Hannah Terwin HIST 101 032 21 September 2014 Oresteia Essay The Oresteia: What is Justice? Aeschylus’ trilogy The Oresteia is one riddled with striking instances of vengeance; the plot is sparked from Clytaemnestra’s determination to avenge the murder of her daughter, and the spiraling of events only coils downwards to a messy myriad of retaliation and reprisal. Characters seek to make right the wrongs done unto them; blood is spilt, accusations are thrown, and a familial feud escalates to a point requiring interventions of the Gods themselves. While this theme remains prevalent in all three of the tragedies, Aeschylus’ portrayal of justice gradually shifts from personal retribution to that of a jury’s judgment, thereby emphasizing the …show more content…
She displays no remorse when the chorus grieves his “sacrilegious death” in the net of a “black widow” (Aeschylus 166) – in fact, her justification remains the “act for act” (Aeschylus 166) approach, as Agamemnon’s wrong has righted her revenge. The web/net imagery continues, in fact, when Aegisthus takes a turn to defend himself; he claims to be a “weaver of Justice” (Aeschylus 169) who has trapped Agamemnon in a net and, much like Clytaemnestra, holds a total lack of remorse. Despite the duo’s obvious pride in their completed scheme, the chorus continues to voice strong opposition to the “great commander’s fall” (Aeschylus 170) and ceases not to argue the validity of Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra’s actions, going so far as to accuse them of “soiling justice” (Aegisthus 172). The chorus’ continued backlash to the crime already points towards jagged disarray in the Greek idea of justice; if vengeance could be justified only in the eyes of the wronged, how would a consensus be found for the societal definition of justice