Yeah, Yeah
Griffith Basehore
9/16/11
Does revenge promote justice? Revenge has played an intricate part in society since the beginning of man. There are quite a few stories in which people use revenge to amend the wrong that was done to them. This brings about the question, does revenge promote justice? I believe that revenge can promote justice but only if the punishment is ethical and executed properly.
People that take to revenge often have suffered an emotional trauma. This is especially the case in ancient Greek society. In the tragedy of Agamemnon there are several cases where one person was killed as payback for another person that was murdered. For example, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia, in order to please the goddess Artemis. When Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife, found out about her daughter’s death she was heartbroken and angry. Clytemnestra immediately began plotting her revenge against Agamemnon to make up for her daughter’s death. When Agamemnon returns from the battle of Troy he is murdered by Clytemnestra’s lover, Aegisthus. Therefore, she accomplished her revenge over Agamemnon. However, did this revenge promote justice? Justice is defined as the moral principle defining rightful conduct. I do not believe that killing Agamemnon was the morally right thing to do. Clytemnestra tries to make up for one gruesome murder with another murder. Two wrongs do not make a right and that is why I believe that revenge cannot promote justice if the revenge is not morally correct.
In this situation, I believe there are a few things that Clytemnestra could have done differently so that her revenge would promote justice. Instead of making Aegisthus slay Agamemnon she could have tried to turn the towns people against Agamemnon by exposing them to the monster he is. Then when Agamemnon returned home she could have petitioned for his arrest. This may have been difficult due to the fact that Agamemnon had just returned home from a victorious war. However, it
9/16/11
Does revenge promote justice? Revenge has played an intricate part in society since the beginning of man. There are quite a few stories in which people use revenge to amend the wrong that was done to them. This brings about the question, does revenge promote justice? I believe that revenge can promote justice but only if the punishment is ethical and executed properly.
People that take to revenge often have suffered an emotional trauma. This is especially the case in ancient Greek society. In the tragedy of Agamemnon there are several cases where one person was killed as payback for another person that was murdered. For example, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia, in order to please the goddess Artemis. When Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife, found out about her daughter’s death she was heartbroken and angry. Clytemnestra immediately began plotting her revenge against Agamemnon to make up for her daughter’s death. When Agamemnon returns from the battle of Troy he is murdered by Clytemnestra’s lover, Aegisthus. Therefore, she accomplished her revenge over Agamemnon. However, did this revenge promote justice? Justice is defined as the moral principle defining rightful conduct. I do not believe that killing Agamemnon was the morally right thing to do. Clytemnestra tries to make up for one gruesome murder with another murder. Two wrongs do not make a right and that is why I believe that revenge cannot promote justice if the revenge is not morally correct.
In this situation, I believe there are a few things that Clytemnestra could have done differently so that her revenge would promote justice. Instead of making Aegisthus slay Agamemnon she could have tried to turn the towns people against Agamemnon by exposing them to the monster he is. Then when Agamemnon returned home she could have petitioned for his arrest. This may have been difficult due to the fact that Agamemnon had just returned home from a victorious war. However, it