A poet imbued with the ideas of Aeschylus could never have accepted
the view presented in the
Odyssey; that the vengeance
of Orestes was a simply righteous retribution, by which the troubles
of the house were closed. To the mind of Aeschylus the version which
Stesichorus had followed would naturally commend itself: Orestes,
the slayer of a mother, could be saved from the Erinyes only by
divine aid. And the trilogy, the distinctively Aeschylean form of
work, was a framework perfectly suited to such a conception.
Clytaemnestra's crime is the subject of the
Agamemnon; the vengeance of Orestes fills the
Choephori; and the judgment upon him is given in
the
Eumenides.
The
Agamemnon is pervaded from first to last by the
thought of the hereditary curse upon the house: Clytaemnestra,
indeed, identifies herself with this ‘ancient, bitter
Alastor’; and the Argive Elders recognise that this dread
power, though it does not excuse her, has presumably helped her
1. She is the
principal agent in the crime. Her dominant motive is not love of her
paramour, but hatred of the husband who slew Iphigeneia
2. Aegisthus is a dastard, ‘the wolf mated with
the lioness’
3; at the
close he blusters, and threatens the Elders, while the strong woman
treats them with a cold scorn. The shadow of the vengeance is cast
before. Cassandra predicts the return of the exiled heir;
‘for the gods have sworn a great oath
4.’ And the Chorus reply to the menaces
of Aegisthus by reminding him that Orestes lives
5.
The
Choephori begins with a scene at Agamemnon's
grave,
Analysis of the
Choephori I. Prologue: 1—21. |
near the palace
6. Orestes,
who has just arrived from Phocis, enters with Pylades, and lays a
lock of his own hair on the tomb. A train of women, dressed in
mourning, approaches. These are fifteen Trojan captives, now
domestics of the palace, who form the Chorus. They escort Electra.
Orestes thinks that he recognises his sister, and draws aside, with
Pylades, to observe the procession.
The Chorus chant the parodos, and we learn that they have
come with libations to the tomb.
‘The impious woman’ has been alarmed by a dream;
and the sooth-sayers declare that then dead king is wroth. But such
offerings, the Chorus add, cannot atone for her deed. Agamemnon
inspired reverence by his majesty; the usurpers rule by fear alone.
How long will justice tarry?
Electra asks the Chorus what prayer she is to utter in pouring
II. First episode:
84—584. |
the libations
7. Can she ask the
dead to receive these gifts from the murderess? Or shall she present
them in silence? Guided by the counsel of her attendants, she prays
to Hermes, and to her father's spirit,—with a special
petition that Orestes may return.
In pouring the drink-offerings on the tomb, she finds the lock of
hair, and turns in excitement to the Chorus. It resembles her own,
and she surmises that it is the hair of Orestes,—not
brought by him, of course, but sent. Presently she notices
footmarks, which have a resemblance to her own. Orestes now steps
forward, and, after a short dialogue, reveals himself. She at first
fears an imposture, but is convinced by his appeal to the signs
which she had already seen and also to a third,—a piece of
work embroidered by her own hand.
She welcomes him as ‘the hope awaited with tears, the heir
and the deliverer
8’; to
her, at once father, mother, sister
9, and brother. Orestes
responds with a prayer to Zeus for Electra and himself. He then
declares the oracle of Apollo, commanding him, under terrible
penalties, to avenge his father. ‘Must not such oracles be
trusted? In any case, the deed must be done
10.’
Then comes one of the most
characteristic and magnificent passages of the play,—a
prolonged lyric chant or dirge (kommos), in which the Chorus,
Orestes, and Electra take part by turns. It is a solemn litany,
addressed to the divine powers who are to aid the vengeance, and to
the spirit of the dead.
After the lyric chant, Orestes and Electra continue in iambic verse
the same strain of supplication. Then Orestes asks why his mother
had sent gifts to the tomb? She dreamed—the Chorus
reply—that she gave birth to a serpent, and was suckling
it, when it drew blood from her breast. Orestes accepts the omen:
the part of the serpent shall be his own.
He announces his plan. Electra is to enter the house. He and Pylades
will arrive at the outer gate
11, wearing the garb of travellers, and
imitating the Phocian accent
12. Electra now goes within, while Orestes
and Pylades withdraw to prepare for their enterprise.
The Chorus, left alone, comment on the
power of passion over women; Althaea wrought the death of Meleager,
and Scylla, of Nisus; the Lemmian women slew their lords. And this
house, too, has known such a deed. But now ‘the anvil of
Justice is firmly set, and Fate is forging the sword.’
Here ends the first of the three main chapters or
‘acts’ into which the drama falls.
III. Second episode:
653—782. |
Orestes and Pylades are courteously
received by Clytaemnestra. He describes himself as a Phocian from
Daulis. With his companion, he was on his way to Argos, when a
Phocian named Strophius—a stranger—asked him to
carry the news that Orestes was dead, in case the youth's friends
should wish to fetch the ashes home.—Clytaemnestra speaks,
or rather declaims, as the afflicted mother, and then has the two
visitors ushered into the guest-chambers, saying that she will break
the sad news to ‘the master of the house.’
A short choral ode follows. It is time that deceiving Persua-
sion should help the avenger, and that
Hermes of the shades should be his guide.
An old slave-woman, who had been the nurse of Orestes, then comes
forth, having been sent by Clytaemnestra to summon Aegisthus. She
mourns for Orestes,—recalling, with quaint pathos, all the
trouble that the child had given her.—It seems that the
queen has ordered Aegisthus to come
with armed
attendants13. The Chorus prevail on the nurse not
to give this part of the message, but to summon Aegisthus alone. At
the same time they give her a hint that Orestes still lives, and
that all may yet be well.
In the second stasimon the Chorus invoke Zeus, Apollo and
Second stasimon:
783—837. |
Hermes. Next, apostrophising Orestes
as though he were present, they exhort him to answer his mother's
cry, ‘my son,’ with the name of
‘father,’ and to bear a heart like that of
Perseus when he slew the Medusa
14.
Aegisthus enters. The report that Orestes is dead seems to
IV. Third episode:
838—854. |
him doubtful. Women are credulous. He
must see the messenger, who will not impose on
him. And
so he enters the house.
A moment of suspense is marked by the short third stasimon.
Now is the struggle that must bring
ruin or freedom. May Orestes succeed!
The shriek of the dying Aegisthus is heard within. A slave
V. Fourth episode:
875—934. |
runs out, crying that his master is
slain; and, knocking at the door of the women's apartments, summons
Clytaemnestra. She knows that she is lost; but her spirit never
quails; she calls for a battle-axe—‘let us see
if we are to conquer or to fall.’ But, before she can
obtain a weapon, Orestes comes forth:— ‘'Tis for
thee that I am looking;—with
him, 'tis well
enough.’ consummation? Whither shall the fury of disaster
go, ere it finish its course, and be laid to rest?’
