The Oresteian TrilogyAeschylus (525-c.456 bc) set his great trilogy in the immediate aftermath of the Fall of Troy, when King Agamemnon returns to Argos, a victor in war. Agamemnon depicts the hero's discovery that his family has been destroyed by his wife's infidelity and ends with his death at her callous hand. Clytemnestra's crime is repaid in The Choephori when her outraged son Orestes kills both her and her lover. The Eumenides then follows Orestes as he is hounded to Athens by the Furies' law of vengeance and depicts Athene replacing the bloody cycle of revenge with a system of civil justice. Written in the years after the Battle of Marathon, The Oresteian Trilogy affirmed the deliverance of democratic Athens not only from Persian conquest, but also from its own barbaric past. |
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Aegisthus Aeschylus Agamemnon altar anger Apollo Areopagus Argive Argos Athenian Athens Atreus avenging blessing blood Calchas CASSANDRA Choephori CHORUS citizens city’s CLYTEMNESTRA crime curse daughter dead death deed despair dream earth Elders ELECTRA enemies Eumenides eyes Fate Fate’s father father’s fear flesh friends fulfilled Furies gift goddess gods Greek grief guilt H. D. F. Kitto hand hate hear heart Heaven Helen HERALD Hermes holy honour hope husband Iphigenia Justice killed king king’s libations live lord man’s matricide mean men’s Menelaus mortal mother mourning murder NURSE oath offer Olympian once oracle Oresteia ORESTES palace Pallas Phocis play pray prayer Prometheus prophecy purple PYLADES reverence ritual sacrifice scene short sleep sorrow soul speak speech stand suffering suppliant sword tears tell temple throne Thyestes Troy Troy’s truth Tyndareos vengeance victory voice vote wealth wife woman women word Zeus