Oresteia Quote Analysis

“Vengeance is in my heart, death is in my hand, blood and revenge are hammering in my head.” This quote by William Shakespeare, portrays that in order to seek out revenge, blood and death have to take place. Similarly, in Oresteia, blood symbolizes something deeper than just tragedy; it symbolizes that in order to acquire revenge there must be tragedy. Throughout Oresteia, blood symbolizes two specific types of revenge: revenge by death and revenge by a curse. The symbolism of blood is seen in Oresteia.

Throughout Oresteia, Aeschlyus uses blood to symbolize revenge by death. There are multiple instances of death in Oresteia. In the play The furies, Orestes, Clytemnestra’s son, was discussing with Apollo a plot to kill his mother. Orestes wanted

to kill his mother because he was seeking revenge on his father’s death. Clytemnestra has a dream of his plan and decides to hunt and kill him before he kills her. “Let him feel the blast of your reeking bloody breath, bleed him dry and burn him in your stomachs fire” (lines 137-138). Clytemnestra was so furious at Orestes for plotting to kill her that she acts in revenge by plotting to kill him first. Clytemnestra clearly does not like Orestes and is willing to go as far as to ‘bleed him dry’ which shows just how far she will go to seek revenge. In the end, Orestes kills Clytemnestra out of revenge for his father’s death. The Chorus discusses the revenge Orestes sought out saying, “For bloodshed must be revenged, and we pursue it to the very end” (lines 319-320). In Agamemnon, Orestes made sure the revenge of her father’s death was Clytemnestra’s bloodshed. He did not stop until she was dead. Clytemnestra’s bloody, tragic death took place in order to avenge Agamemnon’s death. Without her blood shed, Agamemnon’s death would not be avenged. Before Clytemnestra dies she kills her husband, Agamemnon. She did this out of revenge because Agamemnon killed their daughter. “He collapsed, gasping out his last breath, his life ebbing away, spitting spurts of blood,” (lines 1387-1389). Clytemnestra kills her husband without even feeling guilty afterwards. She actually rejoices when she is done. Revenge by death occurs when blood is shed.
Revenge through bloodshed is seen many times throughout Oresteia.

Specifically, revenge through death. In The furies, The Furies see Orestes and seek punishment on him saying, “Blood must pay for blood,” (line 264). Orestes just killed Clytemnestra and the members of the Chorus were enraged. They wanted him to pay for murdering the queen. The Chorus means once someone murders someone the only way to get back at them is to kill the killer. After Orestes slaughters Clytemnestra, he explains that he did it out of revenge and he takes the full account for it. “I killed the women who bore me. I do not deny it was revenge for the murder of my beloved father” (lines 463-464). Orestes completely owns up to killing his mother. He does not seem apologetic or upset but on the contrary, proud as if he accomplished something huge. Revenge by blood is obviously seen in

Oresteia.
Accomplishing Revenge is seen in numerous ways.

Other than revenge by death, throughout Oresteia, one sees revenge by a curse. In Agamamnon, Clytemnestra talks about the curse of the house of Atreus. This curse was brought about because Tantalus was punished for testing the gods; it was passed down throughout the family. “So now your thoughts are stated correctly, you call upon the triple gorged spirit that plagued this family, the one that lusts to fill its belly with blood” (lines 1475-1478). The curse is one of revenge and punishment. The gods wanted to punish Tantalus by cursing his family lineage. Clytemnestra explains that to the Chorus. Furthermore, Tantalus brought the curse upon The house of Atreus by feeding stew to the gods. The stew had parts of Pelops, the son of Tantalus, in it. “Their heads and hands and feet were hacked into pieces and thrown into a boiling stew… a meal that brought the curse upon this house” (lines 1594-1597). Tantalus fed his own son to the gods and Demeter, not realizing what was in the stew, partook until he found out Pelops was in it. He immediately threw it up and cursed Tantalus and his family line. The blood Pelops shed signifies the revenge the gods cast on The house of Atreus. The curse is one way revenge is shown throughout

Oresteia.
Multiple different cases of revenge are shown throughout Oresteia. Within each instance, a tragedy befalls. Whenever a tragedy takes place, blood is always shed, followed by a form of revenge. Therefore, proving that blood is a symbol for revenge. Blood represents something more than death. Blood represents Revenge by death and Revenge by curse.