This is a sample essay that should not be submitted as an actual assignment
Central Role the Argument in This Play
The author argues that there is a thin line between humans and beast and thus allows human to transform to beasts to try and show that the people that leaved at that time were as in human as beast would be fro instance the wife of the king who eagerly anticipate to the return of his husband so that he would murder him and continue ruling (Wilson, 2010). This is further clarified when she finally hideously murders his husband upon his return from Troy.
Athenians at the time of Agamemnon showed little or no loyalty to their women and mostly never involved them in the making of family decisions. For stance when Agamemnon is given a chance to make a decision between giving wind to his men and saving his daughters life ,he respects his men more and even goes ahead to sacrifice his own daughter without consulting his wife, Clytaemnestra.
The elders in the chorus are fast to blames Helen for what has befall Argos had termed her to a typical woman who causes trouble and the one who caused the Trojan war. They are not ready to pass the blame to the man who kidnapped her simply because he is a man and she has to take the blame because she is a woman.
More so the king Agamemnon blames Helen for all the deaths that resulted from the etojan war. The Chorus shows high respect for the gods by fearing beings such as the goddess Artemis. The gods as are very powerful, Goddess Artemis at one point demands for Agamemnon to make his daughter a sacrifice in order for the Greek ships to sail to Troy. The old men make their appeal for help from Zeus (gods’ king) and Artemis’ brother Apollo.
Apollo with his powers can not save the prophetess Cassandra from the eminent murder threat from Clytaemnestra, therefore she is very upset. She was cursed to see future events but she can not have control over them. The power of the gods is evident when Agamemnon and prophetess Cassandra are pronounced to death but no human powers are able to change.
Clytaemnestra torments Agamemnon by cleverly convincing him to walk across the red carpet, an act which is signifies his demand for recognition of the role she played in the Greek victory. This is an offence to the gods.
The play indicates that Athenians respected their older gods even after they have been overthrown by the younger gods. This is shown by the appearance of the Cronos in the Oresteia despite the fact that it was no longer worshiped. This play therefore insist that when there is change there is bound to be losers and winners but the losers are contented for the good of the greater society (Slayford-Wei, 2010).
Role Reversing Between Men and Women in Play
The play shows that Athenians believed in existence and inheritance of curses. This is evident in the adage ‘sins of the father are visited upon the son’. Aegusthus’ father evokes a curse to Atreus his Son, when he was fed on the butchered children.
Also Athenians had the thinking of ‘violence begets violence’ meaning that revenge was seen as the only normal and right way of avenging against once defaulter. An eye for an eye was the way to societal justice.
Agamemnon avoids being perceived as unmanly due to the excessive obedience to womanly wishes. He therefore distrusts her because of her attempts to use womanly ways in convincing him. He tries to imply that women are typically manipulative creatures however Clytaemnestra shows her prevalence over this man when he willingly to walks on a red carpet. She holds really power over men, her husband also included.
Towards the end of the story, there is role reversing between men and women, Clytaemnestra, remains as the only woman in charge; she bosses to Aegisthus and the Chorus as the only male characters around her, these two characters acts like women despite the fact that they represent men (Slayford-Wei, (2010). The chorus of men was initially disrespective to her; Clytaemnestra can now belittle all male characters. Therefore, the Greek society questions the reversal of roles and its effects to the men’s position.
Clytaemnestra behavior is typically that of a man, this upsets the Chorus of Elders. By doing everything in a manly manner she believes that she has finally delivered justice to Argos, she manages to end the curse of bloodshed that had been in force for several years. In the chorus “I swept from these halls/the murder,” it is enough evidence for her belief, According to her, the murders of Agamemnon and Cassandra marks the erasure of previous generations’ bloodshed.