The Oresteia

Oresteia: Agamemnon, the Libation-Bearers & the Furies - The Barnes & Noble review

The Oresteia would not qualify as light reading. I read it twice because I skipped the introduction the first time around. What can I say, the intro seemed long and dull, and I wanted to get to the plays. Well, the intro was long and dull, but I understood the plays much better the second time around -- after reading the introduction.

The Oresteia is a trilogy of plays comprised of Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and Eumenides. The back of the book says Aeschylus (the author) "took as his subject the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. Moving from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, its spirit of struggle and regeneration is eternal."

It is interesting and even enjoyable reading when you understand the history and context of the plays. Just don't read it when you're sick. My summation of the plot after a week in bed with the flu went something like this:

Orestes gets chased by his mother's avenging Furies to the temple of Athena to whom he appeals for judgment because, at the prompting of the god Apollo, he killed his mother for killing his father for sacrificing his sister so the winds would stop and the Argive ships could go to war against Troy because Orestes' Aunt Helen ran off with some guy named Paris.

OK, so there was a bit more to it than that, but you'll have to read it yourself to get the details.

After reading The Iliad and The Odyssey I was particularly interested in reading The Oresteia because it deals with related events. I enjoy having a sense of how stories connect in history, as well as seeing how different authors treat similar subjects and characters. My next project is Euripides' play Electra, Electra being Orestes' sister and co-conspirator in their mother's murder. Electra appears to be rather a short play with a much less verbose introduction, so this should follow quite rapidly (depending upon the number of times I read it, and how many cross-country moves I make in the meantime).

SET - 12/16/99

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