What is the message of the Oresteia?
The principal themes of the trilogy include the contrast between revenge and justice, as well as the transition from personal vendetta to organized litigation. Oresteia originally included a satyr play, Proteus (Πρωτεύς), following the tragic trilogy, but all except a single line of Proteus has been lost.
What is the best translation of the Oresteia?
Taplin’s is probably the best contemporary English rendition of the Oresteia in its evocation of Aeschylus’ poetic range, dramatic power and moving awareness of pain, grief, confusion and rage. His rhythmical, alliterative, sometimes rhyming but often very direct language conveys real emotional power.
What is the plot of The Oresteia?
The Oresteia tells the story of the house of Atreus. The first play, Agamemnon, portrays the victorious return of that king from the Trojan War and his murder by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus. At the play’s end Clytemnestra and her lover rule Árgos.
Who are the main characters in the Oresteia?
OrestesAegisthusElectraAgamemn…CassandraPylades
The Oresteia/Characters
Why is it called Oresteia?
The name derives from the character Orestes, who sets out to avenge his father after his mother’s affair with Aegisthus. The murder of Agamemnon, from an 1879 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church.
What are the three plays of the Oresteia?
The Oresteia Trilogy: Agamemnon, The Libation-Bearers and The Furies (Dover Thrift Editions: Plays)
Who is the hero of the Oresteia?
Agamemnon. The titular character of the first play of the trilogy, Agamemnon is a great Greek hero, one of the key figures in their decisive victory in the Trojan War. To please the goddess Artemis and have the winds shift in his favor before the battle, he sacrificed the life of his daughter Iphigenia.
Who is the villain in Oresteia?
The wife of the Greek hero Agamemnon, Clytemnestra is the main villainess in both Agamemnon and Libation Bearers. Acting out of vengeance for Iphigenia’s sacrifice, she plots to kill Agamemnon with her new beau, Aegisthus, whose family has it out for Agamemnon anyway.
What is the significance of ending in the trilogy Oresteia?
By the end of the trilogy, Orestes is seen to be the key, not only to ending the curse of the House of Atreus, but also in laying the foundation for a new step in the progress of humanity.
Who was Orestes love?
Orestes In Greek legend, the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and brother of Electra. He killed his mother and her lover Aegisthus to avenge their murder of his father.
Who kills Agamemnon?
Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra, in Greek legend, a daughter of Leda and Tyndareus and wife of Agamemnon, commander of the Greek forces in the Trojan War. She took Aegisthus as her lover while Agamemnon was away at war. Upon his return, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon.
Is Orestes a tragedy?
“Orestes” is a late tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Euripides, first presented in 408 BCE.
Who killed Pyrrhus?
Pyrrhus has finally crossed the wrong person, and Orestes cuts him down. A satisfying end, and an interesting one too: Agamemnon and Achilles’ feud has repeated itself in the next generation–only this time, at least for me–with the sympathies reversed.
Are Orestes and Pylades lovers?
Pylades was Orestes’ cousin and close friend, appearing in most of the stories about him and playing a pivotal role. Several Greek writers presented their relationship as a romantic or even homoerotic one. This is most exemplified in versions of the story where Orestes and Pylades seek the statue of Artemis.
Who killed Orestes?
Orestes inherited his father’s kingdom, adding to it Argos and Lacedaemon. He married Hermione, daughter of Helen and Menelaus, and eventually died of snakebite.
Who killed Paris of Troy?
archer Philoctetes
Paris himself, soon after, received a fatal wound from an arrow shot by the rival archer Philoctetes.
Who killed Briseis?
Briseis was later sent to marry Mynes, the son of the King of Lyrnessus. In 1190 BC, during the Trojan War, the Achaean Greek warrior Achilles led an assault on the Trojan ally of Lyrnessus and slew Briseus and Mynes, enslaving Briseis.
Who is Achilles lover?
Did Achilles have a male lover? As a boy, Achilles develops a close relationship with another boy named Patroclus, who joins Achilles’ household as an exile, having accidentally killed another child. They become friends and possibly lovers.
Who did Orestes marry?
Hermione
Orestes inherited his father’s kingdom, adding to it Argos and Lacedaemon. He married Hermione, daughter of Helen and Menelaus, and eventually died of snakebite.
Who actually killed Achilles?
Trojan prince Paris
How does Achilles die? Achilles is killed by an arrow, shot by the Trojan prince Paris. In most versions of the story, the god Apollo is said to have guided the arrow into his vulnerable spot, his heel. In one version of the myth Achilles is scaling the walls of Troy and about to sack the city when he is shot.
Who killed Agamemnon?
Clytemnestra, in Greek legend, a daughter of Leda and Tyndareus and wife of Agamemnon, commander of the Greek forces in the Trojan War. She took Aegisthus as her lover while Agamemnon was away at war. Upon his return, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon.
Did Briseis get pregnant?
Years have passed, the war has ended, Achilles is dead, and Briseis is pregnant with his child. Before his last battle Achilles gave Briseis to Alcimus, a trusted general, to prevent her being auctioned off with his other possessions.
Who did Achilles love the most?
Achilles slew Mynes and the brothers of Briseis (children of Briseus), then received her as his war prize. Even though she was a war prize, Achilles and Briseis fell in love with each other, and Achilles may have gone to Troy intending to spend much time in his tent with her, as was portrayed in the movie.
Did Achilles love his wife?
Did Achilles have a male lover?
Did Achilles have a male lover? As a boy, Achilles develops a close relationship with another boy named Patroclus, who joins Achilles’ household as an exile, having accidentally killed another child.