Due to the fact of similarities between authors writing in the same place and time, we often make the mistake of presuming their viewpoints are identical on the given subject. It would be a mistake to expect Aeschylus' Agamemnon and Euripides' Medea to express identical views on the subject; each author had a unique way. The opinions of these two writers on this subject are actually different.

Aeschylus' plays revolved around ethics, and commonly he presented as objectively as possible, by asking the audience to judge the ethical questions for themselves. Agamemnon is not really about Agamemnon as much as is about Clytemnestra, his wife. Clytemnestra tells us early on that she has suffered terribly in her life, and mentions the loss of her daughter Iphigenia.

Aeschylus has making us sympathize with Clytemnestra. After Agamemnon arrives, Clytemnestra treats him almost like a god, insisting on wrapping him in a huge royal robe as he descends from his chariot. Agamemnon protests that this kind of welcome is unnecessary, but Clytemnestra is insistent, and he finally gives in. Clytemnestra, however, has an another motive; she uses the huge robe to make it difficult for him to fight

"What did I said, my dear children? Your mother

Part of the reason we have so much sympathy for Clytemnestra is that Aeschylus presented her as a tragic character. We feel her pain, she does not seem insane to us. In the other hand, with Euripides' Medea is the opposite. In the opening speech the Nurse warns us that Medea is dangerous; she is not presented like a suffering creature as much as the wrong woman to mess with.

Frets her hart and frets her anger.

But what does it say about Aeschylus and Euripides' views on the role of women? Aeschylus would seem to have a much more open view of women, he gives Clytemnestra some credit. Moreover, he makes her sympathetic enough that even his audience would have understood Clytemnestra's view, and excused her one-time intrusion into an area normally reserved for men -- seeking vengeance.

Maynard Mack, and Editors. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Vol. 1. New York: Norton and Company, 1998.

Go now run quickly indoors." (Norton, 644)

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Approximate Word count = 942
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)