The Dionysia was a large festival practiced in ancient Athens in honor of the god Dionysus. The festival had as a central event the performance of dramatic tragedies and later on included comedies. A Notable year in the festival’s long history is 458 BC, in which was first performed the only complete and surviving trilogy of Greek tragedies we have today, Aeschylus’ The Oresteia, winning the prize for first place.

Composed of three different plays (as trilogies usually are), The Oresteia tells of what befalls the house of Atreus following Agamemnon’s return after the end of the Trojan War. It all leads back to Troy. For some context, before the Achaeans could sail to Troy and get Helen back, Artemis set the winds against them making it impossible for them to set sail. To appease her, Agamemnon, king and leader of the Achaeans, sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia. This works and the winds subside, letting the Achaeans sail for and wage war on Troy. The thing is that human sacrifice was not an ok thing to do in Ancient Greece. While Artemis demanded the sacrifice, most people agreed that what had happened was not a good thing. Above all of these critics is Queen Clytemnestra, wife to Agamemnon and mother to Iphigenia. She (unsurprisingly) is very not ok with the murder of her daughter and so while the armies are away she plans out the revenge she will take for her daughter. This leads us to the first entry of the trilogy:

Agamemnon

Agamemnon is the first play of Aeschylus’ trilogy and is also the longest. In it plays out the revenge that Clytemnestra has planned for her husband in full view, to the horror of the audience and the Greek elders who bear witness to her crime.

          The play begins with a watchman on duty relaying to the audience the position in which he is in. He has been ordered by queen Clytemnestra to stand watch for any sign of the return of the Greek armies from Troy. He describes to the audience how for years he had been facing and watching the sea, the elements all working against him and sleep threatening to betray him, but he masters his challenges and keeps watch faithfully; until he spots a sign. Far off shore he sees the ships of the Greek armies arriving, signaling their victory, so rushes to go tell the queen. 

          The queen orders sacrifices to be performed on altars to the gods, which gets the attention of some elders who don’t understand how the queen can be sure that the Greeks were victorious in battle. She relays to them how a messenger relayed the news to her. Later on, Agamemnon finally arrives at the scene. Queen Clytemnestra offers praise to the Achaeans, especially Agamemnon in his charge to victory. Here too we are shown the prisoner Agamemnon brought with him, princess Cassandra, daughter of king Priam and priestess to Apollo, cursed so that no one would ever believe her prophecies,even though they were always true . Here Clytemnestra challenges Agamemnon subtly by offering him compliments, and offers a sinister gift. She lays a purple tapestry on the floor, very expensive in the ancient world, and invites the king to walk over it. At first to us modern readers, we may be perplexed at this situation. Agamemnon wisely is reluctant to walk over the tapestry while Clytemnestra keeps attempting to talk him into it. Now why is this important? The tapestry, and the walking over it, is a symbol of hubris. Such displays of luxury are reserved only for the divine, and if Agamemnon chooses to walk over the tapestries offered to him by his wife, he puts himself on the same level as the gods, a transgression against them. But the queen continues persuading, telling Agamemnon that other great kings would walk on the gift. And so Agamemnon does. He then heads inside, followed by his wife. Here perhaps is one of the most memorable and my personal favorite parts of the entire trilogy, all due to Aeschylus’ writing, making the scene lifelike, and full of emotion.

Cassandra, in presence of the Greek elders foretells of the crime the queen is about to commit. She pleads and begs with them to listen to her, she cries of murder and offence and Agamemnon’s death and her own. She is then called inside the palace and goes in knowing what is to come. Screams are heard through the doors and when they open, the bodies of Cassandra and Agamemnon are seen lying on the floor, lifeless. While it makes sense as to why Agamemnon was killed, why did Cassandra have to suffer the same fate? Apart from the insult of Agamemnon bringing Cassandra home as a mistress in front of his wife, it has also been said that Clytemnestra was doing Cassandra a grim favor, sparing her from what would have been a pitiful life in Mycenae.

Aegisthus then comes into the scene claiming that it was he, son of Thyestes and lover to the queen, that devised and executed such a grand plan (even though in my opinion Clytemnestra did all the work) to avenge his father. Aegisthus’ father Thyestes, was tricked by his brother, Agamemnon’s father Atreus, into eating his two sons. And so for those crimes as well as the killing of Iphigenia, the pair impose revenge on their aggressor. The pair state their claim to absolute power of the kingdom and return inside the palace. And so the first installment ends. 

Here we see revenge played out as a way to justice. Agamemnon wrongs people in their eyes and so in return, they themselves make amends by murdering he who transgressed against them. 

This brings us to the next entry of the trilogy:

The Libation Bearers

The second play in Aeschylus’ trilogy, The Libation Bearers, like its predecessor, Agamemnon, focuses upon yet another act of revenge. It is also the shortest of all three. In it plays out Orestes’ revenge for his father, guided by the god Apollo, later haunted by his actions.

The play begins with Orestes’ arrival back in his home of Argos, at the foot of his father, Agamemnon’s grave. He is accompanied by his cousin Pylades and as they both offer their respects they see a group of women arriving at the tomb, so they hide.They see that leading this group of women is Electra, Orestes’ sister. She along with the slave women that accompany her, were sent by Clytemnestra to give libations to the tomb of Agamemnon in an attempt to stop her dreams and nightmares she has been having. 

Orestes and Electra reunite and set forth to plan out the revenge they will take on their mother, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus. As it is said: “Blood must be paid with blood.”

So they set forth on their plan. Orestes shows up at the palace door where he is greeted by his mother, Queen Clytemnestra. He disguises himself as a stranger and tells the queen that Orestes (himself) is dead. She goes to inform Aegisthus and so Orestes enters the palace. He finds Aegisthus without guard, and so kills him. In comes Clytemnestra and Orestes is now to kill her as well, in revenge for his father. Orestes, however, is hesitant. It is only because of the reassurance of his cousin Pylades that Orestes is able to garnish the strength to kill her, and so he does. 

Orestes has now committed the crime of matricide, exceptionally egregious to the ancient Greeks. And so he is to suffer his punishment. Visible to him only, Orestes is now persecuted by the furies, who gage their heinous wrath unto his, causing him to flee from the walls of the palace. And so the second Act ends. 

Here too we see the theme of revenge. Orestes, sent by Apollo, incites revenge on his father, by killing his mother and her lover. And onto him, punishment was given in the form of torturous persecution. 

This brings us to the finale of the trilogy. 

The Eumenides

So begins the third play, the finale of Aeschylus’ trilogy, when a priestess of Apollo, the Pythia, begins her duties at the temple. 

She is interrupted when she catches sight of the furies, asleep due to Apollo’s intervention, so that Orestes could get some much-needed rest after being pursued by them for so long. Orestes then flees to Athens, guided by the protection of Hermes. Shortly then after, the ghost of Clytemnestra appears to the furies, scolding them for not doing their jobs. They then go in pursuit of Orestes, all the way to Athens.

Orestes arrives in Athens, with the furies caught up to him, where he pleads to the goddess Athena for help. She then decides to set up a trial for Orestes, using him as a prototype for a new system of justice she has planned. 

The jury is made up of twelve Athenian citizens, with Athena serving as the judge, and Apollo serves as Orestes’ defense. When it is time for the jury to cast their vote, it ends in a tie. Athena however casts the breaking vote, resulting in Orestes being found innocent and set free. The furies are left angry but they are made an offer by Athena: Instead of leading savage and violent revenge, why not punish those who are found guilty in a fair court of law? They accept and are given a new name, The Eumenide, meaning. “The kind ones.” 

And so ends Aeschylus’ trilogy: The Oresteia. 

It is here that the main subject matter of the trilogy comes into fruition: Greece leaves its barbaric revenges in the past, and progresses into fair and civil courts of law. 

I find The Oresteia a fascinating look into antiquity, and a masterful way to illustrate the evolution of an idea; justice. It is no longer a matter of taking revenge yourself in a barbaric manner, but it is now a right to everyone, to be found guilty first before any sentencing. 

While I loved the subject matter Aeschylus was writing about, I found it more captivating to read and learn about The Oresteia rather than reading it myself. I do believe however, it was worth my time. I give Aeschylus’ trilogy 7 out of 10 stars. Thank you for reading.