AGAMEMNON by AESCHYLUS

THE ROLE OF CHORUS IN AGAMEMNON

The chorus in Aeschylus’s Agamemnon consists of twelve elders of Argos. Though Aristotle, in his Poetics, argued that the chorus should be treated as a character, here in this play, it is more than a mere audience, but less than a character. It does not really take part in the action; rather it states the theme and the moral views of the trilogy. Its impact on the course of events may seem trivial, but its thematic significance is not to be overlooked.
The chorus of the play is immobile. They cannot even take any step when they hear Agamemnon’s death-cry. But the chorus represents the Argive people. These elders were too old to go to the Troy expedition. Ten years they have only seen their kindred’s ash come from the battlefield. They express their resentment against Agamemnon, the Commander-in-chief, for leading their young men to a violent war because of a faithless woman, Helen. Nonetheless, they revere Agamemnon as the rightful king of Argos and worry about his inevitable and impending doom. All Argos speaks through the mouth of the chorus.
The chorus provides necessary information for the audience to understand and appreciate the play. It remembers the past, comments on the present and foreshadows the future. It narrates what led Agamemnon and Menelaus to war along with the Iphigenia-story, hints at how the house of Atreus has changed now and trembles at the thought of what is going to happen to Agamemnon next. Various ways are there for the chorus to express or to bring out information. It chants long choral odes describing Paris’s abduction of Helen. It also uses stichomythia, a quick fire-exchange of words, to bring out information from Clytemnestra about the celebration she initiated after the beacon-fire-message. Because of the limited number of characters in classic Greek theatre, the information proving role of the chorus is very much effective for the better understanding of the audience.
The chorus represents the tradition and culture of Argos. It consists of the elders of the city who hold the traditional view about woman. This is why, it refuses to believe Clytemnestra when she informs them of the fall of troy only because she is a woman even though she possesses all male characteristics. Besides, it pays due respect to the gods Argos traditionally worships. Tradition, in the play of Aeschylus’s Agamemnon, is upheld by the chorus.
The thematic contribution of the chorus is far more important than the rest of its functions. The theme of the trilogy is justice which, in Aeschylus’s age, was a mixture of two distinct ethical views. The old religion insisted that the sinner must suffer and that the sinner will become wise through sufferings. On the other hand, the democratic spirit of the time sought to put an end to the cycle of vengeance by the opinion of the majority. The chorus gives supremacy to new optimism over the old pessimism. It hopes good, but fears the evil which creates a tense mood very much appropriate for a tragedy. Therefore it sings, ‘Cry sorrow, sorrow- yet let good prevail!’ The chorus provides Aeschylus with a mouthpiece to express that the middle course between optimism and pessimism is the course of justice.
Aeschylus’s Agamemnon is written on a multifaceted and complicated theme of justice. It would hardly be possible to deal with this theme and make the audience appreciate it if the chorus did not state it clearly.






THE OPENING SCENE OF AGAMEMNON

Aeschylus’s Agamemnon opens with a watchman standing on the roof of the palace of Argos. He has been stationed there by Clytemnestra to keep a lookout each night for the light from a series of beacon fires that will signal the long-awaited fall of Troy. This night he sees the beacon and is about to start the triumphant dance. The scene is significant in the sense that here the watchman gives necessary information for the audience about the background and the starting point of the play. He also introduces the tragic tense mood which the play is to retain till the end.

The watchman makes it clear that the authority of the house of Atreus, in the absence of Agamemnon, rests on Clytemnestra. For a woman in ancient Greece, to hold any sort of authority is highly irregular. But Clytemnestra, the watchman suggests, is qualified for this, because in her ‘woman’s heart a man’s will nurses hope.’ The watchman is one who has observed the royal house since Agamemnon’s departure. He is in anguish, and he weeps at the thought that the house is far removed from its past splendour due to the absence of the rightful lord. At this point, the watchman represents the common people of Argos.

Now that his long vigil is ended, and his king will finally return home, he is about to begin the triumphant dance. But, before he departs, a feeling of gloom comes over him which he refuses to tell anything about. The watchman’s speech creates suspense, a tense mood that pervades whole through the play. It foreshadows the terrible events to come later. He suggests, though unwittingly, that the victory of troy is the beginning of doom.

The opening scene of Aeschylus’s Agamemnon prepares the audience psychologically for the events to come later. It introduces Clytemnestra, the most dominant character of the play, as a female having male traits. The watchman, through his representation of the Argive people, informs us of the unrest inside and outside the Argos palace at the prolonged absence of Agamemnon. Considering everything, it may be said that the opening scene is not a necessary, rather a preparatory part of the play.






AGAMEMNON: VICTIM OF FATE OR TRAGIC ERROR

Aristotle wrote in his Poetics that the central characters of a tragedy should be better type of human beings. But, destiny leads a tragic character to a pathetic end because of his own inherent flaw or error. Agamemnon meets this criterion set forth by Aristotle properly. His character should be interpreted in the light of two factors: the inevitable destination of Fate and tragic error of his character. In the classic Greek world, complexity in a man’s life arose from these two factors as it happens to Agamemnon. In spite of his surprisingly brief presence, his complicated and multifaceted character has grave impact on the Oresteian trilogy.

Agamemnon, from what we hear from the chorus at the beginning of the play, appears to be a noble and reverent man. His sacrifice of Iphigenia to prevent Greek troops from being washed away, his proposal to the Argive elders that he would sit with all to settle the disputed matters proves him to be a great ruler. Apart from being a good statesman, one needs the virtue of being a good family-man. Here, Agamemnon fails. His actions can be interpreted from two views: worthless family-manship or glorified statesmanship. That he is a great ruler and now the Commander-in-Chief of the victorious Greeks creates some errors within him. He has become too proud and arrogant. This is his tragic error: Hubris.

Hubris is an error that offends gods and excites Fate. Fate is an inexorable impersonal power of the Greek religion. A man’s destiny is absolutely predestined; the wheel of Fate reaches its destination inevitably. But it can be slowed down by good action, the chorus opinions. On the other hand, man’s error-caused evil actions speeds up the wheel. In Agamemnon’s case, he inherited the curse that fell on Atreus for his heinous sin against Thyestes. Because of this curse, Fate was to lead Agamemnon to his doom, but it could linger. Two sins, two actions caused by his tragic error add pace to the wheel of Fate and bring the doom close.

Firstly, when at the bay of Aulis, the Greek Army was unable to set out for their expedition because of the wrath of Artemis, Agamemnon was told by Calchus, the prophet, that only the sacrifice of Iphigenia could bring the wind in their favour. This prophecy left Agamemnon in a tragic dilemma. The father of the state and the father of his beloved daughter involved in a violent conflict within him. At last, whether out of sheer ambition or pride, the father of the Greek army won; he sacrificed Iphigenia. Agamemnon’s tragic error makes him commit this fatal sin. He is completely responsible for this action because it is he who chose between the options. With this action, the wheel of Fate started revolving fast, and Fury, in its embodiment of Clytemnestra, resolved to carry out Fate’s decree. Secondly, when Agamemnon returns home as the glorified leader of Greek army, his pride makes him claim equal share with the gods. To equate oneself to divine power is a sheer sin. He commits this crime again when stepping on the purple carpet because such honour is only due for the gods. Hubris within Agamemnon leads him to these sins, and sin speeds up the wheel of Fate.

Agamemnon was foredoomed. He could not escape his Fate whatever he did. But his actions brought his destination close. Therefore, it can be concluded that both Fate and tragic error were responsible for Agamemnon’s tragedy.






CLYTEMNESTRA: THE EMBODIMENT OF FURIES

The character of Clytemnestra is flat, stable yet one of the most powerful female characters of the Greek theatre. She is fixed in her principle; and her principle is to avenge herself on her daughter’s murderer in any way required. At whatever cost, with whichever measure, she has to kill Agamemnon. This ever-present stimulation makes her character easily explainable. At the same time, the way she acts to reach her goal whole through the tragedy proves her to be as strong as to never shakable from her course.

Aeschylus uses Clytemnestra as an agent of conflict regarding justice in the moral universe of democratic Greece. There was a dualism between the old and the new religious view about justice. The old religion insisted that the sinner must suffer and the new Olympian religion is of the view that the sinner will be wise through sufferings. Aeschylus gives supremacy to new optimism over the old pessimism. Therefore, the chorus sings, ‘Cry Sorrow, sorrow- yet let good prevail!’ The chorus provides Aeschylus with a mouthpiece to express that the middle course between optimism and pessimism is the course of justice. Of these two views, Clytemnestra simbolises the old pessimistic religious morality. Therefore, Agamemnon, the sinner, has to suffer in her hand. The old religion rested the responsibilities of punishing a sinner on the hands of Fate and Furies. Fate seals a man’s doom, and Furies take care to carry out fate’s decree. In this play, Fate’s decree achieves its fulfillment in Clytemnestra’s hand. Therefore, she could be called the embodiment of Furies, the avenging force. It all started when Agamemnon sacrificed Clytemnestra for favourable wind. At her dearest child’s death, agony rose in Clytemnestra’s heart; throughout the ten years of Trojan war, this agony turned into anger; anger into wrath; and wrath wants its revenge turning into a violent avenging force. The mother in Clytemnestra has changed to an embodiment of Furies over all these years. Though violent, we cannot but sympathise Clytemnestra because it’s the mother within her who wants to take revenge.

To meet her goal, Clytemnestra adopts whatever policy she needs necessary. She uses the art in language, even lies; she acts in a shameless way before the herald; she even prays Agamemnon’s safe return home to the gods so that her desired victim does not become storm’s. The most significant of these tactics is the way she invites wrath of the gods over Agamemnon with the purple carpet. This carpet is prepared to welcome Agamemnon. But the king refuses to walk on it because such honour is only deserved by the gods. However, through much badgering, Clytemnestra finally convinces him to walk on it. This invites the wrath of the gods as well as proves Agamemnon to be doomed formally before the Argive elders. In any moral terms, theses cunnings are not justified. But, what else the mother could do, the readers wonder. It is violent, but not strange that showering in Agamemnon’s blood-drops is like being drenched in heavenly dew to Clytemnestra.

The other theme Aeschylus deals with using the character of Clytemnestra is man and woman’s respective status in the society. Women are never treated as an equal to men. For example, the chorus doubts Clytemnestra that Troy has fallen even though they admit her as having male characteristics. Clytemnestra hurts the root of this discriminatory psychology. She dominates the Argive elderly men and kills the man of her hearth; even she chooses her own lover. She knows well that the king was not devoid of woman in the battlefield and now he embarrasses Clytemnestra by bringing his concubine, Cassandra. Then, why should not Clytemnestra choose her own paramour? In a age where gender discrimination is much hated, a modern reader thinks Clytemnestra as an revolt against this heinous practice.

Clytemnestra is not a kind of character readers are usually familiar with. Female characters are oftentimes feeble, powerless and weeping. In contrast, Clytemnestra is strong, powerful and unshakably merciless. All these exceptions are caused by what happened to her darling child. That is why, we cannot but sympathise with the mother, Clytemnestra.






THE THEME OF JUSTICE IN THE ORESTEIAN TRILOGY

Revenge……….a dish served cold.


"Revenge is a kind of wild……" Francis Bacon

What is justice and how is it related to vengeance? Can justice be reconciled with the violence of human feeling and the forces of fate? These questions provided the theme for "Agamemnon, The Choephori and the Eumenides," the grim tragedies that makes up the Oresteian Trilogy. In these plays, Aeschyus takes on his subject the bloody chain of murder and revenge with the royal family of Atreus, a chain finally broken by the intervention of the goddess Athena. It is appropriate that the plays are a trilogy as they take on three various forms of justice.

Democracy, emerging in the city state of Athens, allowed the unprecedented power to her citizens. Among these new powers was the ability to legislate. The Greeks were attempting to establish a governmental system which would span the middle ground between anarchy and despotism. By the crimes played out in the trilogy, Aeschylus demonstrates the contrast between anarchy and despotism and judges them both guilty. He shows, by the end of the play, that the only way man can be absolved of guilt is by joining leagues with the gods in a united effort to promote justice. The cure of continued injustice can only be ended by the cooperative effort of man and Gods.

Retributive justice is an effort established between equals. The history of the house of Atreus has been a history of retributive justice. In a moral sense, it does not re-establish order but instead states violent act upon act, each even serving to disrupt the equilibrium further. The Oresteia represents humanity's emergence from darkness to light, from aristocracy to the democratic state. It is a rite of passage from savagery to civilization.

The first book of the trilogy is "Agamemnon." Agamemnon, king of Argos, is the war hero of Troy who retuned home after 10 years. The king had left on a rather sour note, having murdered his daughter Iphigenia to appease the Gods in order for the fleet to sail to Troy. Clytemnestra, the queen of Argos, could not understand the sacrifice. Agamemnon's actions are typical of the classic Greek "male" point of view. He is concerned with issues of war, honor and welfare of the city. In contrast, Clytemnestra is more concerned with the "female" issues. When Agamemnon comes back from troy, Clytemnestra takes on the role of some backwards Penelope and murdered Agamemnon. We are shown Clytemnestra's interpretation of chthonian justice where revenge is required for various impious acts, and the Furies are sent to torment those who would go against this. Clytemnestra has taken her revenge on Agamemnon which is an example of vigilante justice.

In the second book of the trilogy, "The Choephri," vengeance is rarely a conclusion to a conflict, as the perpetrator would hope. It kicks off a cycle of violence which leads to even more hate, death and injustice. Orestes, their son, is now faced with a moral dilemma – to avenge the death of his father, he must kill his mother. The first act is demanded by the Gods, the second act is forbidden. Whatever he does, Orestes is right and wrong at the same time. The justice system, though, demanded that one avenge the death of a family member.

"The proud dead stir under the earth, they rage against the ones who took their lives."

Unfortunately, the same fate awaits him if he commits matricide. Orestes chooses the latter and is besieged by the "avenging hounds incensed by a mother's blood." Through this sequence of murderous events, Aeschylus demonstrates the complexity of justice. There are no winners and the cycle of violence does not end. Thus, this cycle of vengeance is not justice. The chorus gives voice to this with the words "the one who acts must suffer." Later on they state: "No man…..." Thus the drama's audience is firmly aware of the need for a change. For now, Orestes is relying on retributive justice, eye for an eye, as did his mother.

The brand of justice in book three, "The Eumenides," is based on the Greek concept of logos, or logic. Aeschylus shows us the rise of the court of Athens and the end of the reign of the furies that had fueled the thirst for revenge. Orestes, who gets plagues by the Furies, turns to Apollo. Apollo in return cleanses Orestes of this crime and sends him to Athena, who will determine the propriety of the Furies dogged pursuits of him. Orestes reaches the temple of Athena with the Furies close behind him. Athena appears and asks for the facts from both the furies and Orestes. Hearing both sides, Athena decides that she will appoint the judges of manslaughter and found a tribunal system. Athena also said that: "pick my best citizens."

So the trial begins, both sides, both sides of the case are heard and the jury members should "cast each man…." With trial being before a court of not gods, but citizens who are given the task of deciding his guilt of innocence in the matter and determining what punishment, if any, should be taken, we have a major shift from the dominant role of the gods in shaping man's life.

In the trial, the Furies argue that the murder of the mother should take precedence over the murder of the father because the father is not of the same blood. The outcome of the first trial is a tie showing the difficult pull of both sides. Because Athena prefers to see things from a "manly" point of view she broke the tie and acquitted Orestes. She deemed Clytemnestra's crime, killing her husband, to be greater than that of Orestes killing Clytemnestra. The furies are confused and angry at the results, but Athena offers them a new position where they are no longer hate driven creatures demanding revenge but beautiful and peaceful protectors of the city.

Relative justice, in Greek society, is the supposition that an idea is unjust if and only if it’s the popular opinion. The harm Orestes did to his mother regardless of provocation, could not be justified because the action itself caused in justice. By killing his mother, he is making her unjust, and justice cannot arise out of injustice. Two wrongs do not make a right any more than a single wrong would.

By the end of the trilogy, the power that democracy wielded was demonstrated. It was able to eliminate anarchy and despotism by the middle ground. Democracy allowed for the union between man and gods. It was only through this union that justice could be served and the ancient laws and ways could be overturned. A new humane justice based on argument and discussion, talk and evidence is the only possible way out unless we want the Furies back full time. The issue of justice is an immense one in the trilogy and one that carried as much importance all those years ago as it does today. The evolution of society is revealed when Athena says: "The stronger your fear, your reverence for the just, the stronger your country's wall and city's safety."






AGAMEMNON: MORAL OR IMMORAL ?

Historically, Greek tragedies have been used as a means to convey particular political and ethical testimonials about society, usually in order to convey certain morals or to ensure order. In such chronicles, a protagonist grapples with a particular conflict or sets of conflicts, usually pertaining to some universal moral code. Aeschylus' The Oresteia, like many Greek tragedies, is no exception to the rule. The Oresteia, like many other Greek tragedies of its time, deals with issues of justice, honor, and kinship. However, the play itself does so in a way that even mystifies the audience. Unlike other Greek tragedies, it is difficult to ascertain who exactly the protagonists and antagonists are. Moreover, the epic itself presents the audience with characters who are righteous in a sense, but very flawed morally. Agamemnon is such a character.
From what we are told by the chorus in the beginning play of the trilogy, Agamemnon is first presented to us as a man of honor, bravely leading his troops into victory during the Trojan War. But then we are told that Agamemnon, in order to change the winds to win the battle of Troy, sacrificed his own daughter, Iphigenia. The complexity of Agamemnon's character leaves the audience spellbound- is the man cruel, ambitious, virtuous? Before examining Agamemnon's acts, it is important to note the historical and political context for which the play was written. In the context of this particular story, the act of sacrificing one's kin for the sake of the state could indeed be deemed as righteous. Because Greek plays were very political, the theme of family loyalty was oftentimes presented as a danger for society and order. Unlike the Romans who worshipped family, Grecians were more focused on the importance of the state. Like in Sophocles Antigone, going against the state for the sake of family loyalty is seen as a very dangerous thing to do, resulting in dire consequences for all. Because of the historical and political context of the play, Agamemnon's decision to sacrifice his daughter could be deemed as a logical decision, especially since the sacrifice was for the sack of Troy and the victory of the Greek army.
However virtuous the act itself may have seemed given the context of the play, Agamemnon sacrifice of his daughter was faulted nonetheless, therefore making him a complex, multi-faceted character. It could be argued that out of sheer ambition, Agamemnon murdered his daughter. This is very important to note because the theme of ambition is what began the conflict of the trilogy in the first place. Remember, ambition is what originally sparked the ill-fated curse upon the house of Atreus when he maliciously murdered Thyestes and his children. Now, Agamemnon's responsibility for the bloodshed of his daughter for the sake of ambition is another ill-fated curse that has come upon his household for which the consequence will be his own death.
Despite the ill-fated decisions of Agamemnon's ambition, he is depicted as virtuous nonetheless. The chorus presents Agamemnon as a moral character, facing a dilemma whether or not to kill his own daughter. This kind of dilemma is the kind of dilemma a protagonist would be faced with. Remember, Agamemnon fought the city of Troy for the sake of virtue, therefore making him a virtuous character. And like a protagonist, the heroic Agamemnon is faced with a conflict regarding whether or not to kill his daughter Iphigenia after he is commanded by the goddess Artemis to do so in order to spare the lives of his cavalry. Agamemnon contemplates this conflict with much grief:
If I obey the goddess, and kill my daughter-
What do I become?
A monster to myself, to the whole world,
And to all future time, a monster
Wearing my daughter's blood - .
But if I deny the goddess, then what happens?
Will it be worse?
An utter defeat
For us all. And for me-
Disaster. As if I deserted this army,
Disguised, a traitor to my oath,
Shorn of honour.
Agamemnon p. 13
This statement gives us some insight on Agamemnon's psyche and hence, his character. Although we are told of his act against his daughter, Iphigenia, we are given insight on Agamemnon's moral dilemma, therefore giving the audience the impression that this character does in fact have a sense of virtue and principles. In a sense, Agamemnon's sacrifice of his daughter is somewhat justified in that if he did not obey the command of the goddess, Artemis, it would have led to utter destruction of his army and of the honor code he must follow in order to be a noble ruler. Like a classic protagonist of Greek tragedies, Agamemnon is faced with a trying conflict in which he must make an ill-fated decision.
However virtuous and honorable a picture the chorus portrays of Agamemnon, it is not long before we see that Agamemnon is flawed yet again. When Agamemnon makes his victorious return from Troy he proudly parades Cassandra, his mistress, before his wife and the chorus. We now are presented with an Agamemnon who is very arrogant and disrespectful to his seemingly faithful wife (surprisingly even to the standards of the Greek Hellenistic period). When Agamemnon speaks to his wife, he does so with contempt and disrespect:
Guardian of my name, of my home,
Great-hearted woman that you are,
Daughter of Leda-
Your eulogies are like my absence:
Too long, too much
Agamemnon, p. 43
Yet again the audience is left questioning whether or not Agamemnon is the protagonist or the antagonist. Unlike classical tragic protagonists, Agamemnon's flaws are dishonorable. Despite Agamemnon's long absence from Argos, he does not greet his wife with words of delight as she does to him. Instead, he embarrasses her in front of the chorus and his new mistress, Cassandra.
Agamemnon presents to us another dishonorable flaw in his character during this dialogue between he and his wife. Although he initially refuses to step on the carpet Clytemnestra has had prepared for him, she cunningly induces him to do so, thereby coercing him to go against his principles. This is a key scene in the play because originally Agamemnon refuses to walk the carpet because he does not want to be hailed as a god:
Do not speak these purple cloths
That should be spread only for gods,
Yes, only for the feet of gods,
For the feet of descended gods.
Do not spread them for me.
Greet me as a man.
Greet me as a god and the gods
Will punish us all.
Agamemnon p. 43
However, through much badgering, Clytemnestra finally convinces Agamemnon to walk on the carpet. Because Agamemnon defies his principles we see another weakness of this arrogant king.
Although Agamemnon's physical presence in the Oresteia trilogy is very brief, his character's moral dilemma sets the stage for the entire play. Each character in the play has some sort of dilemma that he/she must face for the sake of justice. Clytemnestra must face the dilemma of avenging her daughter’s death by murdering her husband, both Orestes and Electra must murder their own mother and her lover in order to avenge their father's death, Aegisthus must avenge the death of his brother, and all the while the furies maintain responsibility for making sure no one kills their own blood relation. With this set up of the story, moral conflict for the sake of justice is inevitable and there is bound to be a blood bath.
Because Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter for the sake of ambition and the curse of Atreus, both crimes ignited a spark in the trilogy that compels each character to seek a revenge that has no end. Appropriately enough for Greek drama, each of these characters feel some sort of moral and ethical responsibility to murder or torment for the sake of justice. But had not Agamemnon and Atreus sparked the initial flame to the curses, this vicious cycle would have been less likely to occur and such bloodshed would have not transpired.
Ruler of Argos and husband to Clytemnestra, Agamemnon is quite a complicated character and it is very difficult to distinguish whether he is virtuous or immoral. Like a two-sided coin, we are given multi-facets of Agamemnon as a character. At times he is depicted as being very moral, and at other times, very immoral. Although presented very briefly in the play, his actions are the reasons for much of the conflict in the play regarding the other characters. Not only that, but Agamemnon's hopeless dilemma to seek vengeance through the use of violence sets the stage for much of the dilemmas yet to come in the trilogy, thereby making Agamemnon an essential character in this Greek tragedy.