OresteiaAgamemnon *Libation Bearers *Eumenides Aeschylus' Oresteia is the only trilogy to survive from Greek tragedy, and the religious and moral ideas it enacts afterwards influenced a great dramatic genre, as well as giving its three plays their lasting significance. In this family history, Fate and the gods decree that each generation will repeat the crimes and endure the suffering of their forebears. When Agamemnon is murdered by his wife, Clytemnestra, their son Orestes must avenge his father's death. Only Orestes' appeal to the goddess Athena saves him from his mother's Furies, breaking the bloody chain; together gods and humans inaugurate a way of just conduct that will ensure stable families and a strong community. The Oresteia is majestic as theatre and as literature, and this new translation seeks to preserve both these qualities. The introduction and notes emphasize the interconnection of scenes, ideas, and language that distinguishes this unique work. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more. |
Contents
PlayTitles and Works Frequently Cited | ix |
Summary of the StageAction | xi |
Introduction | xv |
2 A view of the Oresteia | xx |
3 Dramatic form and language in Aeschylus | xlviii |
reception and public response | lix |
Note on the Text Translation and Explanatory Notes | lxiii |
Bibliography and Further Reading | lxix |
Family Trees of the Principal Characters of the Oresteia | lxxvi |
Greece and the Aegean Sea | lxxviii |
AGAMEMNON | 1 |
LIBATION BEARERS | 49 |
EUMENIDES | 83 |
Explanatory Notes | 114 |
Textual Appendix | 229 |
A Chronology of Aeschylus Life and Times | lxxiv |
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Common terms and phrases
Aegisthus Aeschylus Agamem Agamemnon allusion ancient anger Apollo Areopagus Argos Athena Athenian Atreidae Atreus Aulis avenge Bibliography blood bloodshed bring Calchas Cassandra chant CHORUS Chorus's Clytemnestra conjecture curse dead death Delphi dishonour door earth echo editors Electra Eumenides Euripides evil fate father fear Furies give goddess gods Greek Tragedy Greek word grief hear heart Helen HERALD Homer honour house's husband idea Iliad imagery insecure Introduction Iphigenia jurors justice killed lament land Libation Bearers line missing literally Loxias lyric matricide meaning Menelaus metaphor mortal mother murder myth mythic oracle Oresteia Orestes palace perhaps Persians play pollution prayer prophetic punishment Pylades revenge role ruin sacrifice scene sing Sommerstein song Sophocles speak speech stanzas stichomythia stranger suppliant tell theatre things Thyestes tomb translation trilogy Trojan Troy Troy's underworld vengeance victory West's woman women Zeus