"In war, the first casualty is truth."

Aeschylus's Oresteia trilogy examines revenge, retribution, and fate in the house of Atreus. Agamemnon, the trilogy's first play, depicts the murder of the King and his trophy slave Cassandra, daughter of the King of Troy, on his return to Mycenae from the Trojan War.

Ten years earlier, before setting out for war, Agamemnon offended the goddess Artemis, and she stopped the winds, keeping his fleet of 100 ships from sailing to battle. He learned from the prophet, Calchas, that the only way to appease Artemis was to sacrifice his oldest daughter Iphigenia. He had to decide between his duties to his family or his city-state. He chose his polis and lured Iphigenia and his wife Clytemnestra by promising his daughter's marriage to Achilles. The play begins ten years later with Agamemnon's homecoming as Clytemnestra enacts her revenge with her lover Aegisthus's help.

Agamemnon is a powerful poetic play filled with fear and rage. I listened to Audible's outstanding performance, which brought it to life. I highly recommend this production to anyone interested in the classical world or theater.

[this post is spoiled]
Here I find myself again, realizing how different is Aeschylus' style from Sophocles'. I have already underlined my inclination towards Sophocles (in my review of Aeschylus' "Prometheus bound"), so I shall not mention that again. In fact, Aeschylus tends to be, in a certain manner, more poetic than Sophocles because of his tendency to use the chorus to cry more about what is happening (therefore, probably trying to make the tragedy... more dramatic). It is much more lamenting in Aeschylus' plays than in Sophocles, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.
I have read someone's review on this play and liked it very much because it nicely stressed the differences between the two styles of the authors; however, what I am about to say is that this play is certainly one of 5 stars, and we could hardly find the power of considering it. It is hard for some of us, today, to fully understand this kind of play while just reading it and not having a clear representation of it in our mind (clear as in real, because, of course, we can simply imagine the play being put "on scene"). However, not having a clear representation in my mind, neither reading the piece in its original written language, but in Romanian language and because I liked this play more than i perhaps liked the others read by the author, I am inclined, if not obliged by these sheer circumstances, to rate it 5 out of 5. I liked Prometheus bound better, being my favorite from Aeschylus up till now, but Agamemnon is not too far away from it, I may suppose.

I knew what was going to happen, not only because the antique plays' titles are rather clear and predictable on whatever is going to happen, but because I read Sophocles' Electra (which is, for me, the mere continuation of this tragedy, with the son coming back to revenge his father). I might have liked his play this much also because i have loved Sophocles' Electra and, being connected to it by story and circumstances, i found myself empathizing with it. The story, is indeed, tragical

[SPOILER starting] : Agamemnon, on his way back home from the trojan war, he has to confront the evils of the sea, a big storm it is holding him back because of a circumstance or another; being trapped, he has to listen to the gods' require and give up his own daughter, by killing her with his own hands, and having her mouth shut for she shall not be able to curse her murderers. She is, therefore, a sacrifice. The wife of Agamemnon, unfaithful as she is, finds this the best of reasons to escape her marriage and give herself entirely to her lover. Such as the circumstances here present themselves, she coldly kills her husband and accuses his unfaithfulness for why, therefore, should have he arrived home, in his beloved borough, with Cassandra. She, the concubine of the unfaithful father and husband, should have her life also taken away by the mother and wife that shall vengeance her daughter and her pride. Suitably covering her other intense motives of getting rid of a long wanted-dead marriage, being embraced by her lover in light and not in shadow.
Agamemnon has, therefore, not such a long role in his own death and play, he appears as a victor (coming back home undefeated, with victory in his hands), as a killer (because of the death of the daughter), as a traitor (for his unfaithfulness) and as a victim (being killed by the hands of his own wife).
[SPOILER done]

The play is beautiful and tragical, as it ought to be and I have felt entirely dramatic while reading it, what made me rate it 5 out of 5. I have rated less than this some plays of Aeschylus, but not because I rise against the beauty of this antique writer, but because those respective plays did not make me feel entirely dramatic and I certainly didn't feel the feeling of tragedy covering my thoughts or blood, therefore, in my humble opinion, I had to be honest to my subjectiveness and rate them as it is. But, I repeat it, I always recognize the greatness and beauty of the antique writers. I find myself loving their works -so distant, I am afraid to touch the words with my eyes and i am endlessly startled by the fact that I, myself, can be a witness of such greatness, having the opportunity to read now the tragedies they wrote then, ages after their living and death. It is simply unbelievable and wonderful.

Love/war, jealousy/revenge, murder/justice.

I mean, I kind of get it, but after reading this I would expect more people to name their daughter Clytemnestra.
That ending, though. Dang.

Αναπόσπαστο μέρος της τριλογίας (Χοηφόροι, Ευμένιδες), όμως διακρίνεται από αυτοτέλεια. Μακρόσυρτα μεγάλα κείμενα/στιχομυθίες με το μεγαλύτερο μέρος να μιλά ο χορός. Ξεκινά με ένα εντυπωσιακό πρόλογο του φύλακα που μέχρι τώρα μονότονα αγνάντευε τον ορίζοντα περιμένοντας ένα φωτεινό σήμα ότι η Τροία έπεσε. Και η στιγμή φτάνει, όμως τη χαρά του διαδέχεται γρήγορα η επίγνωση των επικείμενων προβλημάτων με την επιστροφή του βασιλιά. Είναι ο πρώτος που ενσπείρει την ανησυχία.

Η Κλυταιμνήστρα υποκριτικά υποδέχεται το σύζυγό του, για να τον σκοτώσει λίγο αργότερα. Σοκαριστικός ο λόγος της: έχει σκοτώσει τον άνδρα της και δεν το μετανιώνει. Επειδή εκείνος αποφάσισε να θυσιάσει την κόρη της για "μια Ελένη". Πουθενά εκτός των ελληνικών τραγωδιών δεν έχω συναντήσει τέτοιες γυναικείες μορφές, σκοτεινές. Όμοια και ίσως το πιο δυνατό σημείο του έργο κατά την γνώμη μου, ο προφητικός λόγος της Κασσάνδρας, της μάντισσας παλλακίδας που έφερε ο βασιλιάς από την Τροία, που οραματίζεται και το δικό της θάνατο.

Ο Αίγισθος εραστής της βασίλισσας εμφανίζεται αλαζονικά στη σκηνή ευχαριστημένος που εκδικήθηκε
"για το κακό που έπαθε ο πατέρας του από τον Ατρέα" όμως ήδη η Κλυταιμνήστρα έχει αρχίσει να αντιλαμβάνεται ότι θα ανοίξει νέος κύκλος αίματος...

This is so good!!!! So creepy and intense and stunningly beautiful!

bof brutal encima qué buena traducción (leí la de cátedra)

در مقابل بانیزه دار نامدار
آرش کمانگیر را می آورد.
هیچ کس در برابر چنین سیل مردان تاب ایستادگی ندارد
چه سد توانا هم باز ندارد موج شکست ناپذیر دریا را
زیرا که سپاه ایرانی تسخیر ناپذیر است و افرادش جنگاورند.
با این همه کدام انسان فانی از نیرنگ خدایان رهایی دارد؟

n  n    Book Reviewn  n
3 out of 5 stars to Agamemnon, the first of the Orestia plays written in 458 BC by Aeschylus. Peter Arnott, a noted scholar and critic, has stated that, “The Agamemnon is a bitter indictment of war, of the folly of bloodshed, of the hardships of fighting, of the misery at home.” I couldn't agree more...

ttThe Trojan War began when Paris and the married Helen ran back to Troy because Helen belonged to Menelaus. For over ten years Menelaus, Agamemnon, and their troops fought the Trojans to recapture Helen and punish her. However, when the war ended and Menelaus captured Helen, he looked at her and forgave her for the adultery. The whole Trojan War, caused by the adulterous Helen, only contributed to ten years of senseless murders, foolish bloodshed, and built up anger. As a result, Agamemnon gave up ten years of his life to help his brother. Upon his return to Argos, Agamemnon’s wife killed him for sacrificing Iphigenia, which he only did to leave for Troy. Thousands of men and woman suffered and lost their lives just so Menelaus could have his wife back. There must have been some kind of misery at home to make her need more love, lust and passion. If there wasn’t, she would not have run off with the handsome prince Paris. However, Helen did help make The Agamemnon a folly of bloodshed among innocent citizens. Adulterous Helen was a major element that also supports Arnott’s beliefs that The Agamemnon was an act of misery at home.

tAlthough Helen was the primary cause of the Trojan War, the curse on the house of Atreus helped make The Agamemnon a bitter indictment of war. Ever since Atreus and Thyestes battled to inherit the throne from their father the family suffered at the hands of reciprocity. It was a game of one-up-mans-ship. It began when Atreus banished Thyestes from Argos and most recently ended when Thyestes’ son Aegisthus slept with Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra. Between these events were affairs, phony banquets of reconciliation, and the consumption of human children. In The Agamemnon, when Agamemnon returns, his wife Clytemnestra brutally murders him carrying on the family curse. This misery at home is because of the curse. Each generation of the house of Atreus murders another member and is then murdered himself. This offers support to Arnott’s claim that The Agamemnon is a bitter indictment of war and the folly of bloodshed. Again, the brutal murder of Agamemnon contributes to the folly of bloodshed. If Agamemnon did not help Menelaus, he would not have gone off to fight the war and then come home to suffer at the hands of a senseless curse. This curse also protrudes from misery at home. Each family member must have been miserable enough, angry enough, and vengeful enough to kill another.

tHowever, the most contributing factor that supports Arnott’s claim is the sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis. When all the troops met at Aulis to set sail for Troy, the winds were not in their favor. In a rush to win back Helen, Agamemnon realized that he had to sacrifice his innocent daughter Iphigenia to get favorable winds from Strymon. He was forced to make a decision between killing his daughter and losing his respect and the war. This supports Arnott’s commentary that there were many hardships of fighting the war in The Agamemnon. It also shows that the shedding of Iphigenia’s blood was a foolish act only destined to happen for the sake of winning the war.

n  n    About Men  n
For those new to me or my reviews... here's the scoop: I read A LOT. I write A LOT. And now I blog A LOT. First the book review goes on Goodreads, and then I send it on over to my WordPress blog at https://thisismytruthnow.com, where you'll also find TV & Film reviews, the revealing and introspective 365 Daily Challenge and lots of blogging about places I've visited all over the world. And you can find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Vote in the poll and ratings. Thanks for stopping by.

ensimmäinen kokonainen antiikin kreikan näytelmä jonka luin. kurssia varten luettu, mutta yllätyin kuinka mukaansa tempaava se lopulta oli.

clytemnestra is a girl boss and agamemnon is a d*#$ he had it coming

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