Agamemnon

I first heard of Clytemnestra in a college course on classical epic. I thought then that she was an interesting character, cheating on her husband and killing him. Later, reading Lucretius, I learned that according to legend, Agamemnon sacrificed his own daughter (without his wife knowing beforehand, of course). After that, I really wanted to know more. While I enjoyed reading this play, I do wish that I could have seen a little more of the two main characters. Since the whole thing builds to Agamemnon's death, I could have done with a little less exposition and a little more of Aggy and his wife.

Reading the ancient Greek tragedian Aeschyles always requires a bit of grit. He stands at the beginning of classical Greek tragedy and is generally regarded as archaic, both in form and content. This translates into long, verbose, and convoluted passages in very elevated language, especially in the choral parts, which remain very prominent in his work. In terms of content, it translates into an emphasis on the omnipotence of the gods, which man must acknowledge and endure—quite unlike his younger colleagues Sophocles and Euripides, who focus much more on the struggles of the individual. Consequently, reading this tragedy, too, requires some perseverance.
Naturally, this is compensated by the fact that the story itself is one of the show more most famous and charged episodes in the Greek mythological universe: the return of Agamemnon, the commander-in-chief of the Greek troops, after the slaughter in Troy, and his subsequent murder by his wife Clytemnestra (with or without the help of her concubine Aegisthus), because he had sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia more than 10 years earlier to obtain a favorable wind from the gods for the crossing to Troy. I’m not revealing any spoilers here, as this story is very well known, and was also assumed by Aeschyles to be known to the audience coming to see his play. As a consequence, it’s more interesting to look at the dynamics between the characters and the overall context against which this drama unfolds.
What strikes me most, with my perhaps overly modern mindset, is that Agamemnon as a figure comes across very well here. Even in Homer, the figure of the Greek commander is sometimes described in very disparaging terms, whereas Aeschyles portrays him more as a victim, and someone prepared for the possible consequences of his past deeds (the sacrifice of Iphigenia and the slaughter in Troy).
The consequence of this is, of course, that Clytemnestra is depicted as a vengeful beast who deceives her husband upon his return home, lures him into a trap, and then stabs him to death herself. A certain lust for power—I refer to her closing words—is also not alien to her. The play also contains some downright misogynistic passages (about women as gossips, for example), but I do not think that Clytemnestra is being used here by Aeschyles as a symbol for the (false) woman in general. After all, in other tragedies he demonstrates a certain empathy for the female condition.
As I already indicated, the point here is rather the broader mythological-religious context: humans who are instruments of the gods, playthings in a divine order that is unfathomable and can extend across several generations. In this specific case, therefore, it is an elaboration of the curse that hung over the Royal House of the Atrides even before Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and which would continue to have dramatic repercussions after them, as is evident from Aeschyles’ sequels, *The Libations* and *The Eumenides*. It is this message that takes center stage, which is why there is primarily a great deal of telling and interpreting in all these plays, and remarkably little action. Yet another element that contributes to a rather tedious read.

Disclaimer: I’m systematically reading the ancient Greek plays, but I won’t rate these texts, as they are too old. show less

"In war, the first casualty is truth."

Aeschylus's Oresteia trilogy examines revenge, retribution, and fate in the house of Atreus. Agamemnon, the trilogy's first play, depicts the murder of the King and his trophy slave Cassandra, daughter of the King of Troy, on his return to Mycenae from the Trojan War.

Ten years earlier, before setting out for war, Agamemnon offended the goddess Artemis, and she stopped the winds, keeping his fleet of 100 ships from sailing to battle. He learned from the prophet, Calchas, that the only way to appease Artemis was to sacrifice his oldest daughter Iphigenia. He had to decide between his duties to his family or his city-state. He chose his polis and lured Iphigenia and his wife Clytemnestra by promising show more his daughter's marriage to Achilles. The play begins ten years later with Agamemnon's homecoming as Clytemnestra enacts her revenge with her lover Aegisthus's help.

Agamemnon is a powerful poetic play filled with fear and rage. I listened to Audible's outstanding performance, which brought it to life. I highly recommend this production to anyone interested in the classical world or theater. show less

Most characters in this play were despicable. Murderers, adulterers, fools, tyrants, sadists. I just can't feel compassion for any of them. Really hard to think about nuances of justice when i just want them all to die. Perhaps that's the point of the play. It is so emotionally pleasing to imagine justice based on revenge but it might not be a good system in the long run. Hm, did i learn something here?

When re-reading this, I could not stop comparing Agamemnon with the Game of Thrones! I had not realised how much J R R Martin had taken from the Oresteia. Although I must say.... as much as I love him, he doesn't hold a candle to Aeschylus. I wonder if the series will follow the same path as the Oresteia, and end with the birth of democracy? There were some hints it could happen in the last season, in conversations between Tyrion and Daenerys.

Clytemnestra is one of the greatest villains ever in literature.

This is the more affordable of the two significant 20th Century editions of the Agamemnon, the other one being Fraenkel's magisterial three-volume edition (unfortunately priced only for the library or the specialist). Denniston and Page provide an edition with good apparatus, and engage intelligently with previous critics, providing a usable and helpful presentation of the text.

The Agamemnon of Aeschylus was a play written by Aeschylus in 458 B.C. as part of a series (the Oresteia) that won him first prize in the archonship of Philocles. This version was translated into English rhyming verse by Gilbert Murray who also adds helpful footnotes.

Given that the original is in Greek, and this version has not only been translated into English but then made to rhyme in English, makes one wonder how true to the original spirit it remains. For example:
"Paris to Argos came;
Love of woman led him;
So God's altar he brought to shame,
Robbing the hand that fed him."

Author Philip Caputo offered the Oresteia as his one reading recommendation last year, which is why I wanted to read it. .

Agamemnon triumphantly returns home from show more the Trojan War. He is greeted by Clytemnestra who feigns the loving wife longing for her husband. She then lures Agamemnon and then Cassandra, his captured slave, into the house and murders them. The elders and comrades of Agamemnon move to take revenge against Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus. But Clytemnestra halts the dispute and everyone awaits the return of Agamemnon's son, Orestes, from Troy to exact the revenge.

Early in the play, I found language that sounds biblical enough to make me wonder either about the Greek translation or think about the Gospel authors' exposure to classic Greek literature.

"But the wise Shepherd knoweth his sheep,
And his eyes pierce deep
the faith like water that fawns and feigns."

My favorite part was when Agamemnon is replying to Clytemnestra, who is trying to tempt him to show hubris by treading on tapestries of crimson and gold. He responds by contrasting the honor he seeks with the respect shown only to gods:

"'Tis God that hath
Such worship; and for mortal man to press
Rude feet upon this broidered loveliness...
I vow there be danger in it. Let my road
Be honoured, surely; but as man, not god"

and:
"God giveth, for I reckon no man blest
Ere to the utmost goal his race be run.
So be it; and if, as this day I have done,
I shall do always, then I fear no ill."

But alas, poor Agamemnon:
"For woman's sake he endured and battled well,
And by a woman's hand he fell." show less