Distracted Teacher

Ok. So I can't say this author's name . . . but as far as old plays go, the Oresteia trilogy is pretty good. It was a fast read, had multi-faceted characters, and a lot of topics to think about. As you will see from my one-sentence and one-word summaries below though . . . I would probably put this play under the theme of horror. I mean if it didn't have so many deep topics, I'd probably just plainly list it under horror. I'm extremely surprised I didn't have nightmares last night. Just saying.

One Sentence Summary: 

One Word Summary: 

Murder

Book History: 

So Oresteia is actually a trilogy of plays. (Originally it had four plays but one, Proteus, didn't survive, so we only have the three.) It is (according to Wikipedia) the only surviving example of a Greek Trilogy of plays, so that makes it important. 

Good Quotes:

Wisdom comes through suffering.

(Agamemnon Line 211)

So men against their will 

learn to practice moderation.

(Agamemnon Lines 214-215)

 

There’s no security in riches

      for the insolent man who kicks aside

      and pushes from his sight

      great altars of righteousness.

(Agamemnon Lines 464-467)

 

It’s the unholy act that breeds

more acts of the same kind.

A truly righteous house is blest

its children always fair and good.

(Agamemnon Lines 899-903)

 

 But Righteousness shines out

from grimy dwellings, honouring

the man who lives in virtue.

She turns her eyes away

from gold-encrusted mansions

where men’s hands are black,

and moves towards integrity,

rejecting power and wealth,
which, though praised, are counterfeit.
Righteousness leads all things
to well-deserved fulfillment.

(Agamemnon Lines 913-923)

 

  By nature few men

possess the inborn talent to admire

a friend’s good fortune without envy.

(Agamemnon Lines 976-978)

 

Those who practise moderation

in everything they do

acquire strength from god,

(Eumenides Lines 671-673)

Themes:

• 1) Women Stereotypes and Women Roles
• 2) Retribution vs. Forgiveness
• 3) Pride

Summary of My Thoughts:

I don't know anything about how the Greek stereotype for women, but this play is confusing in trying to set one for me. One minute their female characters seem powerful, e.g. Clytemnestra running her husband's kingdom? in his absence, addressing her subjects with authority, playing a submissive part only to chop her husband up . . . But then there are quotes from the narrator chorus like "Noble men shall not be subject to the heart of a woman" and " You speak wisely, like a prudent man." 

I also couldn't help despising the old chorus women in The Choephoroi because they convinced Oresteus to kill his mother. I just kept thinking that murder in vengeance just begets more murder. Someone has to end the cycle. And this is a great example of how terribly difficult that could be. Who would want to let the murderer who boiled your brothers and fed them to your father live? Nobody! Letting that vengeance go is necessary though. Eventually we have to trust in the system to exact justice (as is done in the last play - albeit with more than a little god control) instead of just going around lopping people's heads off.