Cassandra's importance in Oresteia

A detailed Summary of Cassandra's importance in Oresteia

Aeschlyus's trilogy, The Oresteia, is a tragic manifesto that painfully paints a bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. In the first respective play of the trilogy, "Agamemnon," the character of Cassandra plays a vital role to the play and the trilogy as a whole, in numerous distinct ways. Cassandra, as seer and prophetess, connects the present with the past, and more importantly, draws a foreshadowing veil of doom for the future. In her short yet powerful scene after meeting Clytaemnestra, the mischievous wife of Agamemnon, Cassandra gives a voice, a past, and a portrait to each of the three plays in the trilogy. Moreover, she is able to accomplish this remarkable feat in a divinely poignant manner. Cassandra possesses a woeful vulnerability as victim to both Apollo, her architect of prophecy, and Clytaemnestra, her murderer.

"Agamemnon," the first play of The Oresteia follows the ill fate of the victorious King of Argos, Agamemnon. Upon arriving home from war, royal mistress, Cassandra, at his side, Agamemnon is brutally murdered by his own wife, Clytaemnestra and accomplice, Aegisthus. Clytaemnestra distraught and enraged over Agamemnon's affair with Helen of Troy, coupled with his

Upon the ground he draws him home with power like a prayer. (1300-1307)

It can be argued that the most tragic character in The Oresteia is the vulnerable victim and prophetess Cassandra. As a result of her curse and her eventual murder by both God and mortal, Cassandra creates emotion and empathy into an audience that very well would not have been prevalent. More importantly, she was able to erect a window into the past, present, and future, and create an infinite amount of sympathy and compassion for all of the inhabitants of the doomed house of Argos. Without the vital role of Cassandra, the trilogy becomes extremely one-dimensional, dealing with each respective story separately and without continuity. Without the important bridge and window that Cassandra gives the audience, passion falls short and we're left with three different interludes, instead of one sorrowful masterpiece.

holding out their entrails . . . now it's clear,

Their flesh charred, the father gorging on their parts - (1094-1097)

Beggar! Wretch! Starve for bread in hell

he sprawled at home in the royal lair

Next, Cassandra takes foreboding aim at the dreadful murderers. Although she never refers to the killers by name, she makes certain that we all know whom she's speaking of. First she attacks the cold vengeful heart of Aegisthus. After once again connecting the past with the present and immediate future, by rousing up memories, Cassandra rips into Aegisthus dubbing him, "a lion who lacks a lion's heart" (1232).

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1742
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous