Oresteia

Critique • Quotes

Vengeance is ours

Separately the plays in Aeschylus's house of Atreus trilogy are skimpy. Or they may seem so to the modern reader or theatre-goer. In each instalment the narrative turns on a single great dramatic incident.

In Agamemnon the king of the title returns home victorious from the ten-year Trojan War, only to be killed by his wife Clytemnestra.

In The Libation Bearers their son Orestes avenges his father's death by killing his mother.

In The Eumenides (also called The Furies) the story is wrapped up with a trial of Orestes for murder.

The violent acts in the first two don't even take place in our sight. We hear only offstage screams. What happens onstage is mostly dialogue and mainly the choruses, doing what Greek choruses do—setting scenes, providing political commentary, prophesying ruin, and bemoaning the principals' grievous behaviour.

But although individually the dramas collectively known as Oresteia seem simple, together they present a complex and meaningful story arc on themes important to the ancients and us today. No wonder the three are usually discussed together. Aeschylus wrote them to be watched in sequence, unlike Sophocles's later Oedipus plays, each complete in itself but cobbled together in a never-intended trilogy.

Faces in the crowd

The choruses serve as intermediaries with the audience, sharing their concerns about what's transpiring, the typical function of choruses in ancient Greek theatre. But Aeschylus progressively expands their role in the Oresteia plays. The choruses, or individual figures representing the choruses, offer more than just background crowd rumblings. They present distinct personalities that work with the main characters to move the dramatic narrative forward.

They also play increasingly active roles through the three dramas, taking on several evolving identities. In the first place they're mainly passive—wise city elders providing the benefit of their experience of the past, and warning of future calamity. Next they are the interfering slave women "libation bearers") who urge Orestes and his sister Electra to revenge the murder of their father. Finally they're the swarming Furies, deities of vengeance, screeching for Orestes's punishment, until by end they are resolve into gracious divine creatures supporting a more civilized society.

This transformation of the chorus through Oresteia reflects the trilogy's moral development, especially regarding the ancient concept of justice.

In the first stage of this development, Clytemnestra kills Agamemnon for having made a human sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia, exemplifying a retributive "eye for an eye" style of vengeance. Clytemnestra is criticized by the crowd for the murder but Agamemnon's guilt is also acknowledged, implying his death is understood as being in the natural order of things

In the second more transitional stage, Orestes is urged by the chorus of libation servers and at least one god to avenge his father's death by killing Clytemnestra. But here in the second play some ethical doubts are raised about this primitive justice. Orestes is torn between the wish to avenge his father, supported by divine law, and the human taboo against matricide. He still chooses revenge but at least it's a struggle.

In the third stage, the chorus of Furies seek Orestes's blood, but the goddess Athena, with some help from other divinities, forces them to give Orestes a trial by a jury. Twelve citizens of Athens make up the fist such court in the city's history. Orestes, supported by Apollo, is acquitted. The Furies are more or less disbanded and henceforth all such trials are to be settled in court rather than by personal vengeance.

Human justice?

This process supposedly represents the Greeks' move from divine law to human law. However, it's hard with today's eyes to avoid noticing the several divine figures involved in setting up the trial procedure. And Orestes is acquitted of the charge (of which he is actually guilty, small point) with goddess Athena casting the deciding vote.

All of which should undercut the value of the new trial system. The supposedly humanistic justice system of Athens is really a gift of the gods to continue manipulating.

Note also that while Orestes is acquitted of the murder of his mother, she was never cleared of the murder of her husband. Some critics have noted this as showing Oresteia documents a change in ancient Greek culture from matriarchal power to full-blown patriarchy. The new courts bequeathed by the gods to humanity do seem intended to favour men.

The plots, choruses and characters of Oresteia can be further plundered to uncover much more evidence of changing views about the roles and rights of the sexes. Whether Aeschylus was aware of this, was consciously trying to make such points, I can't tell. But it's worth discussing.

— Eric

 

Critique • Quotes

See also:

Iliad

Oedipus Rex

The Odyssey

Macbeth

Buy the book:

The Oresteia, Robert Fagles translation

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