The Oresteia: Agamemnon / The Libation Bearers / The Eumenides

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The Oresteia: Agamemnon / The Libation Bearers / The Eumenides

by Aeschylus, Robert Fagles (Translator), W.B. Stanford (Introduction, Notes, Glossary)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 13,987 ratings · 395 reviews

In the Oresteia - the only trilogy in Greek drama which survives from antiquity - Aeschylus took as his subject the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos.

Moving from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, its spirit of struggle and regeneration is eternal.

Paperback, 335 pages

Published September 29th 1977 by Penguin Classics (first published -575)

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Jan 30, 2010 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic

Murder, betrayal, revenge, torment . . . you might wonder, “Why would I bother reading three Greek plays when I could see the same sort of lurid problems on an episode of Jerry Springer? And fold laundry at the same time??” Two possible answers: First, you’re not going to get patricide, matricide, human sacrifice and unintentional cannibalism on daytime TV because we still draw the line somewhere, and you have to admit those are pretty dramatic. More importantly, though, along with the dysfuncti...more Murder, betrayal, revenge, torment . . . you might wonder, “Why would I bother reading three Greek plays when I could see the same sort of lurid problems on an episode of Jerry Springer? And fold laundry at the same time??” Two possible answers: First, you’re not going to get patricide, matricide, human sacrifice and unintentional cannibalism on daytime TV because we still draw the line somewhere, and you have to admit those are pretty dramatic. More importantly, though, along with the dysfunction in the House of Atreus comes a searing examination of guilt, retribution, and justice. It’s a lot of philosophical bang for your buck.

The first play in the trilogy, Agamemnon, sets up the conflict for the remaining two. Agamemnon returns home from the Trojan War to his wife, Clytemnestra, who has spent the last ten years plotting revenge because he sacrificed their daughter to appease a god at the outset of the journey. The verbal interplay at their reunion is the stuff of English majors’ dreams. Clytaemnestra’s subsequent murder of Agamemnon, with the help of a lover who has his own history with Agamemnon, is the stuff of Mafia dreams – though actually I’m only guessing on that one. However, Clytaemnestra’s revenge creates the conflict that drives the other two plays and generates the ethical conundrum Aeschylus ultimately wants to solve. For now Clytaemnestra’s son, Orestes, needs to avenge his father’s death . . . but what happens if you kill your own mother? And how is the cycle of revenge ever supposed to end??

The Libation Bearers has Orestes debating what he should do, sort of like Hamlet, until the advice of his sister and the chorus women wins the day. . . and that’s when the excitement kicks up a notch. Clytaemnestra’s death at the hand of her son calls forth the avenging Furies — ancient goddesses of chthonic tradition who appear here as gorgon-like horrors, swathed in black, heads writhing with snakes. It’s so dramatic!! Also it’s fitting, for Clytaemnestra is like a Fury herself: in avenging her daughter’s death she acts within the old paradigm of blood ties that the Furies champion, wherein maternal claims are stronger than marital.

So even though Orestes does his duty to avenge his father (in accordance with the current ethos), he’s pursed by snaky-haired horrors for killing his mother. Like his father, Orestes appears to be both an agent and a victim of fate, for in following the gods’ direction to avenge his father’s death, he both aligns himself with the Furies’ spirit of vengeance and becomes subject to it. Perhaps Orestes’ contradictory relationship with the Furies is Aeschylus’s commentary on a theology rife with snares and contradictions. In The Eumenides, Aeschylus resolves the problem, but his “solution” to the blood feud tradition is hardly unproblematic itself — read it and lose sleep! But you’ll know for sure why this is a masterpiece.
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Oct 30, 2011 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, book-club, classics, plays

Oresteia is the only surviving trilogy of Greek tragedy plays, performed in 458 BCE - two years before Aeschylus's death in 456 BCE. This review summarises all three plays as a trilogy, and because I think that it's easier to read them if you know what to expect, I do give away all the relevant plot points.

The first play, "Agamemnon", is about betrayal: King Agamemnon returns home to Argos after the successful sacking of Troy (in modern-day Turkey), only to be killed by his wife Clytemnestra and...more

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Nov 25, 2011 Michael rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, drama

I've come to the conclusion that anyone who says he or she is a fan of Greek drama must also, by default, be a fan of soap operas and the ridiculous story lines that surround them. This, of course, is not a bad thing (soap operas definitely have a fan base), but I can't refrain from sighing and inwardly groaning at all the ridiculous plots these characters go through. If you've read Sophocles, Aeschylus' Oresteia is more of the same thing. Rocky mommy/son relations, cheating spouses, murder, sca...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: plays, read-in-2011, read-in-2012, author-classical

Robert Fagles' translation is excellent.

The Oresteia was written as a trilogy, and according to the scholars is the only Greek drama that survives as such. I would definitely recommend reading all 3 parts together, as they build one after the other. This trilogy is deceptively simple, in some ways, but the excellent introductory essay by W.B. Stanford, titled "The Serpent and the Eagle", helped me to see the much deeper issues that are explored in the play. I don't want to put any spoilers in th...more

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Jan 16, 2009 James rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, drama, study-group, u-of-chicago, sunday-morning, favorites, poetry

This is a modern (circa 1999) translation of one of the greatest of the Greek Tragedies that has survived. It is even rarer in that it is a complete trilogy which was common in the age of the great Greek tragedians but few have survived in tact.
n the last year of his life, Ted Hughes completed translations of three major dramatic works: Racine's Phedre, Euripedes' Alcestis, and the trilogy of plays known as at The Oresteia, a family story of astonishing power and the background or inspiration f...more

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Mar 28, 2007 Alexander Santiago rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Yes

Shelves: high-art-and-culture

This is perhaps ancient Greece's most famous tragic trilogy that has survived antiquity. "Agamemnon" deals with the treacherous murder of King Agamemnon, just returned from the Trojan war, at the hands of his wife, Clytemnestra, and his brother (who had an affair with his wife and coveted the throne). "The Libation Bearers" brings karmic and bloody retribution upon Clytemnestra at the hands of her only son, Orestes, avenging the death of his father. "The Eumenides" deals with Orestes flight from...more

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Oct 22, 2007 Russell rated it 4 of 5 stars

I had in my mind that the these plays were full of mythology of the pantheon of Greek gods.

There are gods, yes, and other mythological creatures like the Furies, but there is so much more there, themes of duty, of humility, hubris, sin and forgiveness, the weight and fullness of history (the Trojan War) and family.

Out of these three plays Aeschylus sharply defined characters that still are echoed today. Clytemnestra, Cassandra and Iphigenia are still used as descriptions and figures today.

I lik...more

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Jul 09, 2012 Karl H. rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Oresteia is a series of plays about the war of the sexes, law and order, and vengeance. It is tough to read in the modern day, because a lot of it is predicated on a very sexist view of women, and I think that view is inextricably tied to how the play is written.

Probably my favorite of the plays is Agamemnon, the first of the Oresteia. I think this play is the greatest out of the set- certainly it seemed the strongest to my modern sensibilities. Agamemnon, I am convinced, actually questions...more The Oresteia is a series of plays about the war of the sexes, law and order, and vengeance. It is tough to read in the modern day, because a lot of it is predicated on a very sexist view of women, and I think that view is inextricably tied to how the play is written.

Probably my favorite of the plays is Agamemnon, the first of the Oresteia. I think this play is the greatest out of the set- certainly it seemed the strongest to my modern sensibilities. Agamemnon, I am convinced, actually questions the value of the Trojan wars and the greatness of the king. The chorus spends a lot of time talking about the horrors of war, the sin of greed, and the absolute pointlessness of fighting a bloody war over a woman dismissed as a whore. Connecting the dots, it’s easy to see this as a critique of Agamemnon himself. Already obscenely wealthy and powerful, what does he need to sack and plunder Troy for? And yet, in his pursuit of glory and riches, he murders his own daughter simply so he can go fight abroad. As he comes back from the war, he brings his concubine/slave Cassandra in tow back to his home to greet his wife.

It is almost impossible for me not to empathize with Clytemnestra here. She possesses patience, nerve and strength- but as a woman, her fitness to rule will always be second guessed. Take the very first scene of the play where she finds out about the fall of Troy before everyone else. Thanks to a series of towers with pyres in them that act as a telegraph, she knows about it almost instantly. Yet her claims are met with complete skepticism- first the old men ascribe them to visions, then when they hear of the system Clytemnestra contrived, they retain an ironic distance, using scare quotes around the term “proof.” Finally, public opinion turns against her, dismissing her claim as the whims of a foolish woman. But what is so outlandish about her claim, backed not by visions, but by proof? Only when a male messenger arrives does the general public accept that the war is over. In fact, the old men are generally pretty dense- unable to understand the fairly straightforward explanation of how the flame towers work, and later unable to decipher a very straightforward prophecy that frames the rest of the play. People are inclined to see her as a tyrant, but this is never borne out by her behavior. In fact, at the end of the play she shows a great deal of mercy toward a group of people who hold her in contempt.

The Libation Bearers is the worst of the plays, completely eradicating all of Agamemnon’s wrongs and turning Clytemnestra into a villain. And yet she still has her good qualities, mourning over the death of her son and attempting to make some amends. Orestes, namesake of the trilogy makes his first appearance, but he’s really a dime a dozen Greek hero, something of a blank, boring character. This may be the first trilogy in history to exhibit the tendency of trilogies to have a weak middle chapter.

The Eumenides is not quite as strong as Agamemnon, but it has its values, as it is almost certainly the first courtroom drama in history. For the first time, I could see what Aeschylus was getting at. The true point of these plays as intended by their author is almost certainly about cycles of revenge and the rule of law. It’s not a mistake that the final problem is not resolved by bloody conflict but by persuasive negotiation. Murder upon retaliatory murder is no way to run a city, no matter how justified the reasons. Vengeance leads to more vengeance- each is justified in its own way. The only way out of such a cycle of blood is a system of justice- a jury to decide and render its verdict.

Unfortunately, Aeschylus makes up for his earlier proto-feminism in Agamemnon with a dismally sexist showing here. The case culminates in a preposterous proof that “the woman you call the mother is not the child’s true parent. She’s a nurse, rather, a stranger who shelters a stranger for the true parent, the male who mounts and sows the seed.” Astonishing. Maybe even astonishing for that era. The woman, who carries a child for nine months, and nurses it as a child, is not even a parent according to Apollo, divine fount of truth and god who cannot lie. Women are denied even their maternity. The outcome of the case provides conclusive evidence that at least 6 men in ancient Greece are wiser than the goddess of wisdom. The losing side throws a hissy fit, but eventually submits to Athena’s powers of persuasion (oh yes, and some bribery too).

All of this is a pretty political reading of a set of plays written by thousands of years ago. I’ve always tried to separate the politics of a work of art from its aesthetic qualities. I still think that’s a good way to read plays, whenever possible. Unfortunately, I find it impossible to do so with the Oresteia. When these political views inform the structure of the book to this extent, they form an integral part of the book. These views come under our scrutiny as readers as a result. All of the murders in the book are between genders. They form a clear pattern. The heroes of the plays are mostly men. The villains are mostly women. There are exceptions, but this is largely a tale of male agency prevailing over female agency. The vengeance stuff gets kind of pushed out of the way.

A note on translation: Do not read the Mueller translation of these plays. It sucks. The introduction explains that some literalness has been exchanged for poetic force- so we are not even assured of its accuracy. Generally we get a lot of swear words and no real poetic rhythm to speak of. Irritating exclamations like “E! E!”, “IOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”, “PATAI!”, “OTOTOOTOTOOTOTOOTOI! “are left in, or maybe even invented for all I know. Different cultures have different onomatopoeias, but try to imagine someone screaming OTOTOTOTOTOTI. What does that even sound like? And who would make such a noise? Lines like “The two-legged lion-bitch fucks with the wolf” are just really, really badly translated. Another nuisance is the ridiculous fucking formatting of the play in general. This pretty clearly is not only original but also extremely annoying, especially when the prophecies get going and every word gets indented differently. Translators take note: Each word does not need a new line, no matter how much you need to fill up the page count.
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Oct 21, 2011 Kay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chilling, classical-lit, heroes-flawed-n-great, myths-and-tales

Even compared to other Greek tragedies, the Oresteia stands out. It's not just about the family drama or the bloody cycle of revenge. It's more than that. It's about peering deeply into the darkness of the human soul, stripping any semblance of control over one's destiny, and seeing what would result--madness.

Orestes was driven by forces more ancient and far bloodier than his mere judgment. In a society divinely centered on the family, Orestes was ordained to avenge his father's death, even if i...more Even compared to other Greek tragedies, the Oresteia stands out. It's not just about the family drama or the bloody cycle of revenge. It's more than that. It's about peering deeply into the darkness of the human soul, stripping any semblance of control over one's destiny, and seeing what would result--madness.

Orestes was driven by forces more ancient and far bloodier than his mere judgment. In a society divinely centered on the family, Orestes was ordained to avenge his father's death, even if it meant killing his own mother. What is a man to do? If he doesn't kill his mother, the furies of his father would pursue him. If he does kill his mother, same story. Hardly fair, as his father Agamemnon was the one who sparked this vicious chain of events in the first place by sacrificing his daughter so that the Achean fleet could sail to Illium. The lack of control, being tossed this way and that like a lone battered ship caught in a divine storm, the uncertainty of life and yet the certainty of eternal torment--such is the definition of hell.

In such a system, how will the House of Atreus, a house of kings and heroes, survive itself?

When I studied the play, many found Athena's judicial intervention jarring and strange, especially since the first two plays centered around emotionally charged brutality and violent justice. In comparison, the resolution of the trilogy seems cold, a stark contrast to the previous two plays. But it is in this intervention that Aeschylus really delivers his message to Greece. Bound by its own traditions and practices, the House of Atreus would ultimately collapse in on itself. But when subjected to a common, binding law determined by moral and impartial judges was the House of Atreus salvaged. A court system and laws, created by the people, established order where there was madness. In the end, man can find his own way, even if divine forces seek to drive us to another fate.

In these plays, Aeschylus wrested our destiny away from the gods and placed the strands of our fate in our hands. Though it might be a fleeting moment of control, even if we are truly the chess pieces of the gods, Aeschylus reminds us to a certain extent, our fates are our own.(less)

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Jul 31, 2011 matt rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: theatrepieces, top-shelf, worldly-lit, favorites, ancients

....Just passed the Libation Bearers. Aeschylus has a way with ironic, monumental dialogues which portend tremendous climaxes. The language is so deep and seeps into the interaction- apparantly he suggests that there are no good options in life, merely the best of the worst, and that one must take their place amid the roil. Wisdom. This resonates with me, in the way that a drama read on the page will, as I imagine the perfect language and staging to bear witness to it....bigger review to follow,...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Helene rated it 5 of 5 stars

Dearest Reader,

I could write a dissertation on this book. The notes I have scribbled elsewhere to post here on Goodreads.com cannot suffice to exemplify what I love about this trilogy.

So, in all of this humbling exhaustion, I must just write in fragments.

1. Never underestimate the oldies. They really can be "goodies."

2. Trust your "elders" when they tell you: "Read this book. I know it is difficult, but someday, if not now, you will understand why you read it, and it will move you doubly."

3. Ae...more

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Mar 27, 2011 S. Annelise Adams rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: u-of-c

Q: How many great authors were inspired by the characters in these plays?
A: Bazillions, give or take.

The Furies-- wrathful, smelly, wraith-like she-beasts-- are among the most fascinating creatures ever spawned by our collective unconscious. (Delivered by Dr. Aeschylus, no doubt via one putrid and grizzly c-section) these girls predate the Olympian pantheon and specialize in erasing people who murder their own family members.
Every time I experience a taste for revenge (and it happens more freque...more

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Jun 22, 2010 Brad rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: drama, classic, collection, greek-lit

It's paradoxically inspiring and frightening that the things the Greek playwrights were writing about still resonate today: inspiring that their insights and idiocies remain relevant to modern readers, and frightening that humanity has made so little progress that the insights and idiocies of Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles still concern us.

I picked up the Oresteia because I thought it was about time I put the plays to the tale I thought I knew. I found what I expected:

The children were eaten

...more It's paradoxically inspiring and frightening that the things the Greek playwrights were writing about still resonate today: inspiring that their insights and idiocies remain relevant to modern readers, and frightening that humanity has made so little progress that the insights and idiocies of Aeschylus, Euripides and Sophocles still concern us.

I picked up the Oresteia because I thought it was about time I put the plays to the tale I thought I knew. I found what I expected:

The children were eaten: there was the first
affliction, the curse of Thyestes.
Next came the royal death [if we ignore the sacrifice of Iphigenia:], when a man
and lord of Achaean armies went down
killed in the bath. Third
is for the saviour. He came. Shall I call
it that, or death? Where
is the end? Where shall the fury of fate
be stilled to sleep, be done with?

The familiar bloody tale of cannibalism, infanticidal sacrifice, vengeance, more vengeance, and the Gods ordained entrenchment of patriarchy were all there. The three plays of the Oresteia -- Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides -- were brutal, lovely, frustrating, illogical, brilliant and exciting in turns. I spent some of my time trying to suss out a way to stage these entertainingly without wholesale change, and some of my time thinking about the insights and idiocies that the Oresteia offered.

Amongst it all, I was shocked to discover something fresh -- at least to me. We often talk about the stultifying power of patriarchy, how that power has twisted up our cultures into the ugliness we know now, and the blame for that power is widely accepted to be the responsibility of those who made the power, hold the power and don't want to give it up.

What struck me in the Oresteia is that most people, from that day to this, from Ancient Greece to our modern globalized world, are responsible for the power of patriarchy (at least partially) because they desire infantilization. Few, so very, very few, want to be adults (metaphorically speaking). They don't want to make choices, they don't want to accept responsibility, they don't want to face conflict, they don't want to think. They want protection, they want to be told, they want to justify, they want to conform, they want to remain permanent metaphysical children embracing illusory comfort.

In the Oresteia the gods are credited with every act taken, so the players live or die believing that another is responsible for what they've done. They remain willing children of the gods.

It's a human willingness that I see all around me 2,468 years after the Oresteia was written. Is it any wonder the concerns of Aeschylus still plague us today?(less)

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Aug 30, 2008 Terry rated it 5 of 5 stars

Like so many other things that I've been reading lately, Aeschylus's trilogy is concerned with human beings thrown into the crucible of extremest intensity, pressured from every direction my conflicting obligations, driven to violent action and violent remorse. Few poets are as willing as Aeschylus to stare into the profound darkness of human suffering and name the curse that seems to hold us to the wheel of our own violence. Yet, even fewer are ultimately as hopeful about the possibility of our...more

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Nov 14, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 08, 2010 Lindsey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I ordered copies of this trilogy for my AP Lit class, but I meant to order the Robert Fagles translation. Apparently there was a mistake somewhere along the way, and instead we received copies of this Peter Meineck translation. Although it was unintended, this actually provided a nice opportunity to compare versions.

Personally, I like the Fagles translation better; his language is much more symbolic, and I like his ideas for staging more than Meineck's. That being said, I think Meineck's versio...more

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Oct 10, 2007 Morgan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: theatre

I enjoyed "The Eumenides" more than I thought I would, more than the other two parts of the trilogy. Reading "The Libation Bearers" was incredibly confusing, because I had read two versions of "Electra" before going into The Oresteia, and sophomore year of highschool I saw a play entitled "Orestes 2.0," which was a wacky retelling of the mythos of Orestes and Electra. None of these fell into my understanding of the myth, which is Orestes kills Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, Electra has a part in it...more

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Mar 31, 2010 Mark Adderley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classical

This is an excellent trilogy (of course), about a woman's revenge upon her husband for the sacrifice of her daughter, and a son's revenge upon his mother for having murdered his father...kind of confusing, like a lot of Greek tragedies. This one involves a conflict between the old ways, represented by Clytaemnestra, Agamemnon, and the Furies, and the new ways, represented by Orestes, Athena, and Apollo. It's Athena, through the use of reason and justice, who puts an end to the cycle of revenge a...more

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Mar 10, 2010 Ara rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Aeschylus, as the original Greek playwright, sticks to the basics of his time. There is a chorus, a few singularly riveting lines from Clytemnestra (who has been harboring hot anger for over a decade since her husband sacrificed their daughter to the winds), a murder, revenge, etc. There are definitely some lines that I loved when I read through these plays. Reading is a different experience when you are reading through plays, after all. Agamemnon was an excellent piece. Electra, however, is awf...more

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Oct 15, 2007 Krystal rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Greek tragedy people

Shelves: school-reading

Well, this book started out great. I loved the first play, Agamemnon because the style of the writing and the diction was absolutely amazing. I was enthralled through the whole first play and I was excited to keep reading. Unfortunately, Libation Bearers kind of killed it for me. It was boring and not half as interesting as the first play. The Eumenides saved the book a little but the last two plays were definitely a let-down after the first one. So if you enjoy Greek tragedies, which I usually...more

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May 18, 2013 JP rated it 5 of 5 stars

The final installment of the trilogy has Orestes fleeing from the Furies who seek judgement against him for spilling the blood of his own kin. Orestes flees a great distance with them constantly upon him, his primary defense that Apollo bade him to seek justice for the murder of Agammemnon. The Furies finally catch Orestes at a temple of Athena, where he grasps her statue in search of aid. Athena then appears and brings the matter to question, allowing testimony from Apollo, Orestes, and the Gho...more

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Apr 16, 2013 Mike W rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. These are among the greatest plays ever written. They start with the return home from Troy of Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek expedition. In order to secure victory, Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughter. But this act so outraged his wife, Clytemnestra, that she took a lover and plotted with him the assassination of her husband.

But the murder of Agamemnon has its own bloody consequences, as his son, Orestes, at the urging of the god Apollo, resolves to avenge his father by murdering his ow...more These are among the greatest plays ever written. They start with the return home from Troy of Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek expedition. In order to secure victory, Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughter. But this act so outraged his wife, Clytemnestra, that she took a lover and plotted with him the assassination of her husband.

But the murder of Agamemnon has its own bloody consequences, as his son, Orestes, at the urging of the god Apollo, resolves to avenge his father by murdering his own mother. When he does so, he is pursued by other gods, "The Furies" whom Clytemnestra had enlisted to avenge her.

Terrified, Orestes flees, eventually seeking sanctuary in the temple of Apollo, who offers him protection and casts a spell on the Furies, giving Orestes a chance to escape.

Later, both the Furies and Apollo agree to a trial presided over by the goddess Athena, to decide between their competing claims to justice. The jurors are split, and Athena sides in favor of Orestes and Apollo.

At this, the Furies are enraged, cursing both the new gods and human beings for the disrespect shown them. But gradually Athena succeeds placating them, and persuading them to take a position of honor with her in governing.

One of the most interesting aspects of the trilogy is the battle between the new gods, represented by Apollo and Athena (and ultimately Zeus) and the old gods represented by the Furies. Aeschylus is using this battle as an allegory for the process of civilization.

In order for human beings to live civilized and prosperous lives, they need law and order. But that requires that passion, and especially the passion for vengence, be subordinated to reason. And the Furies stand for passion, and especially the passion for revenge, while Apollo stands for reason and lawfulness.

Athena recognizes that, while reason must reign supreme, it cannot effectively banish passion, but must rather subsume passion into itself, and direct it towards more fruitful goals.

This conflict is essentially the same one emphasized by Nietzsche in The Birth of Tragedy from the Soul of Music as a war between Apollo and Dionysus.

Regardless, these tragedies are excellent, and everyone ought to red them. And they are here translated into English by one of the best translators around.(less)

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Dec 30, 2012 Vegantrav rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

To whom should one’s loyalty be greater: one’s spouse or one’s parent? Which is worse: to murder one’s spouse or to murder one’s parent?

These questions are raised in one of the greatest Greek tragedies, Aeschylus’s epic trilogy, The Oresteia.

* * *

Agamemnon needed the weather to change in order to launch the ships that would carry his Greek army to the shores of Troy.

The weather, however, was foul. To appease Artemis, whom Agamemnon had angered, and thus to change the weather, Agamemnon sacrifice...more

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Sep 22, 2012 John Baker rated it 3 of 5 stars

Belt Up Theatre were at York Theatre Royal to perform Aeschylus‘ The Oresteia, a trilogy of plays that were first performed in Athens in 458BC.

The Oresteia follows the fortunes 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. The second play, Choephoroi (The Libation Bearers), deals with Agamemnon’s daughter Electra and his son Orestes. Orestes avenges his father’...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Justin Evans rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: poetry-and-drama

I tried to read 'Prometheus Bound' years ago, and couldn't finish it. Clearly I should have waited a while- The Oresteia, in the Fagles translation, is one of the most remarkable books I've ever read. Darker and more violent than anything the 20th century could come up with, it's also brighter and more hopeful than anything from the 19th century. It's as if someone had written both Schiller's 'Ode to Joy' and Eliot's 'Waste Land', and it was one book, only there was far deeper social, political...more

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Jun 10, 2012 David Sarkies rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: tragedy

Now, my argument in relation to this trilogy is that it is not so much three plays, but a single three act play. In saying this I will then suggest that this is the only extant play (not counting the Persians as I am not sure whether that is part of a trilogy) of Aeschylus that we have as the other three plays are parts of a trilogy, of which the other parts have been lost. It is actually quite a shame that the ancient copyists did not consider the trilogies to be single unifying plays as what...more Now, my argument in relation to this trilogy is that it is not so much three plays, but a single three act play. In saying this I will then suggest that this is the only extant play (not counting the Persians as I am not sure whether that is part of a trilogy) of Aeschylus that we have as the other three plays are parts of a trilogy, of which the other parts have been lost. It is actually quite a shame that the ancient copyists did not consider the trilogies to be single unifying plays as what we do have is sort of like having one book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. In a way the play is not complete (and this is very noticeable with Prometheus Bound, as we only have the first, and the play ends with Prometheus being cast down into the underworld).
Grecian plays tended to be a whole day affair, with four plays being performed, the trilogy and what is termed a Satyr play. Each of the plays would be performed, with a break between the parts, sort of like an interlude in our modern theatre. They were performed outside (all of the theatres were outside) and I suspect they would have been performed during the day. It raises the question of how would the Athenians balance their work life and be able to attend the plays. The first answer is that the plays were performed during a festival, so the Athenians (usually the wealthier class) would be able to attend, as was done during the festival. Secondly, the Athenians did not like to work, that is what slaves and metics were for. Work to the Athenians was simply owning business interests and earning money from it. It was also the case with the wealthier farms (though the poorer citizens would have to work their own land, though even they would own slaves). So, having slaves do the actual work freed up the Athenian citizens to go to the theatre.
The second thing that I wish to discuss is this whole idea of sympathy lying with Clytaemnestra. I put it here because she is the main character in the play, and she is also the villain. I have read reviews where people have claimed that Clytaemnestra did the right thing in killing her husband, and it was Orestes, acting on the command of a god, that was the foolish one. Simply put, this was not what the Greeks would have thought. To be blunt, Clytaemnestra was a woman and to the Greeks, the womans place was in her home obeying her husband. Sounds pretty barbaric, but that is the way it was. We simply cannot look at a 4th Century Athenian drama through the eyes of a 21st century Anglo, it simply doesn't work. Our views of sexual equality simply did not exist back then, and while writers like Euripides may have criticised this view, he was the exception as opposed to the rule.
Now, consider Apollo's charge against Clytaemnestra (pg 168) 'Zues so ordained, and Zeus was right. For their two deaths / are in no way to be compared. He was a king / wielding an honoured sceptre by divine command. / A woman killed him: such death might be honourable / in battle, dealt by an arrow from an amazon's bow. / but you shall hear, Pallas and you who judge this case, / how Clytemnestra killed her husband. When he came / home from the war, for the most part successful, and / performed his ritual cleansing, she stood by his side;/ the ritual ended, as he left the silver bath, / she threw on him a robe's interminable folds'. So there it is, Agamemnon was a divinely appointed king, and was killed dishonourably by his wife while he was basically in prayer.
Let us also consider this, also from the mouth of Apollo (pg 169) 'The mother is not the true parent of the child/ which is called hers. She is a nurse who tends the growth / of young seed planted by his true parent, the male.' From this line it is clear that the argument that the crime of matricide does not exist as the mother is not even strictly a parent, she is little more than a nursemaid caring for the father's child. It is clear from this line that Aeschylus' view of women was a very conservative view, namely that they had no rights whatsoever. The woman is the child bearer and that is it, that is all the role that she plays. Not something that my modern mind agrees with, or considers to be right, but this is not a modern play, but rather a ancient play.
Another thing I wish to consider is bringing this play into a more modern context. In a way it is also a story of homecoming from war and how war can have an adverse, even destructive, effect upon a family. In this play the family has been torn apart by the war, the wife has taken a lover, killed the husband, and banished the children to perpertual slaverly. In seeking vengeance the child in then dragged through the courts, protesting his innocence. It is a theme that, while not necessarily working in a modern context the way it is written, can work. This is the idea that I thought up last night, of a three act play based upon the Orestea.
1) Agamemnon returns home from a tour of duty in the army where he watched friends died and has been left with PTSD. While at home he has a flashback, kills his wife and two of his children, and flees. 2) The son grows up, angered at his father for killing his mother, and goes out on a quest to locate him and kill him. 3) the son, after succeeding, is then arrested and charged with murder, convicted, and then sentanced to death. It is different, and quite bleak and depressing (and unlikely to appeal to a 21st century audience) but in a way this how the play would run, particularly if we are focusing on the homecoming, and the destruction that war brings to families, even far from the front line.(less)

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Jun 09, 2012 Rhiannon rated it 5 of 5 stars

Fagle does a wonderful job translating the tragic cycle by one of the masters of Greek tragedy. This cycle begins by telling of Agamemnon’s fate upon returning home from the Trojan War to a vengeful wife bereft of her daughter at the hands of her husband. It is a gripping play which seeks to explore the psychology of loss and the vengeance reaped in return. Upon the murder of his father, Orestes, the eponymous hero of the cycle, must kill his mother in vengeance for her unforgivable patricide. H...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Ben Dutton rated it 5 of 5 stars

And so we come, at last, to the first pieces I had have previously read from the Penguin Classics range, The Oresteian Trilogy of Aeschylus, made up of the three plays Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides. It won the first prize at the Dionysia festival in Athens in 458 BC.

Agamemnon

Agamemnon, king of Argos, returns home following the Trojan War. His wife, Clytemnestra, has been planning his murder as revenge for the sacrifice of their daughter, Iphigenia. In Agamemnon’s absence, Cly...more

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May 30, 2011 Matt Allen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: plays

It's hard to rate these classics against modern plays. On the merits, if you were to read this with no knowledge of its author or history, these are not good plays. If you read a modern treatment of this trilogy(there are many), by a modern playwright, you would probably like it better.

So why is this still a worthwhile read? First, if you're into the Trojan war, or at least know something about it, these plays read like a sequel for one of the main characters, Agamemnon. We all know what Odysseu...more It's hard to rate these classics against modern plays. On the merits, if you were to read this with no knowledge of its author or history, these are not good plays. If you read a modern treatment of this trilogy(there are many), by a modern playwright, you would probably like it better.

So why is this still a worthwhile read? First, if you're into the Trojan war, or at least know something about it, these plays read like a sequel for one of the main characters, Agamemnon. We all know what Odysseus's wife was up to while he was away, what about his boss's wife? You'll also enjoy recognizing characters from the Greek myths that you haven't read about since English class, like Ixion or Iphigenia.

Second, its fun to spot connections between the plays and modern culture. For fellow nerds: J.K. Rowling used a quote from The Libation Bearers as an epigraph for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Also, The family of the Atreides in these plays is the mythological inspiration for the House Atreides in the Dune series.

Third, the end of the Eumenides will resonate with lawyers. Athena and the furies have a trial of Orestes for the killing of Clytaemnestra. This trial is set up as Athen's (and therefore Western Civilization's) legendary first trial, moving us past the vengeance system. It's an origin myth for the legal system.

Finally, these plays are important as historical artifacts. Some books are important for reasons other than their content. The Iliad should be read because it is the first example of Western literature, even though its missing things like "a beginning" and "an end." The Oresteia is the product of golden age Athens, after Salamis but before the Peloponnesian war. Pericles financed some of Aeschylus's plays. Aeschylus fought at Marathon, was present for the Persian sack of Athens, and fought again at Salamis and Plataea. I respect Aeschylus for having lived (bravely) through perhaps the most important events of Western history. This gives his poetry credibility, and makes you listen a little more carefully to his observations on life. It’s a little more poignant when a man like that says, "the [gods] lay it down as law / that we must suffer, suffer into truth. We cannot sleep, and drop by drop at the heart / the pain of pain remembered comes again / and we resist, but ripeness comes as well." (less)

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Oct 20, 2009 Karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

This dramatic trilogy is amazing. Unless you are intensely familiar with Greek history and myth, get a good copy of Aeschylus' writing with notes and glossary in the back. I read a Penguin publisher edition, translated by Robert Fagles. It was beautiful. The language: stunning. My vocabulary, like most eary-twenty-somethings I know,is grossly bleak. My language skills suck. The third play, The Eumenidies is the first record of a trial in dramatic history. Drama is at its core, the art of a democ...more This dramatic trilogy is amazing. Unless you are intensely familiar with Greek history and myth, get a good copy of Aeschylus' writing with notes and glossary in the back. I read a Penguin publisher edition, translated by Robert Fagles. It was beautiful. The language: stunning. My vocabulary, like most eary-twenty-somethings I know,is grossly bleak. My language skills suck. The third play, The Eumenidies is the first record of a trial in dramatic history. Drama is at its core, the art of a democratic civilization. But what good is democratic law, when our power of rhetoric, our knowledge of language, or ability to use our freedom of speech is weak beyond belief? ---Classics like this have disappeared from public education. Why?. . . Why? Because standards must sink in a passive socialist society. Well, that thought is just what sprung to mind. I'm not really sure why. The point is: people should be learning about the roots of their society, how democracy was born (i.e. in the theaters of ancient Greece), and how the knowledge of language is the greatest power a person can ever hope to weild. Introducing literature such as this early on in a person's life--like, before the age of ten--will expand their linguistic potential and also get them thinking for themselves. "Thinking for oneself" That phrase reminds me of another phenomena: independant thought, questioning authority--are other abilities that recede in a Socialist society along with the ability to put thoughts, impulse, and emotion into words, much less into flexible, persuasive, powerful rhetoric. You want world peace? Brain to banish the power of brawn? Then cultivate your mind, baby. Peace talks take persausive language by people with enough knowledge of speecha and words to creatively adapt their language to persuade another body of persons into doing what they want by their own volition. Basically, if you want world peace: make your four-year-old learn Greek and Latin. Let him/her read Aeschylus's Prometheus Bound and Orestia, and you will get a freethinking, genius of a kid. (less)

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Brain Pain: * CH2 - The Oresteia - Schedule/Questions/Resources	5	39	Mar 01, 2013 12:16pm
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About Aeschylus

Aeschylus (525 BC – 456 BC) was an ancient Greek playwright. He is often recognized as the father or the founder of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedians whose plays survive extant, the others being Sophocles and Euripides. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in plays to allow for conflict among them; previously, characters interacted only with the cho...more Aeschylus (525 BC – 456 BC) was an ancient Greek playwright. He is often recognized as the father or the founder of tragedy, and is the earliest of the three Greek tragedians whose plays survive extant, the others being Sophocles and Euripides. According to Aristotle, he expanded the number of characters in plays to allow for conflict among them; previously, characters interacted only with the chorus. Unfortunately, only seven of an estimated 70 plays by Aeschylus have survived into modern times; one of these plays, Prometheus Bound, is sometimes thought not to be the work of Aeschylus.

At least one of Aeschylus' works was influenced by the Persian invasion of Greece, which took place during his lifetime. His play The Persians remains a good primary source of information about this period in Greek history. The war was so important to Greeks and to Aeschylus himself that, upon his death around 456 BC, his epitaph included a reference to his participation in the Greek victory at Marathon but not to his success as a playwright.

There are no reliable sources for the life of Aeschylus. He was said to have been born in c. 525 in Eleusis, a small town about 27 kilometers northwest of Athens, which is nestled in the fertile valleys of western Attica, though the date is most likely based on counting back forty years from his first victory in the Great Dionysia. His family was both wealthy and well-established; his father Euphorion was a member of the Eupatridae, the ancient nobility of Attica. As a youth, he worked at a vineyard until, according to the 2nd-century AD geographer Pausanias, the god Dionysus visited him in his sleep and commanded him to turn his attention to the nascent art of tragedy. As soon as he woke from the dream, the young Aeschylus began writing a tragedy, and his first performance took place in 499 BC, when he was only 26 years old. After fifteen years, his skill was great enough to win a prize for his plays at Athens' annual city Dionysia playwriting competition. But in the interim, his dramatic career was interrupted by war. The armies of the Persian Empire, which had already conquered the Greek city-states of Ionia, entered mainland Greece in the hopes of conquering it as well.

In 490 BC, Aeschylus and his brother Cynegeirus fought to defend Athens against Darius's invading Persian army at the Battle of Marathon. The Athenians, though outnumbered, encircled and slaughtered the Persian army. This pivotal defeat ended the first Persian invasion of Greece proper and was celebrated across the city-states of Greece. Though Athens was victorious, Cynegeirus died in the battle. Aeschylus continued to write plays during the lull between the first and second Persian invasions of Greece, and won his first victory at the city Dionysia in 484 BC. In 480 he was called into military service again, this time against Xerxes' invading forces at the Battle of Salamis. This naval battle holds a prominent place in The Persians, his oldest surviving play, which was performed in 472 BC and won first prize at the Dionysia.

Aeschylus was one of many Greeks who had been initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries, a cult to Demeter based in his hometown of Eleusis. As the name implies, members of the cult were supposed to have gained some sort of mystical, secret knowledge. Firm details of the Mysteries' specific rites are sparse, as members were sworn under the penalty of death not to reveal anything about the Mysteries to non-initiates. Nevertheless, according to Aristotle it was alleged that Aeschylus had placed clues about the secret rites in his seventh tragedy, Prometheus Bound. According to some sources, an angry mob tried to kill Aeschylus on the spot, but he fled the scene. When he stood trial for his offense, Aeschylus pleaded ignorance and was only spared because of his brave service in the Persian Wars.

Aeschylus traveled to Sicily once or twice in the 470s BC, having been invited by Hieron, tyrant of Syracuse(less)

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Books by Aeschylus

Agamemnon, Prometheus Bound, Oedipus the King, Antigone & Hippolytus (Greek Tragedies, Volume 1)

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Trivia About The Oresteia: Aga...

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Quotes from The Oresteia: Agamemno...

“Oh, the torment bred in the race,
the grinding scream of death
and the stroke that hits the vein,
the hemorrhage none can staunch, the grief,
the curse no man can bear.

But there is a cure in the house, and not outside it, no,
not from others but from them,
their bloody strife. We sing to you,
dark gods beneath the earth.

Now hear, you blissful powers underground --
answer the call, send help.
Bless the children, give them triumph now.” — 32 people liked it

“There is advantage in the wisdom won from pain.” — 9 people liked it

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