Oresteia
Also known as: The Oresteia, Agamemnon; Libation Bearers; Eumenides, Choephoroi, Eumenides, Oresteia Trilogy, Ορέστεια
Aeschylus dramatizes the fall of the house of Atreus: Agamemnon’s murder by Clytemnestra, Orestes’ matricide to avenge him, and the Furies’ pursuit that ends in a trial at Athens where Athena founds a new order of justice.
Description
Across three plays—Agamemnon, Libation Bearers (Choephoroi), and Eumenides—the Oresteia traces inherited blood-guilt from the Atreids to a civic resolution. Clytemnestra kills Agamemnon on his return from Troy, avenging Iphigenia and seizing power with Aegisthus. Years later, Orestes returns from exile and, urged by Apollo, kills his mother and Aegisthus, only to be hunted by the Erinyes for matricide. Fleeing to Delphi and then Athens, Orestes stands trial before the Areopagus. Athena’s tie-breaking vote acquits him and transforms the Erinyes into the Eumenides, patrons of the polis. The trilogy moves from vendetta and household catastrophe to institutions and reconciliation, articulating a passage from archaic retribution to civic law.
Historiography
The Oresteia is the only complete surviving trilogy of Attic tragedy; its satyr-play Proteus is lost. The text descends through medieval Byzantine manuscripts supplemented by ancient scholia and quotations. Staging details and choral odes attracted extensive comment in antiquity and modern scholarship. The trilogy profoundly influenced conceptions of Athenian justice and later receptions of Orestes’ myth in Sophocles and Euripides.
Date Notes
Premiered and won first prize at the City Dionysia in Athens in 458 BCE; no secure evidence for substantial prior oral versions of this trilogy as staged.
Major Characters
- Agamemnon
- Clytemnestra
- Orestes
- Electra
- Cassandra
- Aegisthus
- Athena
- Apollo
- The Furies
Myths
- Agamemnon’s Murder
- Orestes’ Revenge
- The Furies’ Pursuit
- The Trial of Orestes
- The Establishment of the Areopagus
Facts
- First performed at the City Dionysia in Athens in 458 BCE.
- Won first prize in the tragic competition that year.
- Only extant complete trilogy of Greek tragedy; the satyr play Proteus is lost.
- Clytemnestra murders Agamemnon using a robe or net and a weapon within the palace.
- Orestes kills Clytemnestra and Aegisthus under Apollo’s command.
- The Erinyes pursue Orestes for matricide until a trial is held at Athens.
- Athena establishes the Areopagus jury and casts the deciding vote to acquit.
- The Erinyes are transformed into the Eumenides, protectors of civic harmony.
- Cassandra, a Trojan seer, foresees her own death alongside Agamemnon.
- Pylades speaks only a brief but decisive line urging Orestes to obey Apollo.