Handout- Lecture Five (?)

Greek World 1B, Aeschylus, The Agamemnon

Lecture Structure

  • This lecture structure is designed for two lectures, with a break around point 3a.
  • Assumes familiarity with the play through reading or the 1983 Harrison production on YouTube. Passages for examination will be from the Smyth translation.

1) Greek Drama, Some Basics

  • a) Festival Context
    • The Great Dionysia was the primary festival for Greek Tragedy, Comedy, and Satyr plays.
    • Took place annually in the Attic month of Elapheboleion (mid to late March), marking the opening of the sailing season.
    • Athenian allies presented tribute payments during this time, and their embassies attended the festivals.
    • The Eponymous Archon selected the teams of performers (finalists), choosing poets and matching them with producers.
    • Actors (initially 2, then 3 for tragedy) were chosen by lot and paid by the state.
    • The choregic system involved a ‘producer’ (choregos) who funded costumes, props, chorus training (12-15 members), and was responsible for chorus selection.
    • Programme:
      • 8 Elaphebolion: The ‘proagon’ where poets, actors, and chorus members previewed their productions (like trailers).
      • 8-9 Elapheboleion: A wooden shaft with a mask representing Dionysus was dressed, garlanded, and carried in procession from his temple by the Acropolis to a sanctuary outside the city. Sacrifices were followed by a torchlight parade back to the sanctuary.
      • 10 Elapheboleion: All public business was suspended. A parade included residents carrying implements for the feast and a main bull for sacrifice to Dionysus, followed by hymns and the carrying of large phalloi.
      • Later that day, a contest for chorus of Dithyrambs (lyric poems with 50-member choirs of boys and men) took place.
  • b) Dramaturgical Basics
    • Applies to tragedy, comedy, and satyr-plays.
    • Actors vs. chorus (number: 2 then 3).
    • Both actors and chorus members wore costumes and masks.
    • Structure involved alternation of spoken verse (usually iambic trimester) and lyric sung verse in ‘responsion’ (strophe, antistrophe, plus epode).
    • The choryphaios (chorus leader) could become a soloist, or the chorus could split into smaller groups.
    • Play Structure:
      • Prologue
      • Parodos (entrance of chorus)
      • Act 1
      • Choral ode 1 (or stasimon 1)
      • Act 2, etc.
      • Exodus
    • Scene-types included:
      • Agon (contest of speeches)
      • Messenger speech
      • Stichomythia (line by line alternation)
      • Off-stage violence
    • Entrances and exits occurred on a bare stage during choral odes, since there was no curtain.
    • Props and stage machinery included:
      • Elevated stage for actors.
      • Space for the chorus.
      • Stage building with 1 to 3 doors.
      • Background scene painting (speculative).
      • Ekkyklema (a low cart) could be rolled out of door.
      • Machina (crane) for gods above.

2) Aeschylus, the First Tragic Classic

  • Life: 524-456 B.C.
  • First victory in 484 B.C.
  • Fought at Marathon and in the Persian Wars.
  • Wrote approximately 90 plays, equating to about 22 ‘productions’ of 4 plays each (3 tragedies plus a Satyr play).
  • Extant Plays:
    • Persians (472 B.C.)
    • Seven Against Thebes (467 B.C.)
    • Supplices (462 B.C.)
    • Oresteia (trilogy: Agamemnon, Choephoroi, Eumenides, 458 B.C., First prize)
    • Prometheus (authorship debated; consensus suggests not by Aeschylus).

3) The Agamemnon

  • a) Background: The Myth in Homer; The Curse of the Atreids
    • Odyssey 1.29-43 depicts the gods discussing Aegisthus's murder of Agamemnon and Orestes's future vengeance. Zeus notes mortals blame the gods for their troubles, even when those troubles arise from their own folly. Hermes warned Aegisthus not to kill Agamemnon or woo his wife, but Aegisthus ignored the warning and paid the price.
    • The curse of the Atreids stems from the story of Atreus and Thyestes (Agamemnon 1584-1611).
    • Aegisthus recounts Atreus's revenge on Thyestes:
      • Atreus, after driving Thyestes from the land, invited him back under the guise of reconciliation.
      • Atreus then served Thyestes a banquet made of his own children's flesh.
      • Thyestes, upon realizing what he had eaten, vomited the flesh and invoked a curse upon the line of Pelops.
      • Aegisthus claims to have plotted Agamemnon's murder in revenge for Atreus's actions against his father, Thyestes.
      • Aegisthus was exiled as a baby but returned to avenge his father.
  • b) Synopsis and Structure
    • Prologue (1-40): The watchman awaits the beacon signals, hinting at trouble within Agamemnon's house.
    • Parodos (41-257): The chorus reflects on the past, including the omen of the eagles/vultures and pregnant hare. Calchas predicts the wrath of Artemis and Clytemnestra. Hymn to Zeus is present along with Agamemnon’s dilemma.
    • Episode 1 (258-354): Clytemnestra recounts the beacon trail and vividly describes the sack of Troy in a messenger-like speech.
    • Choral ode 1 (355-487): Thanksgiving song to Zeus for the punishment of Paris. Meditation on Peitho (persuasion) and Ate (ruin/blindness). Resentment at home for the losses of war is expressed: Ares exchanging beautiful youths for urns filled with ashes.
    • Episode 2 (499-680): A herald announces Agamemnon's imminent return, but the thanksgiving is marred by the memory of suffering. Worries arise for Menelaus, lost in a great storm (interpreted as divine wrath).
    • Choral ode 2 (681-781): Helen is depicted as the bane of Greece, compared to a lion cub whose charm transformed into Fury. Meditations on hubris (excessive pride) and dike (justice) prepare for Agamemnon's entrance.
    • Episode 3 (783-974): The carpet scene involves Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and the chorus. The silent Cassandra is present. Agamemnon is hailed for his victory. Clytemnestra welcomes him, explaining she sent Orestes away and expresses her anxious wait for him. She orders servants to spread crimson tapestries (or purple robes) on the ground. Agamemnon initially refuses such adornment but eventually relents. He instructs Clytemnestra to care for Cassandra.
    • Choral ode 3 (975-1034): Shortest ode, filled with a mood of foreboding, potentially visualized in dance form.
    • Episode 4 (1035-1330): The Cassandra scene. Clytemnestra fails to persuade Cassandra to enter the house. Cassandra engages in a kommos (lyric lament) with the chorus. Cassandra can foresee the murder of Agamemnon but the chorus does not understand her. She shifts from sung to spoken lines, describing the furies haunting the house, her prophetic gift's origins, the curse of the feast of Thyestes, and predicts Agamemnon's death and her own, as well as revenge by an unnamed Orestes (1280).
    • Choral ode 4 (1331-42): Short chant reflecting on the insatiable greed of mankind.
    • Episode 5 (1343-1576): Death cries of Agamemnon are heard off-stage. The chorus debates whether to intervene. Clytemnestra emerges from the palace, displaying the slain Agamemnon and Cassandra (possibly on the ekkyklema), calling it a successful ‘hunting net’. No 5th choral ode, but alternating sung verse (chorus) with Clytemnestra. Clytemnestra claims her actions are just revenge for the slaughter of Iphigeneia (1416) and Agamemnon’s infidelity. She introduces Aegisthus (1435), taking on the identity of the spirit of vengeance for the house of Atreus. The chorus is horrified and confused. Clytemnestra prays the spirit will now leave the house.
    • Exodos (1577-1673): Aegisthus enters with guards, recounting the story of Thyestes’ abuse by Atreus and his curse. The chorus rebukes Aegisthus for not committing the murder himself, calling him the woman of the pair. Aegisthus then threatens them with his guards. Clytemnestra beckons Aegisthus to enter with her.
  • c) Three Passages for Closer Study: Smyth translation is used for these excerpts.
    • 1. The hymn to Zeus and Agamemnon’s dilemma (160-225) [Part 1: 11:09-16:33]
      • Lines 160-180 are cut in the video: the chorus retells the omen of the pregnant she-hare, the eagle, and the wrath of Artemis.
      • The Hymn invokes Zeus and acknowledges wisdom comes through suffering.
      • It describes Agamemnon’s difficult decision regarding the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia to appease Artemis and allow the Achaean fleet to sail to Troy. The chorus recounts the adverse winds at Aulis and Calchas pointing to Artemis as the cause, demanding a sacrifice more oppressive than the storm itself.
      • Agamemnon faces a dilemma: refuse obedience or slay his child. He ultimately chooses to sacrifice Iphigenia, swayed by the demands of the army.
    • 2. The carpet scene (915-974) [Part 2: 5:33-13:27]
      • Agamemnon enters and is greeted by Clytemnestra with lavish praise.
      • Agamemnon rejects being treated like a woman or a barbarian, cautioning against drawing envy by walking on tapestries, saying such honor is reserved for the gods.
      • Clytemnestra persuades Agamemnon to walk on the crimson tapestries, symbolically entrusting victory to her. She claims the house has ample wealth through the gods to afford such a display. She likens Agamemnon’s return to warmth in winter and Zeus making wine from bitter grapes.
    • 3. Clytemnestra’s defense speech (1539-1575) [Part 2: 37:32-39:19]
      • The chorus laments Agamemnon's death and questions who will bury and mourn him sincerely.
      • Clytemnestra declares she will bury him, stating that Iphigenia will lovingly greet her father in the afterlife.
      • She justifies her actions as revenge, stating that the slayer pays the penalty.
      • Clytemnestra expresses willingness to make a sworn compact with the Fiend of the house of Pleisthenes to end the cycle of violence and rid the house of murder of kin.

Bibliography and Further Reading

  • A list of books and articles is provided relating to Aeschylus, the Oresteia, and the Agamemnon, as well as general works on Greek tragedy.