The Oresteia Essay

In the Oresteia, the tragic abyss occurs in the tense transition when Clytaemnesthra kills Agamemnon. Orestes’ father, Agamemnon, acts as the protagonist in the first part of the Oresteia and when Clytaemnesthra kills him, there is turmoil. Just as in the tragic abyss, during the moment when Clytaemnesthra kills Agamemnon, there seems to be no escape from the problem and the audience is shown the corruption of the world. Since Agamemnon is a noble and pious man, the viewers immediately feel the tension within the play when he dies. In the Eumenides, Apollo states: “Not the same for a noble man to die, covered with praise, his sceptre the gift of god…such was the outrage of his death…the lord of the squadrons, that magnificent man” (Aeschylus 631-645).
His sudden death affects numerous people, including his son Orestes, and at this moment, the viewers are devastated that such an honorable man was killed by his own wife. Moreover, the audience is held to think that there is no solution to the identified complication because Agamemnon is already dead. Further, Clytaemnesthra’s reason for killing Agamemnon intensifies the tragic abyss by enlightening the audience about the corruption in the world. As Aeschylus narrates in the play Agamemnon, Clytaemnesthra’s motive for killing Agamemnon revolves around the fact that he killed Iphigeneia, their own daughter. This action reveals that even the most honorable men can be corrupt. If Agamemnon truly loved Iphigeneia, he would not sacrifice his own beloved daughter. Likewise, if Clytaemnesthra truly loved Agamemnon, she would not have killed him. Agamemnon, Clytaemnesthra, and Iphigenia part of an affectionate family and the murders within this household truly show the audience that even the most trusted people can be