Justice In Aeschylus Oresteia Essay

Oresteia - The Issue of Justice in Aeschylus' Eumenides

The concept of justice is manifested through the three plays of Aeschylus' Oresteia. The old tradition of justice, the private blood feud, caused an ungoverned succession of violent acts that spiralled uncontrollably. Aegisthus, Clytemnestra's lover, is introduced in Agamemnon; he desires vengeance for the plot contrived by Agamemnon's father (Ag: 1605-1611).1 Neither Agamemnon nor Aegisthus took part in this "plot" and yet as the chorus explains (Ag: 755-6)

'But ancient Violence longs to breed,

new violence comes

when its fatal hour comes,'

The justice system of this period demanded that one avenge the death of a family member, this can be seen in The Libation

In the end, Orestes 'goes free, cleared of the charge of blood' (Eum: 767-8) and the Furies evolve into protectors of the land, becoming goddesses of rebirth. Aeschylus is depicting the progression from the traditional from of justice to a much more civilised form, the court system. While the older tradition for generations did not fulfil justice, the new system treated both Orestes and the Furies with respect, and each left with the sense that justice had been done.

Aeschylus puts forth his preference for communal justice over the traditional vengeance method through his use of gods and goddesses. The Furies, 'the old dominions of the fates' (Eum: 171) represent the traditional tribal method of justice. Emotional and proud they will stop at nothing to exact the only form of justice they know - that of causing pain. On the other hand is Athena. She constituted one of the younger gods (Eum: 792) and represents the new system of justice. The goddess is objective and level headed, thinking ahead to the consequences of the rulings of the case. Importantly she is respectful of the older gods (Eum:

As far as his audience are concerned, there are two contemporary issues that Aeschylus' audience could not have missed. Although it may seem upon first thought that 'Oresteia' is a trilogy with no relation to the present set nine years after the Trojan War, there are two contemporary issues that Aeschylus' audience could not have missed. These are the reforms of the Areopagus and the recent alliance of Athens with Sparta. The few years preceding the production of the Oresteia in 458 had seen the decline at Athens of the pro-Spartan faction under Cimon and the rise to dominance of the 'radical democrats' under Ephialtes' leadership. The Spartan rejection of Athenian aid at Ithome and the consequent discrediting of Cimon and his policies led to the breaking of the alliance with Sparta and to the forming, under democratic leadership, of a new alliance (in 461/0) with Argos, Sparta's enemy. On the domestic front, the major constitutional reforms of Ephialtes concerned the reduction of the political powers of the Areopagus, which was seen as the main barrier to the full development of the Athenian