Agamemnon: Inside and Out
In the three part drama , Oresteia , there are characters that come and go , However there is one man in particular that has sailed seas, conquered lands, and let his city of Argos to victory time and time again. Agamemnon, he is characterized throughout the three greek plays we see him. Whether it be the ill-hearted that we fill sympathy towards for having to make one of the hardest decisions in greek tragedy in Iphigenia in Aulis , or in The Iliad the story of the great warrior , Achilles , where we feel hatred towards him for being so ignorant and childish towards the god who strikes from afar Apollo. However, no act characterizes him more than Agamemnon in which the man-hearted woman Clytemnestra after many years
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This is one of the instances in which we can see Agamemnon's child-like ignorance. Although he is a king with many luxuries he complains to his servant about how hard his life is. This theme of ignorance in Agamemnon is not bonded in this part only and can be see in The Iliad as well. Later on in the play Agamemnon realizes that his dilemma on whether to be a father or King cannot be ran away from any longer and must be dealt with. His decision to be loyal to Argos later influences his daughter , Iphigenia , to make her decision to sacrifice herself in the name of Argos. Although, from the outside he seems like he is okay with his decision Agamemnon is still having an internal struggle with the idea of sacrificing his own flesh and blood as seen here when the messenger tells Clytemnestra “And the king, seeing his daughter coming for her death, Groaned bitterly and turned his head away Holding his cloak to hide the falling tears” [168-171] . This part of the story shows the Argonian king’s inability to make decisions in hard situations. Overall, in Iphigenia in Aulis Agamemnon is characterized as a child, showing ignorance and lack of conviction in the phase of hard
Thersites criticism of Agamemnon does not compare to that of Achilles in part because Thersites is consider to be an outcast due to disfigurement, “ugliness and physically challenged”. (Lattimore 2011). Due to his appearance and his outwardly criticism of Achilles of being selfish he was rejected the Achians. This would command different outcomes Achilles, who was portrayed as a courageous man, and Thersites. Achilles would lead a life being idolized while Thersites would lead a life as being
Our initial introduction to Agamemnon was his not-so-political demonstration of hubris as he disregarded the honor of his men and fulfilled his own selfish desires. Agamemnon's actions led to the retaliation of Apollo and the loss of loyalty of the great warrior Achilleus. It seems like hubris is used by Homer to express power and confidence in a warrior. Interestingly, as the war continues it is Achilleus who demonstrates the most hubris. Achilleus' displeasure of the actions of his commanding officer, Agamemnon, were clearlye expressed in book eleven.
In this play, we see the return Agamemnon's children, Electra and Orestes, and they seek revenge on Clytemnestra and Aegisthus for the murder of their father Agamemnon. We see that it SMS to be something of a vicious cycle for this family, a death in the family occurs, caused by another member of that family, so another member of the family kills that member of the family under the guise of justice so that they may enact their
The Odyssey revolves around a household without its master, Odysseus, who has been lost for 10 years. Despite that, Agamemnons’ death by his faithless wife isn’t the main focus of the Odyssey, but it is still frequently mentioned. Aegisthus can be thought of as the suitors who are seen at the beginning of the Odyssey feasting and sipping wine all day. His affair with Clytemnestra, his murder of Agamemnon and then later on, his death by Agamemnons’ son Orestes, foreshadows the inevitable death waiting to consume the suitors’ lives for their efforts to destroy Odysseus household. The stories set up is similar in a way that there are two returning heroes, Agamemnon and Odysseus, their sons, Orestes and Telemachus, and their wives, Clytemnestra and Penelope respectively.
However, in the end Agamemnon took Achilles’ girl, Briseis, which really hurt Achilles in the end. These warriors took a lot of pride in the things or people that they
“Greed is a bottomless pit which exhausts the person in an endless effort to satisfy the need without ever reaching satisfaction.” -Erich Fromm ‘The Odyssey’ by Homer, follows the story of Odysseus, a great Greek hero. It tells of his venture to Troy, to lead his army in the Trojan War, and his separation from loved ones and his kingdom for twenty years. However, the novel mainly focuses on the story of his homecoming and all he, and many others, had to endure while he was returning from abroad.
He remained headstrong, stubborn and selfish in his actions, even warranting rebuke from the men on certain occasions. This is seen in the very first conflict that is witnessed on the pages of The Iliad. Agamemnon is faced with the request to give up his war prize, and immediately and indignantly decides against all the council of the army in order to keep his prize of a woman (28). With this decision, he sought his own desires selfishly and disconnected himself from the men he was meant to lead. Granted, he possessed a strong will, a thing very necessary for good leadership.
The Odyssey by Homer revolves around the character, Odysseus, and his ten-year struggle to return home after the Trojan War. As the epic’s idol, he displays the combination of a clever, handsome, and courageous man popular among the mortals as well as the gods. Essentially, he embodies the ideals of the ancient Greek culture, being adorned with many favored characteristics of the era. However, an intriguing aspect of Odysseus lies in his personality. As the protagonist, he does not manifest the entirety of a stereotypical hero because Odysseus has a fatal flaw—his arrogance.
Orestes and Agamemnon are two more characters that have an interesting father-son bond and are both very important to the plot of The Odyssey. Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra,
In Sophocles` play, Antigone, he shows a story of a crazed man who lets pride takes over his actions causing the deaths of his loved ones. This essay will discuss Haimon, King Creon`s son, through statements that Sophocles himself wrote and inferences of his perspective. During the story Haimon does major actions such as; plea for his fiancée, commits suicide and even cast death upon King Creon. I believe that Haimon plead for Antigone`s life for more than one reason. He pleads for her because she was his fiancée and also because he heard the rumors the citizens passed around about King Creon.
With Clytemenstra’s approval, Aegisthos murdered Agamemnon. When Orestes, Agamemnon’s son, came to hear the news, he was enraged and killed Aegisthos and Clytemnestra. When Odysseus meets Agamemnon in the underworld, Agamemnon gives insight to him about how to avoid women who betray and murder their loved ones by speaking about his own experience. He says that he had fully trusted his wife and he expected her be a faithful spouse that she vowed to be. He was disappointed to find that to be a false reality.
The drama Antigone places the culture of Greece on display by showcasing the many values that this culture held in reverence, including remaining loyal to family, honoring the dead, and honoring the gods. In Sophocles’ renowned drama entitled Antigone, one of the main values that Antigone chooses to honor is loyalty to family, even when that means that she has to forgo loyalty to her city and community. Even though her uncle the king, Kreon, forbade anyone to bury Polyneikes’ body because he had been on the opposing side in the battle, Antigone felt a duty to her brother to bury him. When speaking with her sister, Antigone says that Kreon’s command “…threatens our loved ones / as if they were our enemies” (Antigone 14-15).
Chrysses came to Agamemnon as neither a friend nor enemy, rather a follower of good and a respondent to the god’s wishes. The reputation of Agamemnon may have been tainted by these actions and his societal image deteriorated as a result. His brashness following this interaction can be attributed to his lust for respect and honor on and off the
Firstly, Iago plays God by exploiting other characters’ emotions, motives and wants. He abuses their trust in him while they unknowingly are a part of his overall plan to destroy Othello. Iago slowly poisons
With all this on the table, Achilles still decides to decline. This dialogue reveals that Achilles concludes that he cannot be bought and sold like some type of commodity. He does not want to be traded in such a manner. This is almost just as much of an insult as anything that Agamemnon has done before. This dialogue also reveals that Achilles has felt like king Agamemnon has not given him the riches and respect that a warrior of his status commands.