The OresteiaThese plays embody Aeschylus' concerns with the destiny and fate of both individuals and the state, all played out under the watchful eye of the gods. In "Agamemnon, the warrior who defeated Troy returns to Argos and is murdered by his wife Clytemnestra for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia before the Trojan War. In "The Libation Bearers" (Choephoroi), Orestes, Agamemnon's som, avenges his father by murdering his mother. In "The Furies" (Eumenides), Orestes flees to Delphi, pursued by the divine avengers (Erinyes) of his mother. After being purified by Apollo, he makes his way to Athens and is there tried (and acquitted) at the court of Areopagus. |
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Contents
THE SERPENT AND THE EAGLE | 13 |
AGAMEMNON | 99 |
THE LIBATION BEARERS | 173 |
THE EUMENIDES | 227 |
THE GENEALOGY OF ORESTES | 279 |
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY | 281 |
NOTES | 285 |
THE LIBATION BEARERS | 305 |
THE EUMENIDES | 317 |
GLOSSARY | 331 |
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Common terms and phrases
action Aegisthus Aeschylus Agamemnon Apollo Argos Athena Atreus avenge become begins blood breaking bring Cassandra child chorus clear Clytaemnestra comes crime curse dark daughter dead death Delphi dreams Earth effect ELECTRA Eumenides eyes fate father final fire force Furies give glory gods Greek grief guilt hand hear heart hope human husband Introduction judges justice kill kind king land LEADER Libation light lines lives Look lord mean mother murder never night notes Olympian once Oresteia Orestes pain perhaps play prayer purges queen reach revenge rise rites robes Saving sense sing spirit stands struggle suffer tears tell terror things third trial triumph Troy truth turn vengeance victim victory vision woman women young Zeus