Betrayal In Medea And Clytemnestra

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Classical Greek and Roman myths of murder, taking place within families, portray the cultural significance of maintaining a peaceful household and family relationships in their respective eras. Clytemnestra’s portrayal in both Aeschylus’s Agamemnon and Euripides’ Electra demonstrate the supposed danger of a woman’s transgression from her traditional role as a wife, and conversely the danger of men acting out of their expected roles through the character Aegisthus. Furthermore, both Electra’s Clytemnestra and Medea’s Medea demonstrate a betrayal of their roles as mothers, emphasising the importance of a mother’s nurturing attitude in the ancient perspective, while Aeschylus’s The Choephori transparently interprets betrayal in marriage as an inevitably violent crime. Finally, it is worth considering the supernatural element in all of these classic myths of murder, and that this is what ultimately supports their supposed inevitability.
The personal nature of violence in …show more content…

The audience are told to ”Learn truth from sad Althaea” (Aeschylus, The Choephori, 596) and therefore are presented with these myths of murder clearly as allegorical warnings. This direct speech, including the description of Althaea as “sad” (Aeschylus, The Choephori, 596) gives the impression as being directed to women, who may feel more naturally predisposed to sympathising with Althaea due to her gender, and that they ought not to act like her, and respect the family hierarchy, lest they too be miserable. The final story, called the “third and worst/ where marriage harbours hate” (Aeschylus, The Choephori, 623-4) is exemplifying that marriage is a tremendously important bond in these ancient societies. The fact that a hateful marriage would be described as such a terrible fate, almost portrayed as a horror story, shows how important this idea of family harmony was to both the author and the intended

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