Agamemnon Essay examples

The first book of the Iliad begins with the beginning of Achilles’ rage, the rage that will eventually cause his own people so much grief and is also the force for Homer’s version of the story of the Trojan War. Whereas the taking of Helen is the focus of the larger, traditional story, the feud between Agamemnon and the hero Achilles over a kidnapped girl defines the Iliad. Both feature a conflict over a woman, Helen and Chryses’ daughter, and a need for resolution as well as a breach of social contract: Paris steals the wife of Agamemnon, ruining the bonds of the guest relationship, while Agamemnon denies Chryse his right to ransom and invokes the wrath of the gods in the form of a plague. In both cases, however, it becomes clear that the conflict will not be resolved quickly, but will continue through the very heart of the story. By “singing of Achilles’ rage” from the first line, the narrator is clearly showing the audience that this Trojan war is not the war of Hector or Paris or Helen, but of the proud Achilles and his hero-sized enemy.

Aegisthus does not realize it, but Orestes is seeking revenge upon him and his for the death of Agamemnon. After Orestes kills them, there is nobody left alive to kill him to avenge their deaths. Clytemnestra invokes the Furies who seek revenge for anybody who has nobody to seek it for them. The Furies chase Orestes to Apollo's temple where Orestes asks him for forgiveness, "Lord Apollo, you know the rules of justice, / know them well. Now learn compassion" (88-89).

Clytemnestra is Agamemnon’s wife and has been ruling Argos while he was away fighting. With help from Aegisthus, Clytemnestra made a plan to kill Agamemnon. She killed Agamemnon for the political power, for the ruthless revenge and for the curses blame. (Core 22: Series of introductory phrases using the same preposition – phrases must have balance.) Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon to avenge their daughter Iphigeneia. Agamemnon sacrifice her in order to have success in the war, but never told Clytemnestra. Clytemnestra, feeling fake sadness over her daughter’s death, felt that she was wronged and had to get back at her husband. Not only did she kill him, but she had an affair while he was away. The sacrifice is why she had the affair with Aegisthus.

Agamemnon in the realm of Hades goes on to reveal how, “ There is no being more fell, more bestial than a wife in such an action, and what an action that one planned! The murder of her husband and her lord. Great god, I thought my children and my slaves at least would give me welcome. But that woman, plotting a thing so low, defiled herself and all her sex, all women yet to come, even those few who may be virtuous,” (Homer 6.496-504). This had been spoken by Agamemnon to Odysseus in the Underworld after his wife had plotted his murder along with one of her servants. Readers had been past exposed with Telemachus to this situation , “ But the Lady Klytaimnestra, in the first days, rebuffed him, being faithful still; then, too, she had at hand as her companion a minstrel Agamemnon left attending her, charged with her care, when he took ship for Troy,”(Homer 3.285-289). This had been discussed by Nestor to Telemachus when he inquired about the events after the Trojan War. While Agamemnon was revealed as an honorable man his wife was portrayed as a scheming backstabber or adding to the foil between husband and wife The Odyssey experiences.

Everyone is going to die. This is no secret to the audience of the Greek play Agamemnon. Rather than surprising us with the murders that befall at the hands of vengeance, the Greek playwright uses this common story to display the underlying theme that one must first suffer before they can reach the truth. To understand the significance behind the story of Agamemnon, one must understand the passions and how they relate to the human person, Zeus’s law of suffering into truth, and Aeschylus’s motives for writing Agamemnon and how he reflects Catholic teaching.

Even though Agamemnon made a success for his homecoming, what was waiting for him was her wife’s conspiracy with Aegisthus and his death (262-263). Namely, his nosmos was rather a failure and he also faced fate of his failed household. This Agamemnon’s gives a comparison with Odysseus future success for preserving his family and throne. Furthermore, Clytemnestra’s unfaithfulness and infidelity provides a foil to Penelope’s faithfulness and loyalty. Clytemnestra’s merciless and brutal actions, not sealing Agamemnon’s eyes while he was dying, adds contrasting characteristics between Odysseus and Agamemnon’s wives. Note that here, the story of successful vengeance for Agamemnon by Orestes gives a foil to Telemachus’ weakness and deficiency. Orestes here is depicted as a heroic example with murder of Aegistus after he comes of age (264). On the contrary to Orestes who saved his household and restored order in his family’s kingdom, Telemachus, as he came of age, couldn’t serve as protecting his household and repel his mother’s suitors in the absence of his father. In the light of comparing each heroic figures’ sons, the son of Achilles is also depicted as successful warrior with great strength and fame in the battlefield against Trojan, adding a foil to Telemachus’ unsuccessful position as a son (266).

These minor characters acknowledge that Antigone burying Polyneices was for honoring the gods. The Chorus when talking to Kreon says “My lord, my mind has been suggesting for some time that possibly this deed was prompted by the gods” (Sophocles 32). Haimon, Kreon’s son, and Antigone’s fiancé tells Kreon “Irreverence, trampling on the honors of the god” (Sophocles 50). Tiresias, a prophet who is always right, frightens Kreon with “Therefore the ruinous late-avenging Furies of the gods and Hades lie in wait for you…” (Sophocles 64). These three characters understand that disobeying the law of man can come with a price, but disobeying the law of the gods comes with a greater price. The Chorus was a sounding board to Kreon who would give him their advice, they are the first to tell of Antigone’s actions as a way of obeying the gods and maybe the god told Antigone to bury her brother, therefore her actions would be justified. Haimon tries to make his father see that his edict was trampling on the law of the gods, calling into question his father’s power compared to the gods. Teiresias tells of a fate that awaits Kreon and the city because Kreon’s actions tell of his law being above all. Through these characters in Antigone, they justify Antigone’s actions while also understanding disobeying the law of man is punishable too, and that they make Kreon questions his place and

The Summary Is About Antigone Who Lost Her Brother Who Died In The War And She Wants To GIve Him The Right Burial For Her Brother. Antigone Loves Her Brother And Wants To Let The People Know That. She Lost Her Father In The War, Her Mom Hung Her Herself, And Now She Lost Her Brother Like Her Father In The War.

The incident showcases how violence appears frequently in ancient Greek families. Moreover, Greek Tragedy also demonstrated the importance of fate that prophet and oracles play a large role in the story. In the story Agamemnon, Cassandra, daughter of King Priam of Troy, insanely tells the fate of Agamemnon and his family; despite the oracle sounds unbelievable, it came to reality at the end of the story, which showcases the irresistible fate of Agamemnon cannot be stopped. More importantly, Cassandra was also murdered by Clytaemestra, which stands as another act of violence. The stories in Greek Tragedy demonstrate a pattern that a violent action would lead to another violent action. Besides, ancient Greeks in this period also view fate as their belief. However, heroism is viewed less important since ancient Greek culture in Greek Tragedy focuses more on concerns of the

When Menelaus and Agamemnon were children, their father, Atreus battled with his brother, their Uncle, Thyestes. Atrius and Thyestes could not agree about who would be the king of the city of Mycenae. In the end, Thyestes materialized victorious. Thyestes son, Aegisthus, helped him by murdering Atreus. The murder of their father had forced Menelaus and Agamemnon to seek refuge, by fleeing the city, to the courts of neighboring regions. Some time

The modern day movie adaption of Aeschylus’s tragedy, Oresteia, which is renamed as Voices, is set in present day New York. Similar to Agamemnon who was away from his family at war in Oresteia, in Voices, he is once again deployed to the Middle East for the War on Terror after the September 11th attacks. Although Agamemnon knows he is not obligated to fight, he feels it is his duty. Being away for a long period of time created tensions between Agamemnon and his wife, Clytemnestra, especially after losing their daughter to illness a short time prior to his deployment. In this modern-day version, the idea of having a family torn apart by war is still present. In addition, the rise of neurological disorders present in the 21st century serve as the underlining cause as to why Orestes murders his mother and her lover. Instead of being empowered by the Gods like in ancient times, Orestes has auditory hallucinations and believes them to be the voices of Gods.

Agamemnon was killed by Clytemnestra (his wife) and Aegisthus a few years before. Orestes was ordered to go to Argos by the oracle of Apollo that sent him to get revenge on the killers on Agamemnon. Orestes son of Agamemnon went to mourn for his fathers death and then saw a group of women dressed in black walking towards the grave. Orestes discovered that among those women was his sister Electra. Electra went to Agamemnon’s grave because she was sent by her mother to bring libations to Agamemnon in his grave to stop the terrible dreams that Clytemnestra is having.

The Chorus discusses how Helena’s name is very appropriate since she brought destruction upon the Acaians as well as the Trojans. Then, the chorus reflects upon the concept of suffering and who suffers. They deduce that people of goodwill are more likely to suffer despite their goodness while evil people create righteousness. (The Chorus is insane because chaos and pride definitely does not lead to righteousness- it leads to death and destruction. As for good people suffering, that’s the problem with evil.) Agamemnon comes home with Cassandra and the Chorus praises him for defeating the Trojans even though they doubted him at first. Clytemnestra declares her “love” and entices Agamemnon to walk on a purple carpet. Agamemnon refuses

No blame is placed upon him by the people and they believe he "slipped his neck in the strap of fate" 217, only after which did his spirit become "black, impure, unholy" 218. The people of Mycenae, typically represented by the elders, and thus the Chorus have absolved him of blame in their minds. All their words about the leader are nothing but in praise of their king. They are nearly "faint with longing" for the return of their king, though we can also partly attribute this to a desire to be rid of Clytemnestra more than their wish to return to the rule of Agamemnon. They indeed emphasise the tyranny of the Queen ("she commands, full of her high hopes...manoeuvres like a man" 13). The sentry echoes the love for the King though ("My king, I'll take your loving hand in mine" 37), and the herald is similarly well disposed toward him, and he hasn't been under the yoke of Clytemnestra ("he brings us light in the darkness...Agamemnon lord of men"). The people absolve the King of blame over Iphigenia, and give him unconditional loyalty, but Clytemnestra rests it all upon his shoulders ("girl of tears...here you are repaid" 1554). She understands the grandeur of her action and the scale of it but believes that "what we did was destiny" 1692. Though, it is my belief that the honourable King of Mycenae was commanded by the fates to kill his daughter, and it was by no means his will to carry

When problems arise, individuals attempt to make sense of the situations by either looking for solutions to the problems or by attempting to make the best of the situation as much as they can when it is impossible to avoid. In the passage of Agamemnon by Aeschylus, Agamemnon has just came back from destroying the city of Troy, and brought back Cassandra, the princess of Troy, as a slave for Argos. However, Cassandra seems to have already seen this coming as she received a gift and a curse from Apollo to be able to give prophesies, but not have anyone to believe it. Due to the curse given by Apollo, Cassandra sees series of misfortunes that eventually will lead to her death, nevertheless, after having experienced the mixed emotions of anger