In the tragic play the Agamemnon, Aeschylus portrays Clytemnestra as a dominant, independent and cunning Queen. When her husband Agamemnon sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia in exchange for favorable winds, she sought vengeance on her husband and goes to extreme lengths to obtain it. Her use of manipulation plays a significant role in leading up to her triumph at the end of the play. Clytemnestra cleverly manipulates Agamemnon to attain her goal of murdering him.
Clytemnestra's manipulative abilities come to light when Agamemnon returns home after a decade-long war. He is greeted by a relieved and overjoyed Clytemnestra. She gives a lengthy speech on how much she missed Agamemnon and how miserable her life has been without him. She further goes to state how worried
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she has been that he would become a casualty of war. Her words and emotions, however, are completely fabricated. During his absence, she has a furtive relationship with Agamemnon's cousin Aegisthus, who both eagerly await Agamemnon's return only to murder him. Clytemnestra gives Agamemnon a false sense of security and belonging in order to conceal her true motives. She uses lying as a manipulation tactic to convince him that nothing sinister is going on in the palace when in reality she is plotting his murder. Clytemnestra ends her welcome speech by insisting that Agamemnon enters the palace walking not on the ground, but on a purple tapestry: a royal and symbolic piece that is meant to commemorate the gods. She suggests that Agamemnon is too worthy to walk on the earth and demands the maids to spread the fabrics on the ground. Admittedly, Agamemnon can be arrogant and over-confident, however, his morality prevails over these negative traits. He is aware that this is an act of hubris; consequently, he resists her flattery and refuses to walk the tapestries, claiming that "only gods should reap these honors" (Aeschylus 78). Initially, Clytemnestra attempts to praise and glorify Agamemnon to manipulate him to walk the tapestries. However, this fails and she resorts to targeting Agamemnon's vulnerabilities. Clytemnestra asks hypothetical questions and constructs scenarios where committing the act would be acceptable.
First, she asks if he would "have vowed to do this, out of fear", to which he responds yes (Aeschylus 78). She brings up fear because it is a strong emotion and she knows that Agamemnon fears the gods. Subsequently, Clytemnestra asks: "what would Priam, as the victor, do?" and Agamemnon replies that he would readily walk on it (Aeschylus 78). By mentioning Priam, Clytemnestra is appealing to Agamemnon's sense of pride. Agamemnon is "terrified in setting foot on these embroidered splendors" because he will be angering the gods. Hence, if Priam walks the tapestries he will be displaying more courage than Agamemnon and thus greater power. This provokes Agamemnon because he views himself as always victorious and the one possessing the most power. Clytemnestra preys on Agamemnon's feelings and self-pride, makes him feel weak and ridicules his courage. This diverts him from the real problem and prevents him from making rational decisions. Ultimately, Agamemnon yields and walks the tapestries. His selfish desires now outweigh his moral judgements after hearing Clytemnestra's manipulative
words. Clytemnestra is a master manipulator who deceitfully persuaded Agamemnon for her own personal benefits and goals. She demonstrates this when she lied to and attacked Agamemnon's weaknesses to influence him to walk the tapestries, leading him down a straight path to death.
Odysseus and Agamemnon are heroes who fought side by side to take down the city of Troy during the Trojan War. In Homer’s The Odyssey, why is Agamemnon slaughtered when he arrives home while Odysseus returns to find his loved ones still waiting for him? The reasons for the heroes’ differing fates are the nature of their homecoming and the loyalty of their wives.
Clytemnestra has the ten years of the Trojan War to plan her revenge on Agamemnon. Upon his return Clytemnestra shows him some love. That love she showed quickly changes to rage and hatred when Clytemnestra she’s Agamemnon with his mistress Cassandra.
The thesis of the Oresteia proves to be the sacrifice of Iphigenia, for it is with the death of a woman that the tables of the curse on the house of Atreus start to unfold. The sacrifice of Iphigenia becomes the start of the continued curse within this particular generation of the house of Atreus. Agamemnon, a misogynist, did not value the life of his innocent daughter over the spoils of men. It is significant that an innocent woman, ready for marriage, an act that brings together two households, was not married but instead murdered. Her sacrifice shows a separation between men and women along with failure within the household.
The basileus finds himself entirely humbled by his misadventure of a speech. Agamemnon is drowning here and does what good leaders do, uses his teammates’ strengths. His commander Odysseus is known for his silver tongue. With the help of Agamemnon’s scepter, Odysseus is able to get the men to return, and list to their leader once more. By putting his pride aside for a moment to allow Odysseus to help him Agamemnon does what’s best for his community. In the eyes of the ancient Greeks, his action is one of the most beautiful things a person can do. By accepting help Agamemnon is able to understand and admit his own flaws; he tells his men “Achilles and I are quarrelling about this girl, in which matter I was the first to offend”(Gutenberg). In showing his humility, and being able to speak so soundly he gains a “roar of applause” from the men who just deserted him shows that Agamemnon has once again returned to his full glory as a Basileus
Aeschylus' The Oresteia features two characters burdened by seemingly hopeless decisions. First is Agamemnon, king of Argos, whose army was thwarted by the goddess, Artemis. Agamemnon was faced with the decision to call off the army's sail to Troy, and thus admit defeat and embarrassment, or to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, to satisfy Artemis whom had stopped the winds to delay Agamemnon's fleet. Second is Orestes, son of Agamemnon, who was given the choice by Apollo to avenge his father's murder, thus committing matricide, or face a series of torturous consequences. Although both Agamemnon and Orestes were faced with major dilemmas, their intentions and their characters are revealed through their actions to be markedly different.
Klytaimestra has thought up an ingenious plan to uncover the outcome of the Trojan War as quickly as possible; however, when she tries to share the news, the Chorus castoffs her declaration. This constant stichomythia between the Chorus and Klytaimestra annoys her because of the persistent disbelief, “And you have proof?/That, or a phantom spirit sends you into raptures” (272-274). The Chorus, which consists of men, do not accept that a woman can have any sort of knowledge before they do. They dismiss her claims until they hear it from a male messenger, which makes Klytaimestra very angry: “I cried out long ago!/You made me seem deranged” (580-586). Further, when she explains how she discovered the outcome, the men automatically assume that because she is a woman, she got her information from gossiping. “Just like a woman/to fill with thanks before the truth is clear . . . So gullible. Their stories spread like wildfire,/they fly fast and die faster;/rumours voiced by women come to nothing.” To the Chorus, a woman to devise a plan as clever as Klytaimestra’s, is inconceivable. But even after Klytaimestra’s facts are proven, the Chorus will later undermine her abilities again.
Clytemnestra, after Agamemnon was at war for a few years, began to cheat on Agamemnon with his cousin, Aegisthus. When the two got word of Agamemnon’s return from Troy they began to plot against Agamemnon. Clytemnestra prayed to the Gods to let Agamemnon make it home because she wanted to punish him herself. Even though most of the other ships did not make it home after the storms, Agamemnon’s did. Many believe this is because of the prayer that was prayed by Clytemnestra.
In "Mycenae Lookout," Seamus Heaney tells the story of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra and Cassandra after the Trojan war. "Cassandra" is the second part of "Mycenae Lookout" and chronicles Cassandra, Apollo's ill-fated prophetess, who is captured by Agamemnon at the war's end and brought back to Mycenae as a slave. The fates of Cassandra and the House of Atreus collide with Agamemnon's return to Mycenae, where his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus plot his murder. Aegisthus and Clytemnestra both seek revenge: Clytemnestra for her daughter's sacrifice and Aegisthus for the overthrow of his father and the sins of Agamemnon's father Atreus, of which Aegisthus was the only survivor. While Heaney probably drew from many classical sources for his poem, the section entitled "Cassandra" seems especially drawn from Aeschylus' play Agamemnon. Heaney compresses the events of Agamemnon into a mere 64 lines but still retains, partially through uses of the binaries which are contained in the play, the classic and timeless story of revenge and a violent vicious circle.
... powerful, manipulative, and extremely smart, yet because she is a woman she has limited social power. She has no chance of being a hero because she acts out of hurt in her marriage and love turned to hate. In Aeschylus’ Oresteia, Agamemnon also kills his child, although it is not praised, he is still considered a hero after his death. Medea is portrayed as being a selfish and ruthless woman, making her unnatural. Nevertheless, the audience finds themselves uncomfortably admiring Medea and her strength as a woman. Medea’s madness portrays how one’s emotions can lead to detrimental results rather than using reason. She is driven by her desire for revenge and will stop at nothing to burn her husband Jason as he did her.
Medea shows this by masterfully manipulating those around her so that no one, save the chorus whom she convinces not to intervene, is able to see her true intentions until it is too late. Her determination comes into play when she decides to kill her children, whom she greatly values. Phaedra’s cunning is less obvious, but still present. She is able to devise a way for her to maintain her good reputation although her lust for Hippolytus had already been revealed. Phaedra’s determination comes into play when, in carrying out this plan, not only does she end her own life, but she also ends the life of Hippolytus. It is also important to point out that if Artemis had not relayed the truth of the matter to Theseus, Phaedra’s plan would have succeeded. The cunning in these leading female characters show that the Greeks knew that women can be intelligent. In fact, they feared this intelligence. In both of these plays, the females’ cunning is used to ruin the men around them. In Medea, Jason loses everything, the king and his daughter both die, and so do Medea’s male sons. In Phaedra, Hippolytus dies and Theseus loses his only son. Meanwhile, the only mortal woman to incur any suffering in this play is Phaedra herself, and she chooses her final fate. This theme is so obvious that Hippolytus points it out himself. “But a clever woman—that I loathe! … For Cypris engenders more mischief in the clever ones.” (Hippolytus, Lines
In Agamemnon, Aegisthus did not physically commit the acts of slaying Agamemnon or Cassandra but acknowledges that death may very well be a punishment he will have to face, “death you said and death it shall be; we take up the word of fate” (1653). Aegisthus is aware that his actions may come full circle and result in his demise, but justifies that it had to be done to justify the wrongs committed by Agamemnon 's father. In The Libation Bearers, Orestes claims that Apollo “said that else I must myself pay penalty with my own life, and suffer much sad punishment” (276-277) should he not succeed in avenging his father 's death. This implies that if Orestes did not follow through with the murders the curse would continue onto the next generation and Orestes himself would become a victim of the curse on worse terms than presently. Orestes explicitly says to Clytaemnestra when he confronts her, “how shall I escape my father 's curse, if I fail here?” (925). Orestes knows that he will be plagued with the curse if he does not follow through with Apollo 's instructions. In the same play, the chorus too believe that with the killing of Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus the curse will come to an end as they say, “the bloody edges of the knives that rip man-flesh are moving to work it will mean utter and final ruin imposed on Agamemnon 's house” (859-863). The chorus in The Libation Bearers is
After Agamemnon’s death, Aegisthus is next in line to become king and Clytemnestra is his queen. Her desire for power is hidden by her claims of justification. She challenges anyone to take her power. “[H]e who conquers me in fair fight shall rule me” (45). She threatens the Chorus to a fight for power. She knows she has all the power now the king was dead and she is his queen. Clytemnestra is aware she killed him for his power, but her arrogance makes her put the deed on the curse of the House of Atreus and vengeance for
Agamemnon is the first part of the trilogy known as the Oresteia. Agamemnon is a story where the main character sacrifices his own daughter to a God, Artemis to win a battle and then his wife revenge him for the sacrifice. The concept of fate plays an important role in the tilogy Agamemnon which led to the tragic endings of the play. According to the meaning of fate it means the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined by a super natural power. Fate is what send Agamemnon to the war with Menelaus to fight against Paris, fate is what predetermined Agamemnon to sacrifice his own blood for the sake of his ship and companions and fate is what determined Cassandra his wife to plot to kill him and to revenge him for her daughter.
If the two women of Agamemnon, Clytaemnestra and Cassandra, were put to the test of Tug of War, would there be a winner or would neither win? A game of Tug of war meaning, a pull from each side of the rope until one side with out a doubt crosses a drawn line. There are similarities between the two ladies as well as several differences. The actions of the ladies and confrontations lead the town to have confused thought of each woman. Both women are strong characters having strong pulls on the rope but each shows their weaknesses and tends to lose grip. A kid’s game of Tug of War places these characters in a situation of face-to-face competition. As the chorus exclaims before Agamemnon arrives, “the good wins out, no pain can tip the scales, not now.”