Sunday, March 9th, 2014
The Eumenides – Kyle
Ths Eumenides is the third and final play of The Oresteia written by Aeschylus. It starts off where the Libation Bearers ends, with Orestes being haunted by the Furies. Orestes goes to see Apollo and seeks some kind of approval for what he has done, killing his mother. While the Furies are asleep around him, Apollo tells Orestes to go forth to Athens and see Athena, where he can be protected. Once Orestes leaves the ghost of Clytemnestra appears, taunting the Furies to awaken and seek out Orestes once again. When both Orestes and the Furies arrive in Athens there is a trial, and high citizens of Athens vote if Orestes actions were warranted or not. The vote ends in a tie, and since Athena is in favor of Orestes, he is free to go, and he goes back to Argos. Obviously, The furies are angry at the decision, but Athena convinces them to become residents and stay in the city. They no longer are furies but now “Eumenides,” and they represent good will. This is how the play ends, with the Eumenides being escorted to their new home.
For my discussion, I will be focusing on the trial of Orestes. My discussion questions are :
Do you think this trial by Athena and the citizens was a fair way to decide the fate of Orestes? Also, do you think the verdict was right, or would you have ruled otherwise? Finally, since we all have read Agamemnon and The Libation Bearers, do you think this form of justice used in The Eumenides would have worked better than the revenge method used in those plays?
Livingstone, R. W. “The Problem of the Eumenides of Aeschylus.” The Journal of
Hellenic Studies 45.Part 1 (1925): 120-31. JSTOR. Web. 08 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/624909?ref=search-
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-Kyle Wechsler