Aeschylus agamemnon summary

The play opens with a watchman standing on the roof of the palace of Agamemnon at Argos, aeschylus agamemnon summary. He explains that Clytaemestra has ordered him to keep a lookout each night for the light from a series of beacon fires that will signal the long-awaited fall of Troy. He etonline carried out this duty faithfully for several years already and is getting demoralized.

A Watchman , stationed on top of the palace, waits for a signal fire indicating that the ten-year Trojan War between the Greeks and the Trojans has come to an end. He sees the fire light and rushes out to tell queen Clytemnestra the good news. The Chorus , a group of elderly men too old to have fought in the war, come out and explain that the Trojan War began out of a feud between Paris , the Trojan prince, and Menelaus , the Greek king. Clytemnestra enters and the Chorus asks why fires of sacrifice are being lit around the palace. Clytemnestra tells the Chorus that Troy has fallen, but they remain skeptical, so she explains the system of signal fires that allowed the news to travel so quickly. A Herald enters and confirms that Troy has indeed fallen, and recounts some of the hardships of the war.

Aeschylus agamemnon summary

Agamemnon is the first play in the Oresteia , the only trilogy of Greek tragedies that has survived intact from classical times. Indeed, we might go so far as to say that, with these plays, Aeschylus essentially invented classic Greek theatre. Before we offer an analysis of Agamemnon , the first volume in the trilogy, it might be worth briefly recapping the plot of the play. The action of Agamemnon takes place at the end of the ten-year Trojan War. The Greek hero Agamemnon has been heavily involved in the fighting against Troy, and back home his wife Clytemnestra eagerly awaits his return. However, although she is making a show of welcoming her husband, in truth she plans to murder him when he returns to the marital home, in retribution for what Agamemnon did on his way out to war. In order to persuade the gods to provide him and his ship with fair winds on the way to Troy, Agamemnon had sacrificed Iphigenia, his own daughter by Clytemnestra. Now, Clytemnestra is out for revenge. When the god Apollo took a shine to her, Cassandra was given the gift of prophecy, in return for her virginity. But when she went back on the deal, Apollo was angry; he could not recall the gift he had given her, but he could ensure that nobody ever believed her prophecies. Sure enough, when Clytemnestra greets her husband and his lover, Cassandra foretells that Clytemnestra will murder them both. And Clytemnestra duly does so, stabbing Agamemnon in the bath and then killing Cassandra. Aegisthus reveals that the plot to kill Agamemnon was his idea: he devised it as revenge for the death of his father, Thyestes, who was tricked into eating two of his sons by his brother Atreus.

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In the immediate aftermath of the fall of Troy, the play opens at King Agamemnon 's palace in Argos with the lonely Watchman 's soliloquy. From the roof of the palace, the Watchman begs the gods for respite from his interminable watch. The stars, his sole, plentiful and steadfast, companions seem to him like so many "dynasties" revolving in endless cycles, waxing and waning, moving out of winter into summer and back again. What he wishes, in short, is rest. He relates how he has been obliged by the queen to keep watch for a fire.

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Aeschylus agamemnon summary

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Aeschylus's Agamemnon. Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides. Ancient Greek Staging. At the time Agamemnon was originally staged, it would have been performed in a huge amphitheater. The actors would have worn character masks so that the huge audience could distinguish whom each performer represented. Civil War Adaptation. The first play in the trilogy, The Homecoming , is an adaptation of Agamemnon, and focuses on the wife of a Civil War general, who exacts revenge on him when he returns from the Civil War. Plot Summary. Lines Lines Lines Lines Lines

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Next Parodos Lines The Seven against Thebes Aeschylus. Clytemnestra enters. From the Watchman's opening speech through the Chorus' foreboding words and Cassandra's prophesies, the drama prepares the audience for the King's murder. Sign in. Sick at heart, they await the inevitable flow of blood. Lines The play's mood carries a heavy sense of impending doom. The Question and Answer section for Agamemnon is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. In the end, having no other recourse, the fretting Chorus must agree with Clytaemestra. Stasimon IV: The chorus of Argive elders.

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Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. Certainly, the Oresteia as a whole has been interpreted as the journey from barbarism to civilisation. She tells them that a system of beacons has brought word that Troy fell the previous night. Of the plays in the trilogy, Agamemnon contains the strongest command of language and characterization. Continue reading. Download PDF. Sometimes it can end up there. Agamemnon is eager to give thanks to the gods for his triumph. She tells of how Apollo gave her the gift of prophecy but then cursed her. Renews March 16, March 9, She imaginatively describes the progress of the signal fires blazing from Troy until they reach Argos. Sign up and get instant access to bookmarks. Create profiles for personalised advertising. Sign up and get instant access to creating and saving your own notes as you read.