Clytemnestra falls into the horrible double standard that women hold in our world and her reputation is tarnished by the misinformation given about her. In Homer’s epic Odyssey Agamemnon labeled Clytemnestra as his ”accursed wife” (Homer 463) who is accused of killing him to be with her supposed lover Aegisthus, but in Aeschylus’s Agamemnon she reveals unapologetically her reasoning for killing her husband, which changes the whole perspective of her character. It is revealed in the play Agamemnon that Agamemnon killed Clytemnestra’s daughter, Iphigeneia, and she seeks revenge on Agamemnon for the death of her child (Agamemnon 1385-1386). Clytemnestra is perceived as evil and cold-hearted in the Odyssey but the information that you gather in …show more content…
He personifies her an evil that all women hold inside them as a whole and according to his account of the event she is just that (491). The ghost of Agamemnon paints the event to Odysseus, his war partner, as a “feast” used as a deception to “cut me down as a man cuts down some ox at the trough!” he describes “But the death-cry of Cassandra, Priam’s daughter--- the most pitiful thing I heard! My treacherous queen, Clytemnestra, killed her over my body” (476-479). He paints a picture that Clytemnestra is just purely evil and she has no heart to do something like this to a man she claims to …show more content…
“Thus to me the conflict born of ancient bitterness is not a thing new thought upon, but pondered deep in time” she reveals in the play that her husband led himself to this unfortunate fate because of the anger that was brewing deep inside her after the death of her child (Agamemnon 1344-1346). The love a mother has for her child is unrestricted and losing that child can make a women do irrational things, so to call Clytemnestra vile is unjust, taking all the new facts about Agamemnon into consideration. (1399-1411). She shows that he is not the moral man everyone thinks he is and “ No shame, I think, in the death given this man.” (1488-1489). The love she had for him was in their child and when he slaughtered Iphigeneia, he caused her become mad. She confirms that she is content with her actions and decides to “endure all things as they stand now, hard it be” (1535-1536). It will be hard to live with the fact that her family has perished due to the actions of her husband but this is what she has to cope with to avenge her daughter who is nothing but the unconditional love of a
As Agamemnon tells Odysseus, “Let it be a warning even to you. Indulge a woman never, and never tell her all you know. Some things a man may tell, some he should cover up” (Book XI 199). This is not news to Odysseus, who treats all women with caution ever since he was betrayed by his wife Helen, who acted in a way that defiled all womankind. Agamemnon did not come to this realization all by himself, however; his statement represents the common sentiment that existed throughout all ancient Greece. Even before Odysseus speaks with Agamemnon, he exhibits a similar attitude in his many encounters with women during his long journey home. Every major female character that Odysseus comes across uses deception in one form or another to get the better of him. This being the case, Odysseus fights fire with fire, using his own cunning deception against the evils of womankind.
10. And indeed Clytemnestra could be seen as a physical agent of the principle of revenge in her killing of Agamemnon.
...omer’s idea of savages taken from The Odyssey include people such as the Laestragonians who devour men routinely, without conscious thought for morality or consequence and men like the suitors who have committed crimes against xenia. Up until the sacrifice of Iphigeneia where she reaches her breaking point, Clytemnestra has not outrageously offended the gods, ruthlessly harassed members of other households, or acted thoughtlessly in any way, and even after this pivotal event, she carries out her plans with an impressive amount of mental assiduity. Throughout the Agamemnon, the chorus is unfair and imprecise when they accuse her of madness and savagery; she is not insane or barbaric but instead quite logical and mindful. These are qualities that at the very least deserve respect from an audience that can resist the biased judgements from the chorus of Argive elders.
Aeschylus begins by portraying Clytemnestra as Agamemnon’s faithful wife brought only to a murderous rampage by the news of her daughter’s murder, but indeed she was stricken with the curse of jealousy and had a yearning so strong to maintain power she killed the father of her
The thesis of the Oresteia proves to be the sacrifice of Iphigenia, for it is with the death of a woman that the tables of the curse on the house of Atreus start to unfold. The sacrifice of Iphigenia becomes the start of the continued curse within this particular generation of the house of Atreus. Agamemnon, a misogynist, did not value the life of his innocent daughter over the spoils of men. It is significant that an innocent woman, ready for marriage, an act that brings together two households, was not married but instead murdered. Her sacrifice shows a separation between men and women along with failure within the household.
She is always spoken of respectfully and is remembered for her heroic deeds. She is not degraded like many of the other women Odysseus sees in the underworld. Everyone worships her and speaks about her achievements with great admiration; she is truly admired, but because she is a goddess. Athena has control over men that most women in The Odyssey do not. Women 's lives depend on what men think of them, on the other hand, men 's lives depend on Athena 's opinion of them. Athena is "Zeus ' virgin daughter" and no one has used her in that way. She is too important to be used as being an enjoyment for men; they depend on her for their own welfare. Another woman that plays a big role in this epic is Calypso. Calypso a nymph, a child of Zeus, and lives on an island in the middle of the ocean. One day Odysseus is sent to her by the god of the sea, Poseidon, because Poseidon was mad at Odysseus for blinding his son, the Cyclops. It is on this island that another woman is used as a sexual toy and is not thought of for her own achievements, but rather for her beauty, and the fact that she is the daughter of Zeus. Men in The Odyssey only value women who they can use for physical needs and wealth, such as the women in the underworld that Odysseus encounters, and Penelope. Homer shows us how men in The Odyssey consider women less important than men. The readers rarely hear of women throughout the book. When they do, they are shown
Clytemnestra, the Queen of Argos, is lacking the power to prevent her daughter being used as a sacrificial lamb to the gods. The misery she felt when her husband, Agamemnon, sacrificed their daughter was immense. So immense that it led her to murder, for she thought that Agamemnon “thought no more of it than killing a beast” in order to conquer a city and “sacrificed his own child, our daughter, the agony I laboured into love” (Aeschylus, 162, 1440-1443). The intense emotions of agony and hatred that Clytemnestra feels for her deceased daughter, in a way, gives her the motive to cause her to do the things she did. However, in Cassandra’s case, she accepts the situation that she is given. Cassandra knows she’s going to soon die, but doesn’t fight against it because she knows that her “time has come” and that there’s “little to gain from flight” (Aeschylus 156). Rather than acting out in anger or unwisely, Cassandra merely says a few words more, a mournful funeral rite for her. Aegisthus, the usurper of Agamemnon's throne, is fueled by his rage towards Agamemnon and his father, Atreus, to obtain revenge for his family. The fury he feels towards Atrus for driving his father, Thyestes, out of the house and luring him back only to give him a “feast of his children’s flesh” and make him eat it unknowingly, “serves it to Thyestes throned on high. He picks at the flesh he cannot recognize,
Some women are known for the deeds of their sons or husbands, but never for a heroic deed of their own, their personalities, and what they do themselves. It seems the only accomplishment women could achieve was being beautiful. Theseus "had no joy of"(195) the princess Ariadne because she died before this was possible. Homer makes it sound as if Ariadne's life was useless because she did not give Theseus pleasure. The only woman we hear of for a different reason is Klymene, and we only hear of her because she "betrayed her lord for gold."(195) This is the only time we hear of a woman for something she did, and once we do, it is a negative remark. Penelope, Odysseus' queen, is paid attention to only because of her position. Because she has a kingdom, she has suitors crowding around her day and night. Being a woman, Penelope has no control over what the suitors do and cannot get rid of them. The suitors want her wealth and her kingdom. They do not respect her enough to stop feeding on Odysseus' wealth; they feel she owes them something because she won't marry one of them. One of the suitors, Antinoos, tells Telemakhos "...but you should know the suitors are not to blame- it is your own incomparably cunning mother."(21) Even Telemakhos doesn't respect his mother as he should. When the song of a minstrel makes her sad and Penelope requests him to stop playing, Telemakhos interrupts and says to her, "Mother, why do you grudge our own dear minstrel joy of song, wherever his thought may lead.
In Aeschylus’ Agamemnon there are many different opinions about what kind of king and commander Agamemnon was. Some argued that he was good, while others dispute that his motives were wrong. Clytemnestra, Agamemnon’s wife, gained a strong hatred for him, after he sacrificed his own daughter so he could go to war. Many believe that this was not necessary and could have been overcome. The chorus seems to agree with this to an extent, and feels that Agamemnon could have prayed and requested that he not sacrifice his daughter.
After coming out of the house with blood stained hands while announcing her murder, all the Chorus can do is talk about what a great loss they suffer. They accuse Klytaimestra for being a backstabber, and tell her she should be punished. When Klytaimestra defends her actions by pointing out how Agamemnon killed her daughter, they ignore her and keep mourning. Even though they can see with their own eyes that Klytaimestra killed her husband and Cassandra, they still refuse to really listen to her, as if they do not want to believe that a woman committed the murder of their almighty king.
In the epic poem, it gives images of Penelope and Clytemnestra that helps to interpret what an ideal woman Penelope was in Ancient Greece. Penelope is represented as the ideal woman because she remains trustworthy to Odysseus, even though he has been gone for several years. Penelope also embodies the ideal Greek woman because she is a faithful wife to Odysseus, a great hostess, and rejects all moves upon her from the suitors in her house. One quote at the end of the book that shows she’s been loyal for this long time period is when the book states, “ The more she spoke, the more deep desire for tears welled up inside his breast—he wept as he held the wife he loved, the soul of loyalty, in his arms at last” (Homer, Odyssey, Book 23, Line 259-261). On top of that she shows a sense of intelligence being able to scheme and deal with the suitors around her all the time. Another great quote that represents her loyalty is when Penelope says “they court me against my law, they lay waste in my house (Homer, Odyssey, Book 19, Line 148)”, which is when she [Penelope] herself is basically explaining how she remains loyal even though there are several men making advances towards her in her own
In the play Agamemnon, Aeschylus depiction of gender roles are both typical and atypical of a standard male or female behavior in the culture and era because male characters in ancient Greece resemble the powerful nature of a warrior. They are seen as the head of the household where the male role is to go out and do hard labour to provide for the family and bring honor to the country, while females are to stay home to tend the kids and do house chores. This is most typical when looking at the gender role in Ancient Greece. Female characters are dependent to the status of the male characters. In the play, Clytemnestra hold great power because of her title as the queen of Greece and wife of Agamemnon. Although male characters are significant in the play, female characters such as Clytemnestra and Cassandra depicted by Aeschylus are complex for numerous reasons. First, Cassandra is a very different character, since she was given the ability to tell and predict the future. Her role in the play is symbolic because of her given ability and her constant struggle in the Trojan War. Cassandra went through rape, war, losing her family and abducted to a kingdom cursed by the Greek gods. Her persistent characteristic make her a powerful female character as equal and symbolic as other male characters in the play. However, the reader must understand that in ancient Greece, the cultural mythology of Greek gods and goddesses is primary to understanding the text. The gods hold the greatest power of all. Apollo is a popular god in Greek for his passion to give unnatural power to humanity. Cassandra was chosen by Apollo to inherit the ability of comprehending prophecies. When Apollo has fallen in love with Cassandra, but she refuses, he cursed her ...
Clytemnestra has the ten years of the Trojan War to plan her revenge on Agamemnon. Upon his return Clytemnestra shows him some love. That love she showed quickly changes to rage and hatred when Clytemnestra she’s Agamemnon with his mistress Cassandra.
Comparing the Portrayal of Clytemnestra in Agamemnon and Electra In both Electra and Agamemnon, Euripides and Aeschylus have chosen to represent Clytemnestra as a complex character being neither all bad nor all good - the signature of a sophisticated playwright. In Agamemnon, Clytemnestra is a morbidly obsessive woman, utterly consumed by the murder of her daughter for which the audience cannot help but sympathise; she is capable only of vengeance. In the Electra, Clytemnestra is placed in an even more sympathetic light, victimised by her own daughter who in turn is driven by an obsessive desire, similar to that of her mother's, to avenge her father's death.
After Agamemnon’s death, Aegisthus is next in line to become king and Clytemnestra is his queen. Her desire for power is hidden by her claims of justification. She challenges anyone to take her power. “[H]e who conquers me in fair fight shall rule me” (45). She threatens the Chorus to a fight for power. She knows she has all the power now the king was dead and she is his queen. Clytemnestra is aware she killed him for his power, but her arrogance makes her put the deed on the curse of the House of Atreus and vengeance for