Aeschylus' Oresteia: Agamemnon Explained Part One

Dcn. Garlick, Dr. Frank Grabowski, and Thomas Lackey are reunited to discuss the first part of Agamemnon, the first play in Aeschylus' Oresteia.

Check out thegreatbookspodcast.com for more information.

From our written guide available to our supporters:

The first play of the Oresteia tells of the homecoming of Agamemnon and is predominately animated by revenge. Aeschylus presents us with questions concerning the legitimacy of the Trojan war, how Argos has suffered without its king, and why Clytemnestra has plotted to murder her husband. Though chronologically Odysseus has not return home yet, one should compare this text to the Odyssey and Odysseus’ own homecoming – written almost three hundred years prior by Homer. Aeschylus draws heavily from Homer but changes small but significant details, which creates a narrative that presents a profound lesson on the weaknesses of lex talionis as enacted by the blood avenger model. Throughout Agamemnon and into Libation Bearers, we are invited to consider whether a new model of justice is needed.

I.             The Opening: Unease and Gender Inversions (1)

The play begins with an invocation to the gods, as will the following two plays. Through the watchman, Aeschylus communicates the time and setting to his audience in a manner typical of Greek drama. The watchman’s opening monologue conveys a disquieting mood of fear and quiet dread. As observed, Lackey describes the opening as “a little eerie and a little bit off.” Notably, the watchman yearns for the return of Agamemnon, his king, and we note the king’s absence has left the kingdom, Argos, in suffering (24, 37). One thinks here of the suffering of Ithaca without Odysseus in the Odyssey. The opening passages invites us to ask: “What has life been like in Argos over the past decade during the king’s absence?” and “What is the effect of the empty throne of Argos upon its people?” 

From the outset, Aeschylus will play with gender roles and descriptions. Notice Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife, “maneuvers like a man” (13), while Agamemnon himself will be presented as effeminate. This thematic inversion invites readers to examine Aeschylus’ pedagogical purpose for such language. As Dr. Grabowski observes, the toying with gender traits parallels Shakespeare’s Macbeth, wherein Lady Macbeth similarly exhibits masculine qualities of ambition and dominance. 

As the play progresses, readers gain insight into life in Argos during Agamemnon’s ten-year absence. The people long for an end to their suffering, for “an end to their pain” (23). Notably, Aeschylus allows us to see how Argos viewed the Trojan war (44), which is largely presented, at first, as a just war in which Agamemnon was the “great avenger” of Zeus punishing Troy for its violation of guest-friendship (45), i.e., Prince Paris absconding with Menelaus’ wife, Helen. The reader should note whether Agamemnon’s return starts to adjust this narrative....

Check out our whole guide on the Oresteia.