Comparing Aeschylus The Persians And Agamemnon

In Aeschylus' tragedies The Persians and Agamemnon, the interactions between messengers sent forward by their army and the queens ruling the land in their king's absence play a pivotal role in the plot structure of the 'return of the king'. The 'return of the king' revolves around a chorus, anxiously hypothesizing about what could have possibly happened to their king, a queen awaiting her son or husband's return, a messenger announcing both the king's arrival and the outcome of the king's conquests, and finally the king's long awaited return to his palace. It is up to the playwright's discretion regarding how to use these elements and in these two tragedies, Aeschylus employs these elements in drastically different ways. Atossa eagerly awaits
The Persian messenger returns as the "messenger of woe" (Pers. 253) and tells of how "all has been destroyed" (Pers. 260). The chorus and elders have a lengthy 40 line exchange, wherein the messenger tells of the destruction of the Persian naval fleet and of the "lifeless rotting corpses" that fill the fields of the island of Salamis (Pers. 273). Atossa is sent into a state of shock by this news. She has been: "struck down / by disasters exceeding speech and question" (Pers. 290-291). Hearing how horribly her son's conquests went is simply too much for Atossa; she cannot handle the thought that her son failed and thus turns
Between lines 354 and 355, it is noted that Clytemnestra exits the stage and goes into the palace. The herald enters between lines 503 and 504, and it is noted that between lines 585 and 586, after the herald says "the end has been good" meaning the Greeks sacked the city of Troy, Clytemnestra enters the stage from the palace (Ag. 551). Clytemnestra says she already knew about the victory, saying she raised her "cry of joy" (Ag. 585), long ago: "when the first beacon flare of message came by night / to speak of capture and of Ilium's overthrow" (Ag. 586-588). Clytemnestra is essentially saying the herald's message is unnecessary, she already knew what had happened through her vision. By not coming out of the palace to hear the herald's news and boldly asserting that any news the herald brings is superfluous, Clytemnestra makes it known that her word is final. The citizens of Argos do not need any clarification. All the proof they need is their queen's assurance and confidence, which Atossa has expressed. While Atossa hangs on every last word of the messenger, with each word increasing her pain, Clytemnestra has no regard for the herald and needs no more proof that her husband's return is