With all the murders in the House of Atreus, who was really righteous in their act? Well,

if you ask any of the killers, they all were. Clytemnesta claims that her murder of Agamemnon

is due justice for the killing of her daughter Iphigeneia by Agamemnon (Ag. 1431-1433) and

even gets angry at the Chorus for suggesting that she committed an act of evil and that

Agamemnon was righteous in his. Aegisthus proclaims that his part in the death of Agamemnon is justified by the act of Agamemnon father Atreus cooking and serving his brother's, Aegisthus' father Thyestes', children to him (Ag. 1578-1582). Finally, in the Libation Bearers, Orestes tells his sister Electra that he has been given a divine order by Apollo to murder his mother for the death of their father, Agamemnon, o

In summary, vengeance for bloodshed leads to nothing except for more bloodshed. We actually see this same string of revenge and violence in modern action movies such as Die Hard or Death Wish. In the Die Hard Series, the brother of the bad guy in the first film comes back to get his revenge on John McClane for killing his brother, leading to his death and the death of innocents. As for Death Wish, the lead character goes on a killing spree to revenge the murder of his wife. In both these series, revenge for a murder just leads to more death and destruction as in the Oresteia. When people forego the legal system and take justice into their own hands, trouble ends up coming for all involved. This is why we still have a justice system based somewhat on the Athenian democracy: rule by the people, for the people under man-made laws.

r face death himself (LB. 268-296). Even the libation bearers as the Chorus tell Orestes that he would be righteous in the murder because the law demands fresh blood for the spilling of blood (LB. 400-404). Ironically, this quote also gives hint to the fact that even Orestes' act would bring the thirst for more bloodshed. Orestes reiterates his right to avenge his father's death with the spilling of his mother's blood as he displays the bodies of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus (LB. 973-990). So, from the eyes of each perpetrator, each was acting justly, but in my opinion, it was only Orestes who had acted righteously in murdering his mother.

I would also contend that if not Orestes, then none was right in the ve

Some common words found in the essay are:
Aegisthus LB, Orestes Athena, Pallas Athena, Bearers Orestes, Atreus Ag, Death Wish, Agamemnon Ag, , Furies LB, House Atreus, system justice, house atreus, orestes' act, death wish, die hard, revenge murder, viscous cycle, act bring, libation bearers, clytemnestra aegisthus,
Approximate Word count = 1051
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)