemnestra murders her husband, who is also the father of Orestes. In doing so, she justifies herself saying â€Å"By the child’sRead More Authors Conceptions of Human Nature Essay3901 Words   |  16 Pageslike justice, equity, and law. Human nature must also be carefully studied in an effort to understand, obtain, or maintain power within society. Finally, human nature must also be carefully understood so as to protect it from being manipulated and to understand its place in society. In ancient Greece, Aeschylus sought to define for the people of Athens the part of human nature that necessitates justice and power. At the end of his series of plays in the Oresteia, Aeschylus tells the storyRead MoreKinship and Politics1504 Words   |  7 Pagesprogress from the revenge between the bloods to the set up of the civil court. It illustrates us the foundation of establishment of orders for Greek people’s new life by showing the fight between the old gods and the new gods’ attitudes towards the murder case of Clytaemestra, with the arguments which mainly focus on kinship and then the civilization. The central theme of this play is the interests and conflicts which were shown during the long debate and words fight between opposites, and the reconciliationRead MoreAnalyse the Dramatic Uses of the Chorus in Greek Tragedy; in What Ways Do Traces of the Choric Function Occur in Twentieth-Century Drama?3335 Words   |  14 Pagesand heightening the spectacle of the performance . The Chorus are often also considered as the ‘ideal audience for a play, in that their reactions to the action on stage reflect the way the playwright hopes the audience might react. Within The Oresteia Aeschylus Chorus play a variety of roles. Aeschylus was the first Greek poet to diminish the role of the Chorus by introducing more than one principal actor. Before Aeschylus, the Chorus were the main focus of the play, and interacted predominantly