Comparing Aeschylus 'Oresteia And Sophocles'
Spenser Pulleyking
1436071
University of Tulsa
HON-1003-02
The Many Faces of Electra: Aeschylus and Sophocles
1385 Words
Dr. Avi Mintz
While Helen of Troy might have had a face that launched a thousand ships, Electra of Argos had a face that launched a thousand stories. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, three famous ancient Greek playwrights from the 4th and 5th Century BCE, all produced their own versions of Electra’s story that survive to this day. While each story generally follows the same chain of events, the characteristics of Electra and her family develop in completely different directions, and the meaning behind their actions continues to change. When examining Aeschylus’ Oresteia and …show more content…
Sophocles’ Electra, it can be seen that each play’s account of this vengeful story brought something different to its audience. Specifically, the plays’ character development and gender roles of men and women, legal principles and ethical principles are all constructed very differently throughout each play. Each of these characteristics will be compared in Aeschylus’ and Sophocles’ accounts of the ancient Electra: her house, her role, and her strength.
The first of the three playwrights, Aeschylus wrote his Oresteia to be performed originally at the Dionysian festival in 458 BCE. The play was wildly successful from its introduction. Oresteia is composed of three plays: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Furies, each of which flow directly into each other to compose the overall plot. The first play starts with the homecoming of Agamemnon from the Trojan War, nearly two decades after his departure (and slaughter of his daughter as a sacrifice to gain wind for his ships). Agamemnon is swiftly and sneakily killed by his wife Clytemnestra. Agamemnon’s Trojan mistress brought back from the war, Cassandra, is the next to go. The second play continues the plot with the arrival of Orestes, son of Agamemnon and brother of the grief-stricken Electra. She convinces him to kill their mother to avenge Agamemnon; after tricking Clytemnestra into Orestes’ presence, Orestes murders Clytemnestra and her new lover Aegisthus in the same room where Agamemnon was killed. The third play focuses on the torment of Orestes by the Furies sent by his dead mother as punishment for the basal act of matricide. Orestes flees to Athens to seek the support of Athena against the Furies. Athena holds a trial in front of the citizens of Athens as jury, with Orestes defending himself and the Furies demanding his destruction. The jury is tied and Orestes is acquitted. Athena appeases the Furies by making them honored by the citizens of Athens and ensuring them that their power and principles will not be forgotten or discounted.
In Aeschylus’ account of this story, Electra plays a relatively minor role, speaking briefly only in one of the three plays. Aeschylus’ account focuses rather on the political and ethical issues involved in the interaction between Orestes and Clytemnestra: whether or not matricide can be justified in the context of Clytemnestra’s previous killings. The furies contend that matricide is far worse, absolutely unjustifiable, as Orestes and his mother were related by blood, while Agamemnon and Clytemnestra were related only as lovers, husband and wife: “Look at how you justify [Orestes] defense! He spilled his own mother’s blood on the ground, and you would have him home in Argos at his father’s house? Tell me, what communal alters could he worship at? What clan would ever anoint him?” (The Furies, 652-656). Apollo, Orestes’ defender, counters this with the proposition that the mother is less of a parent than she is a vessel for the child’s body; the father is the only true parent. While an effective argument in the context of Orestes’ defense, this statement and its acceptance by the courts shows that character development and gender norms in the play have little regard for the role and intelligence of women.
Clytemnestra is the only woman who is given power; it is interesting that she is the one to kill Agamemnon and Cassandra with her own hands, an act of murder that she instructs her new husband Aegisthus to commit separately in the two latter plays. Even when she realizes that her Aegisthus has been killed and she is probably next, she seeks to arm herself for defense: “I know what this riddle means, we killed by deceit and by deceit we die. Quickly, bring me the man-killing axe.” (Lib. Bearers 887-889).
While she may wield power, she is portrayed as completely corrupt and wicked; in contrast, the female protagonist Electra is the good, loving, and powerless traditional female role. The plays’ development of female characters sends a clear message: only wicked women hold power, it is good and proper for women to let the men handle things and advise them only from far behind the scene of the action.
Aeschylus’ play also places the common folk in an interesting position. The citizens of Athens are given the power to determine the verdict, yet they receive little focus overall. This is in direct contrast to the common fold of Euripides’ Electra, who play a less influential role yet receive more attention. Altogether, Aeschylus’ Oresteia is a very classical rendition of the story, emphasizing the importance of continuity in power, the ethical ramifications of committing an act seen as unjustifiable by tradition, and the minimization of women’s authority and importance.
While Aeschylus’ play focuses on the legal ramifications of specific actions and the foundation of the jury trial system, Sophocles’ Electra breaks from convention, placing an emphasis on the possibility of a female protagonist playing a prime and influential role.
In Sophocles’ Electra, first performed sometime around the end of the fourth century BCE, the story begins many years after the murder of Agamemnon, at the secret return of the now-fully-grown Orestes; he is already bent on avenging his father’s death, even before he finds Electra. Initially, Electra is seen to be an intelligent and passionate character, she realizes the constraints of action that her gender dictates; “My life drains away, my strength is gone. I am some childless woman, with no man to depend on…a worthless woman, dressed in these rags, laying food on a table that has no place for me.” (Electra 185-192). Here, Sophocles is satirizing—though to a limited extent—the gender roles still present in his audience’s society. Electra gains power and influence throughout the play; Sophocles depicts both Electra and Clytemnestra as very strong-willed. Sophocles’ defining characteristic is presenting Electra as powerful as well as good and wise. With Clytemnestra dead and Aegisthus also about to die at her brother Orestes’ hands, Electra shows that her goal in the murder of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus is not simplistic vengeance or fury, but a release from the hatred she has harbored while remaining loyal to Agamemnon: “Don’t let him speak another word, for god’s sake, brother. He’d just draw things out. When someone’s in a tough spot, about to die, what’s the point of having more time? Kill him right away, and when you’ve killed him, let whoever might take him give him a burial out of my sight. That is the only way, after all these years of misery, that I’ll be released.” (Electra 1483-1490). In a stark metamorphosis from her self-pitying self at the beginning of the play, Electra now speaks with the
force of a powerful leader and character; while Orestes is shown as her tool in the murder, she is the strength behind his conviction. Her dialogue serves to justify his actions, and as a rebuttal to the reproaches of the doomed Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.
Even when comparing two plays of similar ancient Greek playwrights, produced within less than a century of each other, stark differences persist. In the account of Aeschylus, Electra is herself a minor character with little development, and the conclusion focuses on the morality and ramifications of trying to justify an act as vulgar as matricide. Sophocles’ Electra, in comparison, focuses much more on the role of powerful women: unlike Aeschylus’ Oresteia, Sophocles’ play ends with no mention of the Furies’ rage against Orestes; unlike Aeschylus, Sophocles does not question the justification of matricide. Throughout the plays of Electra, powerful women of questionable merit and heinous acts of controversial justification provoke questions between the characters in the play, as well as questions within the audience. Electra of Argos, portrayed with many different faces, is through the ages a definitive character, a legendary figure of ancient Greek literature.
Works Cited
Aeschylus, Peter Meineck, and Helene P. Foley. Oresteia. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub., 1998. Print.
Sophocles, Peter Meineck, and Paul Woodruff. "Electra." Four Tragedies: Ajax, Women of Trachis, Electra, Philoctetes. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 2007. N. pag. Print.
1436071
University of Tulsa
HON-1003-02
The Many Faces of Electra: Aeschylus and Sophocles
1385 Words
Dr. Avi Mintz
While Helen of Troy might have had a face that launched a thousand ships, Electra of Argos had a face that launched a thousand stories. Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides, three famous ancient Greek playwrights from the 4th and 5th Century BCE, all produced their own versions of Electra’s story that survive to this day. While each story generally follows the same chain of events, the characteristics of Electra and her family develop in completely different directions, and the meaning behind their actions continues to change. When examining Aeschylus’ Oresteia and …show more content…
Sophocles’ Electra, it can be seen that each play’s account of this vengeful story brought something different to its audience. Specifically, the plays’ character development and gender roles of men and women, legal principles and ethical principles are all constructed very differently throughout each play. Each of these characteristics will be compared in Aeschylus’ and Sophocles’ accounts of the ancient Electra: her house, her role, and her strength.
The first of the three playwrights, Aeschylus wrote his Oresteia to be performed originally at the Dionysian festival in 458 BCE. The play was wildly successful from its introduction. Oresteia is composed of three plays: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Furies, each of which flow directly into each other to compose the overall plot. The first play starts with the homecoming of Agamemnon from the Trojan War, nearly two decades after his departure (and slaughter of his daughter as a sacrifice to gain wind for his ships). Agamemnon is swiftly and sneakily killed by his wife Clytemnestra. Agamemnon’s Trojan mistress brought back from the war, Cassandra, is the next to go. The second play continues the plot with the arrival of Orestes, son of Agamemnon and brother of the grief-stricken Electra. She convinces him to kill their mother to avenge Agamemnon; after tricking Clytemnestra into Orestes’ presence, Orestes murders Clytemnestra and her new lover Aegisthus in the same room where Agamemnon was killed. The third play focuses on the torment of Orestes by the Furies sent by his dead mother as punishment for the basal act of matricide. Orestes flees to Athens to seek the support of Athena against the Furies. Athena holds a trial in front of the citizens of Athens as jury, with Orestes defending himself and the Furies demanding his destruction. The jury is tied and Orestes is acquitted. Athena appeases the Furies by making them honored by the citizens of Athens and ensuring them that their power and principles will not be forgotten or discounted.
In Aeschylus’ account of this story, Electra plays a relatively minor role, speaking briefly only in one of the three plays. Aeschylus’ account focuses rather on the political and ethical issues involved in the interaction between Orestes and Clytemnestra: whether or not matricide can be justified in the context of Clytemnestra’s previous killings. The furies contend that matricide is far worse, absolutely unjustifiable, as Orestes and his mother were related by blood, while Agamemnon and Clytemnestra were related only as lovers, husband and wife: “Look at how you justify [Orestes] defense! He spilled his own mother’s blood on the ground, and you would have him home in Argos at his father’s house? Tell me, what communal alters could he worship at? What clan would ever anoint him?” (The Furies, 652-656). Apollo, Orestes’ defender, counters this with the proposition that the mother is less of a parent than she is a vessel for the child’s body; the father is the only true parent. While an effective argument in the context of Orestes’ defense, this statement and its acceptance by the courts shows that character development and gender norms in the play have little regard for the role and intelligence of women.
Clytemnestra is the only woman who is given power; it is interesting that she is the one to kill Agamemnon and Cassandra with her own hands, an act of murder that she instructs her new husband Aegisthus to commit separately in the two latter plays. Even when she realizes that her Aegisthus has been killed and she is probably next, she seeks to arm herself for defense: “I know what this riddle means, we killed by deceit and by deceit we die. Quickly, bring me the man-killing axe.” (Lib. Bearers 887-889).
While she may wield power, she is portrayed as completely corrupt and wicked; in contrast, the female protagonist Electra is the good, loving, and powerless traditional female role. The plays’ development of female characters sends a clear message: only wicked women hold power, it is good and proper for women to let the men handle things and advise them only from far behind the scene of the action.
Aeschylus’ play also places the common folk in an interesting position. The citizens of Athens are given the power to determine the verdict, yet they receive little focus overall. This is in direct contrast to the common fold of Euripides’ Electra, who play a less influential role yet receive more attention. Altogether, Aeschylus’ Oresteia is a very classical rendition of the story, emphasizing the importance of continuity in power, the ethical ramifications of committing an act seen as unjustifiable by tradition, and the minimization of women’s authority and importance.
While Aeschylus’ play focuses on the legal ramifications of specific actions and the foundation of the jury trial system, Sophocles’ Electra breaks from convention, placing an emphasis on the possibility of a female protagonist playing a prime and influential role.
In Sophocles’ Electra, first performed sometime around the end of the fourth century BCE, the story begins many years after the murder of Agamemnon, at the secret return of the now-fully-grown Orestes; he is already bent on avenging his father’s death, even before he finds Electra. Initially, Electra is seen to be an intelligent and passionate character, she realizes the constraints of action that her gender dictates; “My life drains away, my strength is gone. I am some childless woman, with no man to depend on…a worthless woman, dressed in these rags, laying food on a table that has no place for me.” (Electra 185-192). Here, Sophocles is satirizing—though to a limited extent—the gender roles still present in his audience’s society. Electra gains power and influence throughout the play; Sophocles depicts both Electra and Clytemnestra as very strong-willed. Sophocles’ defining characteristic is presenting Electra as powerful as well as good and wise. With Clytemnestra dead and Aegisthus also about to die at her brother Orestes’ hands, Electra shows that her goal in the murder of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus is not simplistic vengeance or fury, but a release from the hatred she has harbored while remaining loyal to Agamemnon: “Don’t let him speak another word, for god’s sake, brother. He’d just draw things out. When someone’s in a tough spot, about to die, what’s the point of having more time? Kill him right away, and when you’ve killed him, let whoever might take him give him a burial out of my sight. That is the only way, after all these years of misery, that I’ll be released.” (Electra 1483-1490). In a stark metamorphosis from her self-pitying self at the beginning of the play, Electra now speaks with the
force of a powerful leader and character; while Orestes is shown as her tool in the murder, she is the strength behind his conviction. Her dialogue serves to justify his actions, and as a rebuttal to the reproaches of the doomed Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.
Even when comparing two plays of similar ancient Greek playwrights, produced within less than a century of each other, stark differences persist. In the account of Aeschylus, Electra is herself a minor character with little development, and the conclusion focuses on the morality and ramifications of trying to justify an act as vulgar as matricide. Sophocles’ Electra, in comparison, focuses much more on the role of powerful women: unlike Aeschylus’ Oresteia, Sophocles’ play ends with no mention of the Furies’ rage against Orestes; unlike Aeschylus, Sophocles does not question the justification of matricide. Throughout the plays of Electra, powerful women of questionable merit and heinous acts of controversial justification provoke questions between the characters in the play, as well as questions within the audience. Electra of Argos, portrayed with many different faces, is through the ages a definitive character, a legendary figure of ancient Greek literature.
Works Cited
Aeschylus, Peter Meineck, and Helene P. Foley. Oresteia. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Pub., 1998. Print.
Sophocles, Peter Meineck, and Paul Woodruff. "Electra." Four Tragedies: Ajax, Women of Trachis, Electra, Philoctetes. Indianapolis: Hackett Pub., 2007. N. pag. Print.