Free Atreus Essays and Papers

The “House of Atreus”: The Everlasting Cycle of Death In the “House of Atreus”, there is a cycle of death that is eventually broken. The ill-fated house contains a progressive series of sins that is set in action by the primary character Tantalus. The central message of the story is that human actions driven by human passions lead to an everlasting cycle of destruction, evil, and death; only with human reason and a sense of responsibility that comes from guilt can that cycle be broken. The theme

generations before Orestes ' time, beginning with Pelops. The significance of the family curse for the context of the Orestia however starts with two of Pelops ' sons, Atreus and Thyestes. Atreus and Thyestes ' impact on the curse arises when Thyestes seduces his brother 's wife Aerope while deciding which brother should take the throne. Atreus, who ultimately wins the throne, is angered by the act of adultery committed by his brother and devises a plan to exact his revenge

sacrifice of Iphigenia to the gods, in order for the fleet to set sail for Troy. Aegisthus, the new husband of the Queen Clytemnestra, and partner in the conspiracy to murder the war hero, had reasons, which stemmed from the dispute between the Houses of Atreus and Thyestes. Was the murder justified retribution for a callous and dispassionate murder of an innocent girl, as well as the fate demanded by the family curse? Or was the death of Agamemnon an unjust action by the traitorous woman Clytemnestra and

Despite their different genre, Agamemnon and The Clouds present contrasting images on the place of individuals in their families. While the tone of Agamemnon creates a more serious picture than the comical atmosphere of The Clouds, the relationships are based on the same precepts and share several aspects. Images of the gods, their prophetic messages, and their execution of justice massively influence the images of relationships while love and memory more directly affect the actions of individuals

Seeking revenge through the form of violence in order to establish justice was one of the problems that arose in the House of Atreus. The “curse” that was placed on the house caused the family members to murder one another, thinking it’s the right thing to do. The House of Atreus represents the First Civilization in Ancient Mesopotamia and how corrupted the laws and the execution of justice was developed, even though Hammurabi, the Babylonian Empire’s ruler, thought that it would keep society in

the gods in a united effort to promote justice. His premise is supported by sequentially following the criminal legacy of the house of Atreus, and showing that the curse of continued injustice can only be ended by the cooperative effort of man and god. Aeschylus draws his contrast between anarchy and despotism through the main characters in the play. First Atreus, the father of Agamemnon, though never appearing himself in the trilogy is a central figure and the vehicle by which the curse is introduced

present and beyond as prologue. Thyestes knew this all too well. The proliferate Roman writer and playwright Seneca’s play titled after this namesake character centers around the tragic life of Thyestes, a man scorned from his homeland by his brother Atreus. Before the

In Aeschylus’ The Agamemnon, the vendetta is the central idea of the play that is replaced by law due to the destruction it was causing to the House of Atreus. The blood feud is replaced by law through the character, Orestes, due to its detrimental effect on society. Aeschylus contrasts Clytemnestra and Orestes’ personalities. It was necessary for Orestes to end the blood feud because it resulted in the deaths of this family. Due to Clytemnestra’s hubris, she believes that she is ending the blood

darkness and light as a consistent image in the Oresteia depicts a progression from evil to good, disorder to order. In the Oresteia, there exists a situation among mortals that has gotten out of control; a cycle of death has arisen in the house of Atreus. There also exists a divine disorder within the story which, as the situation of the mortals, must be brought to resolution: the Furies, an older generation of gods, are in conflict with the younger Olympian gods because they have been refused their

revenge, sacrifice, and murder conveyed through visible references to Aeschylus' House of Atreus. O'Neill alludes to The House of Atreus in order to ground the play; attaching the plot to well-known aspects of history. As well, it brings a certain significance that otherwise would be neglected if their underlying manifestations went unnoticed. The most prominent of these allusions is that to Aeschylus' House of Atreus. O'Neill specifically modeled Mourning around Aeschylus' work, modernizing it, applying