Ariana Saunders Masculinity vs. Femininity in Eumenides “Oresteia” Masculinity vs. Femininity in Eumenides “Oresteia” Ariana Saunders In this essay I will examine the manner of differences in Masculinity vs. Femininity taking place in The Eumenides, final play of The “Oresteia”. The conspiracy of The Eumenides puts Orestes and Apollo (assemblies of the male gods and male values in general) against the ghost of Clytemnestra and the Fury (equally assemblies of female values.) More conclusively
Like many plays of the time, Aeschylus' Oresteia is a group of three tragedies that was written for a festival in Athens. However at the end of the third play, the Eumenides, there is no tragic ending, as Orestes survives the Furies and the curse is broken. All three plays, however, concern serious themes that create drama and intensity for Ancient Athenian audiences, that make them not only miserable but angry as well. Typically after these three very serious and sad plays, there would be a sort
Aeschylus was a pioneer of theatre and directed many of his own productions. He is credited with adding a second speaking actor into his plays. This was a major innovation, greatly increasing the number of situations which could be presented; especially if each actor portrayed multiple characters, as soon became the custom. He also involved the chorus directly in the action of the play. The immediate effect of these changes was felt in the development of the visual form of the dramatic presentation
In Ancient Greece, if someone murdered a family member of yours, it was your duty to kill the murderer. This duty led to a cycle of violence between and within families, as shown in The Oresteia, written by Aeschylus. In his trilogy, many characters are in this cycle, but Orestes works through the justice system differently as he shows the movement from the cycle of violence to a more civilized form of a justice system, as demonstrated by the court system. Orestes is the son of Agamemnon and
side” (Aeschylus 151). Hence the matricide in vengeance of a woman’s killing of her husband is justified in Athena’s chronology, which roots in her childbirth from her father’s head. As a goddess, she denies her mother and supports the patriarchy, which ultimately imposes more masculine favor. The world Aeschylus presents in his play, or the real world that he portrays, builds on a subjection of females. As Froma Zeitlin states in "The Dynamics of Misogyny: Myth and Mythmaking in the Oresteia": “The
In the Oresteia, Clytemnestra, the queen and wife of Agamemnon, plays a critical role as she is who changes how women can be when in control. She is distressed as horrid events occur to her but she does not show any sign of fear. Almost becoming like any other men, she becomes fearful and dangerous in order to get her vengeance on this one man that did her dirty. Gender is a major issue in this trilogy. The trial in the Eumenides can be seen as a battle between genders, with Apollo as the male