Justice In The Eumenides

ustice, fairness, and decency, abstract concepts that are innate in society and human nature. However, despite their near universal status in humanities mid, they often have different meanings for individuals. Aeschylus uses The Oresteia in order to explore these issues as characters in the play try to determine what it means to be just, what ought a just actor do, and what is the best model for achieving justice. The characters discuss ideas such as vengeance, reciprocity, balance, moderation, and finally the end result of the implied debate leads to a jury system. In this paper I will go over two of the several different interpretations of justice used in the Oresteia and compare and contrast them in order to demonstrate which is the best

Revenge lies within us all, Revenge is an instinctive human characteristic. These emotions and actions associated are neither preventable nor controllable. Everybody has felt and taken action on the emotion of revenge, whether it 's your sibling, friend, or enemy. Revenge can bring justice but as well bring pain to someone else. Vengeance is an extremely popular emotion in today 's life whether it is terrorism or a dispute between family and friends. Revenge can be a horrible emotion; it can sometimes lead people to do horrible things. By definition, Revenge means to get retribution for a wrongdoing done to you. In my opinion, revenge is mostly caused by fear and the overwhelming feeling of payback

Hesiod’s Theogony was no longer able to satisfy the higher minds among the nation. Thus, inspiring Aeschylus to write tragic poets such as Prometheus’ Bound in order to express his own ideology and pointing the moral of tragedy. It is no surprise that Hesiod viewed Zeus as a glorified olympian hero and Prometheus as a traitor who stole fire and gave it to mankind. Aeschylus’s idea of Prometheus was conflicting to Hesiod, whereby he viewed Prometheus as a god supporting the civilization of mankind.

In Book 1 of the republic, by Plato, we are introduced to two central figures in the argument of justice, Socrates and Thrasymachus.

The actions inspired by vengeance and justice in Homer’s Iliad shows how detrimental the effects can be on others. The Justice seeked by warlike Menelaus causes pain and suffering to many on all sides of the war. Paris by abducting Helen hurt Menelaus’s pride, “Menelaus had in mind taking revenge on the man who’d injured him” (Homer, Iliad 3. 26-27). Seeking this revenge Menelaus

For thousands of people, what is holy and what is moral comes from religious texts that act as a guide for individuals for how they ought to live their lives. This idea of holiness and morality for many is deeply rooted in the understanding that it originates with God; it is a necessary condition for it to be binding. However, what if what is holy and moral didn’t originate from God’s goodness, rather it comes from other mediums and is itself good thus being approved by God? This idea of existence and thought is a question that can be outlined in Plato’s, The Euthyphro.

175-196. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/675768. Springer, Carl. E. “The Last Line of the “Aeneid”.”

The arguments and claims presented in “Rough Justice” are not just briefly explained. Instead, the author develops and conveys his message consistently throughout the whole passage, avoiding any illogical claims or fallacies. For example, the author constantly reiterates how “‘In Britain and in America, they keep very strongly to the presumption of innocence’” (Reyes 182). By being persistent and and reiterating his message, Alejandro Reyes avoids the use of illogical

Twelve Angry Men is in many ways a love letter to the American legal justice system. We find here eleven men, swayed to conclusions by prejudices, past experience, and short-sightedness, challenged by one man who holds himself and his peers to a higher standard of justice, demanding that this marginalized member of society be given his due process. We see the jurors struggle between the two, seemingly conflicting, purposes of a jury, to punish the guilty and to protect the innocent. It proves, however, that the logic of the American trial-by-jury system does work.

The Oresteia is a trilogy written by the Greek author Aeschylus that comprises of three plays; Agamemnon, the libation bearers, and the Eumenides. The central theme of this book is “justice” which in the case of Orestes has led to exile. This book was written at a time when the star of Athens was in decline. It was a time that marked the establishment of a new socio- political order, a democracy adjudicated by the rule of law. This rule of law meant the institutionalization of justice (i.e. having a justice system), where cases are heard and verdicts are being reached based on evidence.

In Darrow’s closing argument he gives his famed “A Plea for Mercy” to the judge. This plea not only acted as a conclusion to his defense, but it also acted as an introduction the eradication of the death penalty. Darrow uses a mix of ethos, pathos, logos, and other rhetorical devices to impose a merciful effect on his audience in hopes to reduce his clients punishment and the use of capital punishment. Darrow gracefully uses all three appeals when referring to the rise of crime after war “I know that it has followed every war; and I know it has influenced these boys so that life was not the same to them as it would have been if the world had not been made red with blood.

We like to say that “Justice is blind,” but justice is decided among people, and people are not perfect or impartial. When convicted of a crime, a person is

(Miladinovic, Z., & Lukassen, J., 2015, February 25) The outcome of a just trial and its verdict, is based on proof of evidence, which ensures what 's best for the

During class, we explored more in depth the video of the two prosecutors who talked about a gentleman who had been wrongfully imprisoned for years only to be released a little before his death. The prosecutor who put him into prison, was very distraught and saddened by his actions, yet the other prosecutor claimed he had done nothing wrong and the justice system had not failed, because he was ultimately freed. Something that my team really focused on discussing was how they both appeared to be talking about justice, yet they had completely different views on the subject. One described the incident with such shame that he described lady justice crying, while the other described a justice system that had not failed. This was very interesting to me because it was clear that one person was about reason and logic, while the other emphasized the law.

Aeschylus’ The Oresteia not only ends the life of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and Aeghistus but also the deathly curse that afflicts the House of Atreus – the house to which these three belong. This curse, however, has many similarities from generation to generation, such as the killing of children to serve a higher purpose – for Tantalus, this was to feed the gods, while for Atreus this was to taunt Thyestes; The parallels between the three plays of the Oresteia can be examined by focusing on the nature of tragedy with respect to Agamemnon, the Libation Bearers, and the Furies. These plays, as separate dramas and as a trilogy, show repetitive tragedies that are directly connected to the characters from the plays’ titles by unifying the title