Agamemnon

Summar
y

Agamemnon, Ki
ngofAr gos,hasbeenf ighti
ngt hedecade-
longTrojanWar .
Asthepl ayopens,asenti
nel ont hepalacewat chtowerseesal i
ghted
beaconthatsignifi
esavictor
yf ortheGr eeks.Whi l
ehescurriesofftorel
ay
thegoodnewst oQueenCl yt
emnest ra,member softheChorusgi vethe
audiencesomebackgr oundhi storyaboutt heTr oj
anWar,parti
cul
arlyhow
Agamemnonsacr if
icedhisdaught er,
Iphigenia,tocurr
yfavorwiththe
goddessAr t
emis.Thissacrif
ice, whi
choccur r
edwel l
beforetheplaybegan,
becomest hespringboar
df orCly t
emnest ra’sl
ateracti
ons.

InGr eektragedy,
theChor usserv
esmanyf unct
ions.I
tsmembersprov
ide
crucialbackstor
y,runningcommentaryaboutdramati
cevent
s,and
frequentl
ymaki ngomi nouspredi
cti
ons.

AsClytemnestraenters,theChor usrevealsanomenaboutachi l
d’sdeath,
soontobeav enged.Cly t
emnest ra,whohast akenal overi
nherhusband’s
absence,i
sfuri
ouswi thAgamemnonf orkilli
ngtheirdaught
erandhasbeen
pl
otti
nghisdeathev ersince.WhenAgamemnonent er
swithhi
scapt iv
e
andconcubine,theprophet essCassandr a,Clyt
emnest r
apret
endsto
welcomehim home, ev eninsist
ingthatheent erthepalaceonacar pet
madeofpur pl
er obes.

Aft
errel
uctantlyagreei
ng,Agamemnonent er
sthepalace.Inhi
sabsence,
Cassandr
af oretel
l
sofhi sdeat
h,herown,andthearri
valofhi
savenger.
NotlongaftershejoinsAgamemnoni nsi
dethepalace,t
heChorushears
him scr
eam inpai n.Thedoorsbur stopenandtheaudiencesees
Clytemnest
r astandingov ert
hebodi esofAgamemnonandCassandr a.
Withtheaidofherl over,Aegisthus,sheadmitstomur deri
ngt hetwoto
avengeIphigeni
a’sdeat h.Aegisthus, Agamemnon’scousin,hashisown
reasonsforrevenge: Agamemnon’ sf at
hermurder
edhi sbrother
s.

Althoughthetwolovershavebeensuccessfuli
nthei
rcoup,t
heChor
us
revealsthenameoft heonewhowi l
lavengetheHouseofAgamemnon:
Clytemnestra’
sson,Orest
es.I
ndoingso, t
heysetthescenef
ort
henext
dramai ntheOrest
eiaTril
ogy.

Theme

Rev engeisamaj ort hemei ntheAgamemnon.TheGr eeksfighttheTroj

an
Wart oav engePar i
s’ t
hef tofMenelaus’wif
eHel en,Clytemnestraavenges
thedeat hofherdaught erbyki l
l
ingherhusband, andOr est
esandEl ectr
a
wil
l avengetheirfat her ’
smur derbymur der
ingt heirmot herinthenextplay
ofthet ri
l
ogy .I
tisi mpor tantt
onotetheunst oppabl ecycleproducedby
revenge.Onewr ongi sremedi edbyanotherwr ongt hatmustber emedied
byy etanotherwr ong, etc.Revengeneverachiev esitsdesiredeffectof
Just i
ce.“Theslay eroft odayshal l
dietomorrow. ”

Thisl
eadsust ot hequestion, “
Whati sthedifferencebetweenRev engeand
Justi
ce?”Whenacr iminalisconv i
ctedofmur der,aj
udgesent encesthe
cri
minal t
oimprisonment ,death,orsomeot herform ofpunishment.Isnot
thi
saf orm ofr
ev enge–usi ngv iol
encet oredresspastv i
olence?Perhaps
ther
ear etwotypesofr evenge–JustRev engeandUnj ustRev enge–and
ther
eforewecanconcl udet hatther
eisnodi f
ferencebetweenJust
RevengeandJust i
ce,butthereisadi ff
erencebet weenUnjustRev engeand
Just
ice.

Butindivi
dualsoft
endi ff
eraboutwhet herapunishmenti sJust.For
example,onemaybel i
evet hatCly
temnestra’
sactofr evengeisjustifi
ed
becauseAgamemnonki ll
edherdaught er
;thi
spersonmayadv ocat eaneye
-f
or-an-
eyetypeofj ust
ice.Whi l
eother
smayconcl udethatherrev engewas
unjustbecausemur derisnev erj
usti
fi
ed,regardl
essoft hesit
uation.An
agreementregardingJust i
cecannotber eachedinsomeci rcumst ances.

Anotherprev
alentthemei nthisplayi
sFat e.Aeschyluspor t
ray scharacter
s
i
nAgamemnonaspossessi ngfr
eewi l
l,butheshowst hattheirlif
eis
ult
imatel
ygov ernedbyFate.Forexampl e,Fatehasor dainedt hat
Agamemnonwi llsuf
ferbecauseofhi sancestors’pasttransgr essi
ons.He
hasthefreewi l
ltosacri
fi
cehisdaught erorabandont heTr ojanWar ,but
regar
dlessofhisdecisi
onhewi l
lult
imatelysuff
er.Ifhehadchosent o
abandontheTr ojanWar,perhapshewoul dhav ebeent orturedandki ll
edby
hisbrot
herMenel ausandt heotherGreekt r
oops.

Fi
nal l
y,theanci entGr eekphr ase“ phil
os-aphi
los”i
spar ticularl
ysignifi
cant
i
nt hisplay.Phi l
os-aphi l
osr oughl ymeanshat einl
ov e.Inot herwords, the
mosti ntensehat r
edof t
enspr ingsf rom themosti ntensel ove.
Clytemnest r
a’sl ovef orIphigeniai sreplacedbyal oathingf orAgamemnon.
Shedi splaysjusthowmuchangerandhat redshebear st oAgamemnon
whenshegl oat sov erhismur deredcor pse.Shedescr ibeshowshe
butcheredhi m wi thanaxe.“ Itrappedhi mi narobe,andt hensmot ehi m.At
eachwound, hecr i
edal oud.Eachdy ingbreat
hf l
ungswi ftbubbli
ngj etsof
goref r
om hisbr east.Andt hedar kspr i
nkli
ngsofther ainofbl oodf ell
upon
me.AndIr ejoicedt of eelthatdew. ”
Char
act
ers

Agamemnon-TheKi ngofArgos, t
hehusbandofCl y
temnestra,andthe
commanderoft heGreekarmiesdur i
ngt hesiegeofTroy.Agamemnoni s
theolderbr ot herofMenelaus,whosewi feHel enwasstolenbyaTr ojan
pri
nce,thusi gnit
ingadecade-longwar .Agr eatwar
ri
or,hesacrif
icedhis
daughterIphi geniainordertoobtainaf avorablewi
ndtocar r
ytheGr eek
fl
eettoTroy .Dur i
ngtheten-y
earconf l
i
ct ,hi
sQueenhaspl ott
edhi sdeathi
n
ordertoav enget hekil
l
ingoftheirdaughter.Heappearsonst ageonly
bri
efl
y,andbehav esarrogant
ly.Hegoest ohisdeat
hunawar eofhi sfat
e.

Cly
t emnest ra-Theplay'sprotagoni
st,
ClytemnestraisAgamemnon' swif
e
andhasr uledArgosinhisabsence.Shepl anshismur derwithruthl
ess
determi nati
on,andfeelsnogui l
taft
erhisdeath;sheisconv i
ncedofher
ownr ecti
tudeandoft hejusti
ceofkil
li
ngt hemanwhoki l
ledherdaughter.
Shei s,asy mpatheti
cchar act
erinmanyr espect
s,butther i
ghteousnessof
hercr imeistaint
edbyherent angl
ementwi t
hAegi st
hus.Evenso,
Aeschy l
usmakesi tcl
eart hatAgamemnon' sdeathmustbeav enged.

Chor us-Theeldercit
izensofArgos,whoweretoooldtof i
ghtintheTroj
an
War .Theyser
veasadv i
sorst
oQueenCl yt
emnestraduri
ngAgamemnon' s
absence,andprovi
decomment aryontheact
ionoftheplay.Their
speechesprovi
det hebackgroundfortheact
ion,
fortheyforeshadowthe
King'sdeat
hwhent heydescribetheevent
softheTrojanWaranddi scuss
thedangersofhumanpr i
de.

Cassandr
a-ATr ojanpr
iest
ess,capturedbyAgamemnonandcar r
iedt o
Argosashisslaveandmist
ress.ShewasApol l
o'slover
.Apoll
ogav eher
thegi
ftofprophecy,
butwhensher efusedtobearhim achi
ld,hepunished
herbymakingal
laroundherdisbel
iev
eherpr
edict
ions.Sheseesthe
ancest
ral
curseaf
fl
icti
ngAgamemnon' sf
amily
,andpr edi
ctsbothhi
sdeath
andherown,aswellasthevengeancebr
oughtbyOrestesinthenextpl
ay.

Aegist
hus-Agamemnon' scousi n,andClyt
emnest r
a'sl
over.Hisfatherand
Agamemnon' sfatherwerer i
valsforthethr
one.Agamemnon' sfat
herboiled
twoofhisr i
val
'schil
dren-
-Aegisthus'br
others-
-andserv
edt hem tohimf or
dinner
.Sincethatti
me, Aegist
hushasbeeni nexil
eawaiti
ngachancet o
seekrevengefortheterri
blecri
me.

TheWat chman-Themanassi gnedtowat

chforthesi
gnalofTr
oy'
sfal
l
fr
om theroofoft
hepalace.Heisjoy
ful
athi
sking'
sret
urn,
butal
sois
gri
ppedwi t
hasenseofforebodi
ng.

TheHeral
d-Hebr i
ngst heChorusnewsofAgamemnon'ssafe
homecoming.Anardentpatr
iot
,heisecst
atictoseet
hehomehethought
hehadlef
tforev
erandpr ov
idesvi
vi
ddescripti
onsoft
hehor
ror
softhewar
agai
nstTr
oy.