Introduction to the Ancient World: Greece

Aeschylus' Oresteia 

Review of some items from Lect. 11; Dionysiac ec-stasy

I. Aeschylus (525-456 B.C.) 

II. The Agamemnon (and the next 2 plays) - trilogy

A. Plot

B. domestic themes; characters, hubris

C. universal themes: the curse on the House of Atreus (see below)

generations 1 and 2:  Tantalus/Pelops
generation 3:  Atreus and Thyestes
next:  Agamemnon/Clytemnestra/ Aegisthus
next: Orestes, Electra, Iphigenia

D. historical and political themes; Areopagus

III. Staging and symbolism: Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and the red carpet scene (900ff.)

IV. Dominant images and themes

A.  Helen and Troy (685ff.: helenaus, helandros, helepolis; 1156, 1485ff.; Troy: 335ff., 515ff., 545ff.)
B.  Iphigenia's sacrifice (200ff., 864ff., 1442ff., 1580ff.)
C.  Persuasion (385ff., carpet scene)
D.  Irony and tragic irony (513, 595ff., 1045); cf. male vs. female (352ff., 1425)
E.  Pollution and healing; entanglement and nets

V. The moral:  pathei mathos ("wisdom through suffering"; line 179); cf. LB 1014-17

Interlude: Greek drama with masks and all - Tyrone Guthrie's Oedipus Rex (1957)

VI. The Libation Bearers

A. Progress and Sameness of Plot and Themes
B."Apollo made me do it": 394-465; 883ff.;
Orestes' hesitation; Pylades (silent actor): 886-90
C. Sane humanity: the Nurse (722ff.)
D. Justice? 871, 915-17, 928, 982; conclusion (1064ff.)

Lecture 12 Images
CC 301 Syllabus