Oresteia
Aeschylus faces off with Euripides in a dramatic contest and is declared the victor. The decision is one of cosmetics more than substance. Aeschylus wrote plays that appealed to the people of Athens. The Oresteia is a story with strong characters faced with difficult decisions in which justice prevails. On the other hand, Euripides wrote plays that were more realistic, such as The Electra, which reveals the weakness of men and women. That both authors wrote plays dealing with the same story helps us to see the differences in their opinions and styles.The Oresteia probably was favoured more by the Athenian people because of some key factors. One of these is character portrayal. Aeschylus made his heroes strong minded and full of resolve, whereas Euripides tended to show his characters' shortcomings. An example of this is the character of Orestes. In The Libation Bearers, Orestes comes upon the scene and makes himself known to his sister immediately and quickly reveals his plot to kill their father's murderers. He is in control of the situation and prepared to kill both his mother and her lover: "Our Fury who is never starved for blood shall drink/ for the third time a cupful of unwatered blood" (Libation Bearers,
A second area in which Aeschylus probably won the favour of the judges is the death scenes of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus and the events following their deaths. In The Oresteia, Orestes confronts both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus individually and kills them. Then, in The Eumenides, the play is devoted to deciding whether the matricide committed by Orestes is justified. The resolution of this play is the recognition of the Furies as justice of an older time, and Athena gives them their rightful place in modern justice. Aeschylus would win the contest in Athens because Athenians would want to identify more with his play. Aeschylus provides for the audience a play of heroic actions, noble characters, and the development of justice, which is a very pleasing image for Athenians. Euripides, on the other hand, questions the nobility of wealth and the actions of his "heroic" characters. Also, Euripides writes some daring, unpopular things in his plays, such as the scene in The Trojan Women when issues far more than Aeschylus does and that is why he would be better suited to save Athens. Lines 577-578). Orestes would have appealed to the Athenian populace because of his strength and his desire to avenge the murder of his father and fulfill the oracle of Apollo. In The Electra, Euripides creates a very different personality for Orestes than does Aeschylus. Orestes does not burst onto the scene and i! Euripides treats the deaths of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus very differently. First, Euripides gives a det
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Approximate Word count = 1014
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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