Aeschlus "Orestia"
...of the playwright are, without being informed by the playwright himself. However, while we cannot know Aeschylus’ purpose in the writing of the Oresteia, we can weigh up the evidence to make an informed decision. Certainly, the Oresteia contains all of the aforementioned aspects – psychological analysis of the characters, narration of the story, relevance to theodicy and the political climate that Aeschylus was living in. It is our job as the modern observer to decide which was Aeschylus’ prime intention.
Primarily, the main basis of a play is its story line, around which all other themes and implications are woven. In the Oresteia, Aeschylus uses the Agamemnon myth to convey his messages; however, whether his purpose was to tell the story is doubtful. One might argue that the story of Agamemnon’s return to Orestes’ insanity is quite a well detailed account, including all the important aspects of the tale such as Clytemnestra’s infidelity, the murder of Agamemnon and the murder of Clytemnestra and Aeigisthus. The deaths are very closely described in the ‘messenger’ speeches of Agamemnon and The Libation Bearers, in fact conducted by the murderers themselves. In Agamemnon, Clytemnestra describes the death of her husband: “…I coil him round and round in the wealth, the robes of doom, and then I strike him once, twice, and at each strike he cries in agony – he buckles at the knees and crashes here!”(Pg. 161, lines 1404 – 1406) It is understandable that these events would not actually be seen by the audience due to the Greek staging convention that death and violence should not be shown onstage, however, other factors negate this argument.
First of all, the story of the House of Atreus is not only of one generation, but in fact includes the terrible happenings between Atreus and his brother Thyestes, and then the abduction of Helen from Menelaus;...
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