Gender Roles In The Oresteia

In society, men and women are given roles solely based on their genders. Sometimes, these gender roles can bring about conflict. This idea of social conflict is a main theme in the Greek play, The Oresteia. During the time that this play takes place, men and women were given distinct roles that they had to carry out. Usually, the men were the head of the household and took care of every important matter. Women, on the other hand, were made to follow the rules that the head of household had set out. What happens when a woman does decide to take matters into her own hands though and, in a sense, take over the role of man? In stories like this one, women who hold power end up with a different fate than women who abide by the rules set before them.

The chorus depicts this when they respond to her story of how the city of Troy now belongs to them by saying “Spoken like a man, my lady, loyal, full of self-command (Aeschylus 116).” While people do recognize her as having a manly way about her, she still manages to fool them. No one in the story can foresee that this power will lead her to murdering someone, let alone her own husband. This is because Clytaemnestra knows how to play the role of the submissive female as well as the bruiting role that a male carries. While the citizens despise the way she acts when Agamemnon is away, they see that she does play the role of the loving wife whenever he is around. It is almost as if she takes on a position of power only when he is away. It isn’t until Agamemnon’s death that people truly recognize the power that Clytaemnestra holds over

What happens to women who hold power and take on the role of the man? This scenario has been depicted several times in stories like Porphyria’s Lover and The Wife of Asdrubal. Women in literature like these all end up the same, dead. Whether that be by someone else or suicide, they always end up with the same ending. Clytaemnestra meets her untimely demise as a result of being murdered by her own son, Orestes. The characters depicted in The Oresteia see power as an amazing tool, but it can actually be the very thing that tears people down and leads them to their death. What if women were able to hold their own without meeting such a fate? Clytaemnestra came close by playing both the role of the loving wife and the bruiting male role, but lost it the moment she murdered Agamemnon. What if she had continued with the