A Portrayel of Women in the Oresteia

A detailed Summary of A Portrayel of Women in the Oresteia

In The Oresteia, Aeschylus advocates the importance of the male role in society over that of the female. The entire trilogy can be seen as a subtle proclamation of the superiority of men over women. Yet, the women create the real interest in the plays. Their characters are the impetus that makes everything occur.

The most complex and compelling character in the three plays is Clytaemnestra. Clytaemnestra is consumed with thoughts of revenge. She seeks vengeance on Agamemnon for the loss of their daughter, Iphigeneia whose life was forfeited in order to appease the goddess Artemis so that Agamemnon's troops would be allowed passage to the Trojan shore. Clytaemnestra displays more intelligence than any other character in The Oresteia in the way she manipulates the events leading up to Agamemnon's execution in the play "Agamemnon." Her scheming ways and clever word play make her intimidating in the eyes of the people of Argos. She is looked upon with revulsion because of the manly way she acts. The chorus leader states in line 35 "spoken like a man, my lady, loyal, full of self-command." (Aeschylus 116). Odysseus of the quick wits was held in high esteem for such craftiness, yet intelligence and wit, while exulted in a man,

Another strong female character who is grossly underestimated is Cassandra, daughter of Priam, King of Troy. Cassandra is brought into this family feud when Agamemnon brings her back from Troy as his personal prize from the war. She has the gift of prophesy but her prophesies are never believed because she once angered Apollo by not submitting to him and has suffered ever since. Even as Agamemnon's concubine, scorned by Clytaemnestra, and forsaken by the gods, Cassandra shows great strength of character. She foresees the murder of Agamemnon as well as herself and is resigned to her fate for she also foresees her vengeance in the form of Orestes. She says in lines 1300-1304, "We will die,/ but not without some honour from the gods./ There will come another to avenge us,/ born to kill his mother, born/ his father's champion" (Aeschylus 155). With these words, Cassandra foreshadows the revenge of Orestes and therefore the whole premise of the trilogy.

Where as Clytaemnestra breaks with female tradition, Electra is the preserver of the status quo. Because Clytaemnestra is not motherly, Electra who has already lost her father to the depths of Hades, loses her mother to that one's all-consuming hate of Agamemnon as well. And so she seeks revenge towards her mother, the cause of all her misery in taking away the only fami

Some common words found in the essay are:
Artemis Agamemnon's, Eumenides Aeschylus, Apollo Orestes, Troy Cassandra, Oresteia Aeschylus, Clytaemnestra Clytaemnestra, role society, role society female, male role society, society female, orestes lines, male role, play trilogy, entire trilogy,

Approximate Word count = 898
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels