From Vengeance to Justice: The Genius of Aeschylus' ORESTEIA
Lantern Jack
22,938 views
Aeschylus' "Oresteia" is one of the most extraordinary works of literature to have come from Ancient Greece. It's a story about murder, revenge, and the birth of justice itself.
We are joined by Doug Metzger, host of the "Literature and History" podcast@literatureandhistorypodcast to explore how the ancient Athenian tragedian Aeschylus turned a bloody family feud into a vision of civilization, and offered the Athenians a new foundation myth for their democracy.
***
Recommended translations of the Oresteia:
For readability and beautiful language, you can't go wrong with Fagles: https://amzn.to/4q5rSBP
For accuracy and faithfulness to the original Greek syntax, go with Sommerstein: https://amzn.to/45AtX1q
***
To support this show and our mission to bring the classics to the general public, please visit Patreon: greecepodcast
***
You can find Doug's incredible podcast on all major platforms and at https://literatureandhistory.com
***
The "Oresteia" is a trilogy of three plays: "Agamemnon," "Libation Bearers," and "Eumenides." These three tragedies take place in the aftermath of the Trojan War, when Agamemnon returns home to his wife Clytemnestra, who is still angry at him for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia 10 years prior in order to be able to launch the expedition against Troy. What follows is vengeful murder after vengeful murder until Athena along with a nascent Athenian democracy brings the cycle of feuds to an end.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction to the “Oresteia”
05:22 Agamemnon in the Iliad and Odyssey
12:17 Life of Aeschylus
14:00 The 1st Play: “Agamemnon”
20:03 Sacrifice of Iphigenia
26:58 Agamemnon’s Arrival
34:56 The 2nd Play: “Libation Bearers”
41:35 Orestes kills Clytemnestra
51:40 The 3rd Play: “Eumenides”
59:12 The Trial
1:06:58 The Areopagus and Ephialtes’s Reforms
1:10:24 Main Takeaways
20 Comments
I’m preparing to attend a production of the Oresteia in London in a few weeks and this was perfect for that 👌
Back in the 1970s, the Indiana University Theatre Department put on the Orestes trilogy. It was scary / spooky / riveting. Have always loved these plays because of the emotional intensity. When I was at Earlham College, I took classical Greek for one year. We read some passages from these plays. Great stuff.
Again, thanks.
Orestes knew what duty'd bid him do
to prove himself a pious son of worth.
but matricide's a Capital sin, too.
While wise Penelope wove a fair shroud
her cousin Klytemnestra wrought a snare.
The textile-arts such ladies were allowed
Go way past weaving, sewing, and repair.
Hog-tied while stepping out of his warm bath
so like his daughter, on that Aulis pyre
a sacrificial beast beneath the ax,
he conquered Troy, but not his lady's ire.
Immortal poetry preserves their names;
the House of Atreus went down in flames.
called forth Horatio, that he might speak.
Athenians had seen this scene before,
'though Shakespeare can't have read it in the Greek.
Oresteia saw his duty, and just struck;
pained vacillation's for a future Dane.
He won't get mired in introspective muck
when father's blood cries from the bathroom drain.
The terrors young Oresteia knew at night,
are not so obsolete as they might seem
For Hamlet, torments don't dissolve in light
They echo through the Prince of Denmark dreams.
Time-hallowed gem from Greece's Late Bronze Age
the Renaissance recast on London's stage.
From Vengeance to Justice: The Genius of Aeschylus' ORESTEIA
Lantern Jack
22,938 views
Aeschylus' "Oresteia" is one of the most extraordinary works of literature to have come from Ancient Greece. It's a story about murder, revenge, and the birth of justice itself.
We are joined by Doug Metzger, host of the "Literature and History" podcast@literatureandhistorypodcast to explore how the ancient Athenian tragedian Aeschylus turned a bloody family feud into a vision of civilization, and offered the Athenians a new foundation myth for their democracy.
***
Recommended translations of the Oresteia:
For readability and beautiful language, you can't go wrong with Fagles: https://amzn.to/4q5rSBP
For accuracy and faithfulness to the original Greek syntax, go with Sommerstein: https://amzn.to/45AtX1q
***
To support this show and our mission to bring the classics to the general public, please visit Patreon: greecepodcast
***
You can find Doug's incredible podcast on all major platforms and at https://literatureandhistory.com
***
The "Oresteia" is a trilogy of three plays: "Agamemnon," "Libation Bearers," and "Eumenides." These three tragedies take place in the aftermath of the Trojan War, when Agamemnon returns home to his wife Clytemnestra, who is still angry at him for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia 10 years prior in order to be able to launch the expedition against Troy. What follows is vengeful murder after vengeful murder until Athena along with a nascent Athenian democracy brings the cycle of feuds to an end.
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction to the “Oresteia”
05:22 Agamemnon in the Iliad and Odyssey
12:17 Life of Aeschylus
14:00 The 1st Play: “Agamemnon”
20:03 Sacrifice of Iphigenia
26:58 Agamemnon’s Arrival
34:56 The 2nd Play: “Libation Bearers”
41:35 Orestes kills Clytemnestra
51:40 The 3rd Play: “Eumenides”
59:12 The Trial
1:06:58 The Areopagus and Ephialtes’s Reforms
1:10:24 Main Takeaways