Aeschylus Essays

Agamemnon

Historically, Greek tragedies have been used as a means to convey particular political and ethical testimonials about society, usually in order to convey certain morals or to ensure order. In such chronicles, a protagonist grapples with a...

Agamemnon

Cassandra's final monologue in Aeschylus's Agamemnon plays a transformative role in terms of the movement of the plot and, upon close examination, functions as a key for many of the tragedy's larger themes. She begins by equating prophecy, be it...

Agamemnon

Aeschylus' Oresteia is undebatably one of antiquity's greatest surviving tragedies. Driven by the universal struggles of justice versus injustice, fear versus obligation and parent versus child, the play follows one ill-fated family through the...

Agamemnon

In most Greek tragedies, the writer uses the chorus as a tool to comment on action in the play. The chorus does not play an active role in the story, such that if they were removed from the work, the plot would not be affected. However, in...

Agamemnon

In Aeschylus’s Oresteia, the Chorus of Agamemnon and Cassandra share several common traits. The chorus, a large group made up of miscellaneous elders, would, as individuals, all function as secondary characters. Cumulatively these individuals...

College

Agamemnon

In the Oresteia, Aeschylus presents his three books (“Agamemnon”, “The Libation Bearers”, and “The Furies”) so that the narrative progresses from madness and lack of justice in “Agamemnon”, where Clytemnestra receives no penalty for her homicide,...

College

Agamemnon

Aeschylus poses two impossible tasks for his heroes Eteocles in Seven Against Thebes and Agamemnon in Agamemnon. Their decisions in these moral dilemmas rest on the split between family and politics. Aeschylus presents a vision in which politics...

12th Grade

Agamemnon

The play Agamemnon involves a variety of characters who introduce and contribute towards some of the major themes of the play, such as justice and revenge. While the play is dominated by Clytaemnestra and the Chorus, we are introduced to different...

College

Agamemnon

Piety was an important concept in ancient Greek civilization, as it shaped the culture and actions of Greek citizens. What exactly piety means has varied over time, and the definition differs throughout Greek literature. Characters such as...

12th Grade

Agamemnon

Aeschylus’s play “Agamemnon” seeks to show his audience that revenge only leads to more violence. This is shown prominently through the character’s central beliefs and motives that are encouraged through the actions of others, which inevitably...

College

Oresteia

Spanning an elemental and violent family conflict, The Oresteia by Aeschylus is a trilogy containing the plays Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides. As a whole, the trilogy deals with Agamemnon’s murder at the hands of his wife...

College

Agamemnon

Misogyny tends to devastate the authority of woman by depriving her of equal treatment to her male counterpart. There are two conversations that seem to circle around ancient texts and misogyny. Did religious texts directly affect the perceptions...

College

Agamemnon

The Oresteia by Aeschylus is a trilogy of tragedies expressing the strength women possess, but, on the flip side, it also expresses the cowardice of some men—one man in particular. This man’s name was Aigisthos. Aigisthos is only present in the...

12th Grade

Agamemnon

As the play opens with a soliloquy from the Watchman, he introduces Clytemnestra as one who “wears/ A man’s heart in a woman’s body,/ A man’s dreadful will in the scabbard of her body/ Like a polished blade. A hidden blade” (5). He immediately...