AGAMEMNON Clytemnestra Has Her Say

Lines 1401-1406 Kommos -The Chorus is appalled that Agamemnon has been killed by a woman.

-They call Clytemnestra evil, mad, ambitious, and they threaten to have her exiled from the city.

-She rebukes them for condemning her. She proclaims she had every right to kill Agamemnon because he slaughtered Iphigenia as if she had been a “sheep from out his multitude of flocks”. Kommos continued -Clytemnestra says the Fates are on her side and that as long as she has Aegisthus no one can harm her. (Lines 1431-1436)

-Aegisthus is the son of Thyestes, who was fed his two sons by Atreus, the father of Agamemnon.

-This act is why all the blood is being spilled and so it is not in her hands.

-Again the Chorus curses Helen and faults her for their king dying. Exodos -Aegisthus enters happily. (Line 1578) He tells the story of his father Thyestes, and Agamemnon’s father Atreus. He proudly speaks about the murders of Agamemnon and Cassandra. They deserved what happened to them because of the blood that not only Agamemnon, but also Atreus had spilled.

-The Chorus warns that Agamemnon will be revenged and wishes that Orestes were here to do just that.

-Orestes is the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Exodos continued -The Chorus threatens Aegisthus and calls for the citizens to take up their swords.

-Aegisthus threatens them right back saying he also has a sword and is not afraid to die.

-Just as it looks like there will be another war Aegisthus changes his mind saying they should spill no more blood and go back home.

-THE END Critical Questions to think about in Agamemnon (1-40) Where is the watchman as he speaks the prologue? What is he doing? What does the watchman's speech tell the audience about the situation in the palace?

(40-103) Who are the chorus? How do they interact with Clytemnestra?

(104-54) What associations might be evoked for the audience by the image of the eagles feeding on a pregnant hare? What is meant by "polyvalent imagery"? What images evoke earlier crimes which will be avenged in this play?

How does Calchas interpret the omen to the Greeks? Why should the goddess Artemis in particular be evoked in this context?

(160-82) What is the chorus' attitude to Zeus? What events of Zeus' past does it allude to? What lesson is Zeus said to teach? How does notion reflect Aeschylus' view of the workings of justice?

(183-253) Is any specific motive given by the chorus for Artemis' anger and demand for Iphigenia's sacrifice? Why do you think Aeschylus preferred to present the event as he did? How might the way in which Aeschyus chose to present the event here reveal his notion of the workings of "justice"? Discuss the image of corrupted sacrifice in ll.228-47. What is the attitude of the chorus toward Agamemnon's decision to sacrifice his child?

(254-350) Discuss some ways in which Clytemnestra's two long speeches "open up" the stage spatially?

(355-475) How does the chorus here present its "anatomy" of wrongdoing that leads to punishment? How does it represent the attitude of the citizenry toward its leaders who took them to war?

(537-550) Point out chorus' hints at trouble in Argos in stichomythia with herald . 537-550) Point out chorus' hints at trouble in Argos in stichomythia with herald .

(587-616) Point out double entendres and ironies in language of Clytemnestra's speech.

(637-80) According to the herald what happened to the Greek army when it was time to leave Troy?

(681-810) According to the chorus what is the end result of seduction and desire? What might the parable of the lion cub mean? What notion of justice does the chorus accept? What notion does it rejection?

(810-974) How does Clytemnestra explain the absence of Orestes to Agamemnon? Why have many seen the agon of the carpet scene stichomythia as the turning point (peripeteia) of the dramatic action? Discuss possible multiple significances. Analyze the rhetoric of Clytemnestra's persuasion of Agamemnon to tread the tapestries. By what strategies does she convince Agamemnon or is she, in effect, "walking through an open door"? Compare her subsequent attempts at persuading Cassandra? How can you account for the difference in her success. Does Agamemnon have a "tragic flaw"? If so, what is it?

(1037-1443) What is Cassandra's own story? How did she receive the gift of prophecy? Point out and explicate passages in which Cassandra alludes to past, present, and future crimes of the house? Analyze the imagery of Clytemnestra's speech over the slain body of Agamemnon (1372-1398).

(1448-1577) Discuss inversion of gender roles, net imagery in kommos.