Aeschylus

Running head : AESCHYLUS ' ORESTEIA Aeschylus ' Oresteia Trilogy

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No other Greek trilogy or play has achieved timeless significance than Aeschylus ' magnum opus that is the Oresteia trilogy . While every other play has focused on the minute details of Greek mythology , epic and social commentaries for and against the Greek way of life , the Oresteia touches on the core ideas of democracy , universal fates and justice that are still instructive even to the modern day reader . The entire work is exquisitely wrought in elevated poetics and literary value

without so much losing the import of its message to turbidity of language and superficiality of the semantic artifice because of its simple style and accessible metaphors . The characters live as immortals in the pages of the manuscript precisely because of its rich portrayal and deeply immersive presentation which possess the power to carry their motley travails over to the scrutiny and examination of the modern reader , as if they verily reflected the very conditions of politics and societies of the present . It is quite hard not to identify oneself in their predicament , for notwithstanding the date of its inception the dramatic characters live and breathe continually throughout ages . In other words from the day the work was written to the present when it is being read by modern scholars and readers , the ideas remain fresh and timely just as it was being acted out and presented to ancient audiences back then

The trilogy opens with Clytemnestra waiting in eager anticipation on a mountaintop . Afterwards , the silence is broken with news from a herald of the arrival of Agamemnon after ten long years of war against the Trojans . What had been promised to last for a few days became a protracted war that stretched on for a decade . The herald bears good tidings on the return of the victorious king , opining that finally at last after these many years , with eyes that burn , hive hail and glory to your King 's return ! For Agamemnon comes , a great light comes to men and gods out of the night (Aeschylus , 1953 . The council of elders received this news at first with suspicion until the Herald 's forceful words allayed whatever misapprehensions they had on first impression Likewise , Clytemnestra cherished the news of Agamemnon 's arrival and hastened in her preparations for the proper welcome of the king who is victorious and has come (Aeschylus , 1953 . Filled with pomp and obvious self-importance , Agamemnon rides to enter his kingdom alongside a retinue of attendants most specially the slave and concubine Cassandra who shall later figure prominently in the death of the king

It can not be gainsaid that Agamemnon has been regarded as the bastion of power and strength as a king . His magnanimity extends over his lands even when he had been fighting a war abroad . His character may be brute and sly yet these attributes redounded to benefit of his subjects . He commands respect and honor among his people . Yet for all his...