Oresteia
Place on List:
IV. Special Area: Literary
Social Criticism
2. Primary
Texts: Drama
Aeschylus.
Oresteia.
Supporting References:
- "Orestei'a." The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature. Ed. Howatson, M. C.. : Oxford University Press, 2011. Oxford Reference. 2011. Date Accessed 3 Sep. 2013
“Orestei'a.
The collective name given to the three Greek tragedies (a trilogy;
see tragedy
2) by *Aeschylus
on the story of *Agamemnon,
Clytemnestra, Electra, and Orestes, produced at Athens in 458 bc when
it won the dramatic competition. It is the only trilogy to survive
complete. The plays are Agamemnon, Choēphoroe
(‘Libation bearers’), and Eumenides (‘Kindly
ones’, a euphemism for the Furies).
“The story is taken from the mythical
history of the descendants of *Atreus
in which crime led to further crime through several generations. The
Agamemnon opens in an atmosphere of hope mingled with
foreboding, as the watchman on the roof of Agamemnon's palace in
Argos looks out for the signal beacon to announce the fall of Troy.
After the signal is seen, the news is confirmed by the arrival of a
herald. Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra appears jubilant, but the
chorus of Argive elders recall Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter
*Iphigeneia
to enable the Greek fleet to set sail, and brood over the possible
consequences. Agamemnon arrives, bringing with him the captured
Trojan princess *Cassandra,
his concubine. Clytemnestra treacherously welcomes him and then leads
him into the palace. Cassandra, who has not spoken up to this point,
is now moved to frenzied prophecy, foreseeing Agamemnon's murder and
her own, as well as having a vision of the past crimes of the house,
and utters a lament. She too enters the house, knowingly going to her
death. The cries of the dying Agamemnon are heard. The interior of
the palace is revealed, with Clytemnestra exulting over the bodies of
the two victims. She answers the elders’ reproaches by citing as
justification Agamemnon's sacrifice of Iphigeneia. Aegisthus, her
lover, appears, and subdues the elders with threats of force. The
latter can only hope that one day Agamemnon's son Orestes will avenge
him.
“In the Choephoroe,
Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, after years of exile, returns to Argos
with his friend *Pylades,
to avenge his father on the god Apollo's instructions; he comes to
his father's tomb and dedicates on it a lock of his hair. The two
draw aside while Electra, Orestes’ sister, and a chorus of Argive
women approach to pour libations on the tomb by order of
Clytemnestra, who has been disturbed by ominous dreams. Electra
recognizes the lock of hair and footprints nearby as strikingly
similar to her own; her brother reveals himself and a reunion takes
place (a scene thought by some to be mocked by Euripides in the very
similar scene in his Electra). Electra and Orestes
join in an impressive invocation of their father's dead spirit,
calling upon his aid in their pursuit of vengeance. Orestes and
Pylades, disguised as travellers bringing news of the former's death,
enter the palace. Aegisthus is summoned and on his arrival is killed
by Orestes. Clytemnestra pleads with her son for her life, and for a
moment Orestes falters; but Pylades, in his only speech, reminds him
of Apollo's command, and Orestes drags her into the palace and kills
her. While he is justifying his action he sees avenging Furies arrive
to haunt him, and flees from them.
“Eumenides opens to
show Orestes as suppliant at the shrine of Apollo in Delphi. The
Furies, forming the chorus, are asleep around him. Orestes is
promised protection by Apollo, who tells him to go to Athens to seek
justice from the goddess Athena. After he leaves, the ghost of
Clytemnestra stirs up the Furies to pursue him. The scene changes to
the front of Athena's temple on the Acropolis at Athens. Athena,
acting as presiding archon,
having heard the pleas and justifications of the Furies and of
Orestes, refers the judgement to a tribunal of Athenian citizens
(i.e. the historical Areopagus
court for judging cases of homicide, of which this episode was the
legendary foundation). The Furies prosecute, and Orestes defends
himself. Athena votes last, after the other judges, and the votes are
found to be equally divided. Athena therefore declares that in
future, when the votes are equal the defendant is to be acquitted, as
was Athenian practice at this time. (There are different
interpretations of what exactly happens at this point.) The Furies
are indignant at Orestes’ escape, but are conciliated by Athena's
promise of a permanent home in her city and honour in their new role
as beneficent powers.
“For the poem Oresteia
see Stesichorus.”
- Birch, Dinah. "Aeschylus." The Oxford Companion to English Literature. : Oxford University Press, 2009. Oxford Reference. 2009. Date Accessed 21 Aug. 2013
The article offers
an overview of the author and less a discussion on the above-cited
text.
“Aeschylus (?525/4–456/5 bc) Greek tragedian. He has some claim
to be regarded as an inventor of the genre, since, where there had
previously been the chorus and only one actor, he introduced a second
actor and subordinated choral song to the dialogue. Only seven of
between 70 and 90 plays have survived: the early plays, The
Persians, Seven against Thebes, and The Suppliants;
the trilogy forming the Oresteia
(Agamemnon, Choephoroe, Eumenides), which
introduces a third actor and is very different in terms of its
dramatic structure; and Prometheus Bound (which may not be
his). Aeschylus was hardly known in England before Thomas
*Stanley's edition of the plays in 1663. His
true popularity dates from the 19th century, centring initially on
Prometheus Bound: Lord
*Byron's ‘Prometheus’ (1816) was followed
by P.
B. *Shelley's Prometheus
Unbound (1820), S.
T. *Coleridge's essay On the Prometheus of
Aeschylus (1825), and a translation of the play (1833) by
Elizabeth
Barrett *Browning. Several poets have
translated the Oresteia in whole or in part, including
Robert
*Browning (Agamemnon, 1877), Louis
*MacNeice (Agamemnon, 1936), Tony
*Harrison (Oresteia, performed at the
National
Theatre, 1981), and Ted
*Hughes (Oresteia, also performed at
the National, 1999). See P. E. Easterling (ed.), The Cambridge
Companion to Greek Tragedy (1997); Archive of Performances of
Greek and Roman
Dramahttp://www.apgrd.ox.ac.uk.libproxy.cc.stonybrook.edu.
See Euripides;
Poetics,
The; Prometheus;
Sophocles.”
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