I will be discussing the trial of Orestes, but more importantly focusing on Athena’s judgment and her overall purpose in this play.
The case is about whether Orestes’s murder of his mother is justifiable because he was avenging his father. Ultimately it boils down to which parent is more important the mother or the father? We have Apollo as the male representatives, The Furies as the female representatives, Men of Athens as the jury, and Athena as the judge. Both sides passionately explain their views and the importance of their own gender with examples regarding blood, marriage, and birth. We have Athena who at first is ambiguous as to who she will side with, but later reveals her true loyalty towards men. As a result The Furies are extremely angry and threaten to wreak havoc on the city of Athens. But Athena calms them down and persuades them to join her side. Which raises the question what is her purpose in this play? Was it just simply to judge the trial? Or is there something much deeper?
I will be briefly talking about the article, The Journal of Hellenic Studies: The Problem of the Eumenides of Aeschylus by R. W. Livingstone. It talks about the various problems such whether or not Aeschylus clearly give the audience a concrete answer to the trial. In addition, debating on what Aeschylus meant about the solution. Finally, he talks about what he thinks the significance of Athena’s judgment.