Aeschylus' Agamemnon

Overview
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Aeschylus' world 535? - 456 B.C.E.

Tragedy.
The Historical Background of Tragedy.
The Structure of Tragedy.
The Structure of Agamemnon.
Important Characters.
Dike (Greek: "justice, vengeance").
Interesting Imagery and Analysis.
Discussion.

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Aeschylus' World 525? - 456 B.C.E.

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Born Ca. 525 in Eleusis, near Athens, and died in 456 B.C.E.
Referred to as the father of Greek tragedy.
First of Athens' three rat tragedians: Aeschylus, Sophocles, and
Euripides.
D.
Lived in the most glorious era of Athenian history.
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B.

Tragedy
A dramatic genre that presents the heroic or moral struggle of an
individual, culminating in his or her ultimate defeat.
A type of tragic play that surfaces mainly in a society of a fixed
hierarchy of political and/or religious beliefs.
Aristotle (384 - 322 B.C.) in his Poetics determines mimesis, catharsis,
hamartia.
Historical Background
This tragedy tells of Agamemnon's victorious return from Troy.
The tragedies of the play occur as a result of the crimes committed by
Agamemnon's family:
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His father Atreus boiled the children of his own brother Thyestes,
and served them to him.
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Clytemnestra's lover, Aegisthus (Thyestes's only surviving son),
seeks revenge for that crime.
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Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter, Iphigenia, to gain a
favorable wind to Troy.
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Clytaemnestra murders him to avenge her death.
History and heritage are major themes of the entire play and trilogy,
since Agamemnon's family cannot escape the cursed cycle of bloodshed
propagated by its past.

C. ????? She didnt put it up.

A.

The Structure of Agamemnon

PROLOGOS: Watchman. (1 - 39)

PARADOS: Chorus of old Theban men. (40 - 263)
Clytemnestra enters. (82)
EPEISODION: Clytemnestra and Chorus. (264 - 354)
STASMON: The Chorus sings and dances. (355 - 502)
MIDPOINT: Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. (855 - 974)
CHORUS + CASANDRA: (1069 - 1330) Cassandra enters house.
STASIMON: (1331 - 1371)
Agamemnon in the house (1343, 1345)
EPEISODION: Clytemnestra + Chorus. (1372 - 1576)
AEGISTHUS' JUSTIFICATION FOR MURDER: (1577 - 1611)
CLYTEMNESTRA: (1672 1673)

B. Important Characters

The two principal characters of the play are Agamemnon and

Clytemnestra.
Agamemnon:
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The King of Argos, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the
commander of the Greek armies during the fall of Troy.
Clytemnestra:
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Queen of Argos, wife of Agamemnon.
Cassandra:
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A Trojan Princess, Agamemnon's slave and concubine, his
mistress
Iphigenia:
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Agamemnon's and Clytemnestra's daughter, sacrificed by her
father to the goddess Artemis to obtain favorable wind for the Greek fleet.

Hubris: Excessive pride.

C. Dike (Greek: "Justice, Vengeance")

Clytemnestra uses the word dike to refer to the opportunity for justice
and vengeance to be carried out on her daughter Iphigenia's behalf as well as
her own.
The murder.
According to the chorus the gods are the guardians of dike, meaning of
justice or revenge.

Clytemnestra is more like a man.

D. Interesting Imagery and Analysis

The play is full of imagery and symbolic language

The beacon: At the beginning of the play, the watchman sees
the beacon, which announces that the Trojan War is over and that Greeks
have won.
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The Shrill Cry: According to the chorus, Agamemnon and his
brother Menelaus made a shrill cry when they left Troy, which was a war
cry that could be paralleled to the cry of eagles flying above a nest.
Clytemnestra's Revenge: it has been said that Agamemnon's return
with Cassandra was one of the causes for Clytemnestra's revenge.
However, the main driving force behind her murdering Agamemnon is
revenge for the death of her daughter Iphigenia.
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Is the revenge just or unjust?
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How do u perceive Clytemnestra?
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How did Clytemnestra challenge the patriarchal rules and
traditions?
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Imagery

Animals are symbols for continuous expressions of complicated

messages and characters:
Lion: 141, 716 - 736, 826 - 828, 1225
Dogs: 3, 135, 607, 896, 1093, 1228 - 1230
Spider: 1492
Hare, Eagles: 119
Flocks (Sheep or Goats): 234, 1057, 1169, 1415 - 1417
Wolf: 1259
Horse: 825, 1640
Cockerel and Hen: 1671
Birds: 3, 4, 151, 1145, 1316, 1444, 1671
Cattle: 35, 1066, 1071, 1298, 1125
Fish: 1382
Viper: 1233