3.5
Agamemnon
ByPublisher Description
The Greek city of Argos is waiting for word of the triumph during the Trojan War, and a watchman is posted to send out a signal when it does. The Chorus, an assembly of Argive elders, is informed by the Argive queen Clytemnestra that the city has been taken. Mycenaean king Agamemnon returns with Cassandra, a prophetess from Troy. He thanks the gods for keeping him safe and swears to work with the Chorus to build democracy. Cassandra predicts that Clytemnestra would kill her and Agamemnon when she enters the palace to carry out the deed. Regarding the prophetess' visions, the Chorus is hesitant. Cassandra walks inside the palace knowing that she would shortly be put to death. Screams from the palace stop the Chorus as they are going to talk on how destiny is inevitable. Agamemnon and Cassandra were slain by Clytemnestra, who then reappears with blood on her hands. The murder of Agamemnon, according to her, was motivated by retaliation for the sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia. Agamemnon's cousin Aegisthus makes an appearance, praising the vengeance and defending it as payback for earlier wrongdoings. The Chorus is prepared to die as soon as he exerts his dominance over them. As soldiers round the entrance and the Chorus disperses, the play comes to a close with Clytemnestra and Aegisthus returning to the palace as Argos' new rulers.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesAgamemnon Reviews
3.5
““But ancient Violence longs to breed, / new Violence comes / when its fatal hour comes, the demon comes / to take her toll — no war, no force, no prayer / can hinder the midnight Fury stamped / with parent Fury moving through the house.”
Aeschylus keeps surprising me with his approachability. Which likely is ironic since he wrote for entertainment contests, and I read much more demanding texts than his for fun.
This play again blew me away. While one could reduce it to a revenge drama, and enjoy it as that, perhaps, there are many more layers to be found, and they create a powerful undertow. Aeschylus asks questions about the ramifications of personal sacrifice for a communal gain, about losing a child, jealousy, the many faces of toil, violence breeding violence, what being left behind during a decade of war can do to people, about family dynamics, the tragedy of not being listened to—or not listening to others—, and the various forms of justice, their justification, and their possible aftermath, amongst others. He also deals with hubris, the ever-present fatal flaw in ancient tragedies. And Agamemnon is only the first part of a trilogy that will deal closer with these themes as it continues.
What struck me again during reading the father of tragedy is the sheer force in his words. Reading Aeschylus, or listening to him, is like tuning into music that starts powerfully and only rises from there on.
Also interesting to observe is how he works with the chorus, and how it sets him apart from his contemporary colleagues.
Last but not least, reading Aeschylus makes me wonder where western literature and culture in general would be without him. Without him, likely no Shakespeare, likely no masterful directors of our modern-day cinema—at least not in the way we love them.
A masterful play.”
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