Vengeance And Justice In The Oresteia

Aeschylus, who is said to have introduced the deuteragonist, is arguably one of the most unique Greek tragedians because of his writing style, character development, and usage of mythological gods and goddesses throughout his plays. One of his famous works is called The Oresteia, a trilogy from 7 preserved plays of many that were lost in history. In The Oresteia, his first play is called Agamemnon, which includes the themes of vengeance and justice. The play is about the king of Argos, Agamemnon, who is killed by his wife, Clytemnestra, when he returns home from the Trojan War. He is sent by the command of Zeus, who wants justice to be served in Troy because of Paris, the Prince of Troy, breaking the guest-host relationship with Menelaus, the

To the Chorus she seemed to be delusional and to speak in falsehood. She tries to explain the curse, of telling the truth and not being believed, that Apollo, the god of prophecy, cast upon her due to her actions. She also tries to explain the evils that will occur to her and Agamemnon, but the Chorus questions her as to who would do such an act. She is clearly bound to the fate of justice and vengeance as well, and we can see a clearer picture of gods and goddesses working together to serve the ultimate justice, in this case death. “Peace, poor girl! Put those words to sleep. (line 1258)” says the Chorus Leader to Cassandra who informs them that they will see their king dead. Their tone to her is shifted from that of Clytemnestra almost as if the curse causes them to forget all that Clytemnestra had told them prior. A factor that also may play a part in this is the roles of the women. Maybe if Cassandra had not been cursed, they would have still not believed her because of her status as a slave. Also being in touch with the gods, Cassandra is very aware of fate and justice just as Clytemnestra is by saying, “no escape, my friends, not now…my time has come. Little to gain from flight.” (line 1322) In some ways though, the Chorus leaders have some pity for Cassandra because she has what they do not, the ability to see her fate and know that it is coming. Because of their age, they are very close to their day of death but are unable to see that, which scares them but also makes them remorseful knowing that she can see that, which most would never want to know about. Accepting her fate is important because it shows us the power that she has of truth telling and it shows us the power that the gods have of successfully conducting a plan of