Oresteia

similar, they are both imitations of great deeds, heroes, and tragic suffering, the way these elements are conveyed is different. Tragedy portrays all this through action, while epic depicts all this through language alone. By reading and analyzing the Oresteia, Gilgamesh, and the Odyssey a reader is able to distinguish how the elements of plot, character, and performance of these two genres provide the reader with different experiences. When it comes to plot, epic and tragedy are similar in…

Chorus at the end of the play. These are examples of a cross between utilitarian and retributivist justice (Walen, 2016), which recurs throughout the trilogy numerous times. This explains the reason behind the models of retributive justice in the Oresteia trilogy, essentially saying that ‘justice is done to avenge the fallen’. In Agamemnon, justice is described as a force that impels an individual to carry out the prescribed act of vengeance. This force is personified as Zeus, king of the…

love Demeter has for her daughter, but also the loyalty she has towards Persephone as throughout this whole time she had been disobeying and displeasing the Olympian gods, but still chose to be on the side of her daughter. Written by Aeschylus, Oresteia is a trilogy of Greek tragedies concerning the murder of the Greek hero Agamemnon by his wife Clytemnestra. The second and third play in the trilogy, Libation Bearers and Eumenides (respectively),…

A common tragic hero is brought down because of their actions or a judgment error like in Aeschylus ' The Oresteia. In The Oresteia, Agamemnon, the first tragic hero of the play, makes the error of killing his oldest daughter, Iphigenia in order to please the gods of war. Him knowingly sacrificing his oldest daughter led to angering his wife Clytaemnestra, and ultimately…

Vengeance is a recurring theme in Greek tragedies because the act of vengeance was how social balance was restored in ancient Greece. In order to understand vengeance, an important distinction to make is that between the concepts of justice and revenge. Characters in Greek culture look for justice in all aspects of society - when someone is wronged, the offenders deserve punishment. However, as a majority of Greek literary works are tragedies, justice is often taken too far and it turns into…

The theatre began when the ritual played a role in the development of drama in the days of early people. The ancient societies used ritual to represent their understanding of the human condition and of the world around them . The ritual had a religious purpose, and instructive purpose. It was also a form of entertainment. There were common elements found in ritual such as music, dance and mask and costume. In the early years of the fifth century B.C, Greek literature, theatre, and culture…

In the Bible passage, Abraham’s needs dictate Sarah’s actions. In the Oresteia, Agamemnon’s actions dictate Clytemnestra’s actions. However, the way they react to this male influence is a key difference. As stated before, Sarah acts in service of her husband, whereas Clytemnestra acts against her husband. Sarah wants to benefit…

In the context of Greek mythology, humans have little to no control over their fates. That knowledge and controls lies with the gods. Often times the characters of myths go to the oracles looking for a bit of guidance only to be delivered a cryptic message about a big event relevant to their lives. For example, Oedipus in Oedipus Tyrannus sends Creon to the oracle to get answers about the plague that racks Thebes, he is told that he must find the old king Laius’ murderer, Creon says “Then hear…

In both Greek and Roman mythology, Furies were known as spirits of justice and revenge. They are known by the Greeks as Erinyes, meaning the “angry ones” and are also known to attack people who have murdered family members and punish them by driving them mad for their horrendous deed. Furies, also had the job of torturing and punishing the damned and wrongdoers in the Underworld--the homes of the Furies.Other myths say that Furies were three sisters, created by the the blood of Uranus that fell…

In the Odyssey, Poseidon perpetrates a horrible string of deeds against Odysseus in his attempt to exact revenge for the justice delivered to his son, Polyphemus. Specifically, he endeavors to ensure Odysseus’s death or at least to make his journey home as painful as possible. Similarly, David exiles his son Absalom when Absalom justly kills his brother Amnon after Amnon rapes his sister Tamar. Both David and Poseidon are unwilling to uphold justice enough to deliver it to their children. In…