Agamemnon by Aeschylus Commentary

Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1085-88

Aeschylus is approximated to have lived from 525-456 BC and was born in Eleusis, near Athens. Aeschylus was a revered dramatist who is sometimes referred to as the father of tragedy. In 490, he fought in the battle of Marathon against the Persians and he prided himself on his Athenian patriotism. He considered this to be a prominent event in his life and his epitaph, supposedly composed by himself, proudly revolves around his experience in the battle while his work in drama and plays is not mentioned (McCall Jr. 2). He wrote approximately 90 plays but only 7 have survived. His other tragedies include Prometheus Bound, The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, and The Suppliant Maidens. Agamemnon is the first play in the Oresteia trilogy by Aeschylus and the other plays are Libation Bearers and Eumenides. His first plays were designed for a production without a skene, a “hut” in the back of the stage where the drama was performed, and with only a small elevation or mound and two actors (Oxford Reference).

The Oresteia trilogy premiered in 458, as Aeschylus transitioned into writing for a skene, ekkyklema (a platform on wheels that was put onto the stage through the skene), and mechane (a crane that allowed for transportation or magical appearances), and another actor. Within the Oresteia, Aeschylus grapples with “inherited guilt” and how the associated family members “are subsumed in part within the larger entity and destiny of the house” (McCall Jr. 6) Agamemnon tells the story of Agamemnon’s return from the Trojan war and Clytemnestra, his wife, plans his death as revenge as a “domestic tragedy” and “tragedy of war (Lattimore 9, 10). Agamemnon commits an act of betrayal as he sacrifices his daughter, an act that Clytemnestra cannot get over. Helen, who is Clytemnestra’s sister and Agamenon’s brother’s wife, was the cause of the Trojan War and as a result, Iphigeneia, the daughter’s death, and the following broken familial ties. Cassandra, the prophet who was unable to change fate, was a war trophy from the Trojan War and doesn’t speak much.Aeschylus writes the story first focusing on the back-and-forth between Agamenon and Clytemnestra and then Cassandra comes into play as she uses her prophet powers to predict and detail Agamemnon’s death. Cassandra can see the future, including visions of multiple murders, but cannot do anything to change the events. Cassandra is eventually murdered along with Agamemnon by Clytemnestra in a revenge act. This specific fragment is in a larger storyline where Cassandra and the Chorus are the only two characters “conversing.” Many of Aeschuylus’s plays are characterized by a “build-up of tension and expectation towards a climax anticipated by the audience if not by the characters” (Oxford Reference). For example, his use of the trilogy form “ encourages sharp changes of direction and mood between plays rather than within them” (Oxford Reference).

Excerpt:

The captured Cassandra cries out.

Κα. ὤπολλον, ὤπολλον,

ἀγυιᾶτ’, Ἀπόλλων ἐμόϲ·

ἆ, ποῖ ποτ’ ἤγαγέϲ με; πρὸϲ ποίᾱν ϲτέγην;

Χο. πρὸϲ τὴν Ἀτρειδῶν·

Line number, Vocab:

(1) Κα., ἡ = Cassandra OR Κασσάνδρᾱ, ᾱς OR Κασσάνδρη, ης,

(1, 2) Ἀπόλλων, Ἀπόλλωνος, ὁ

(2) ἀγυιάτηϲ, ἀγυιάτου, ὁ = Aguies (epithet for Apollo as guardian of roads/way)

(2) ἐμόϲ, ή, όν = mine, my

(3) ἆ = interj. (exclam. Of pity or contempt) Oh! Ah! - (happy one or sim.)

(3) ποῖ = to where? (pref.), whither?

(3) ποτ’ = enclitic, whenever, epsilon

(3) ἤγαγέϲ = ἄγω, ἄξω, ἤγαγον, ἦχα, ἦγμαι, ἤχθην = bring (pref.), carry, lead; pass (time)

(3) με = ἐγώ ἐμοῦ, (pl.) ἡμεῖς, ἡμῶν = me (pref. sg. acc), I (sg.), we (pl.)

(3) πρὸϲ = to, towards, in, relation to (+acc) (pref.); from the side of, in the presence of (+gen), near, at, in addition to (+dat)

(3) ποῖοϲ ποία ποῖον = (interrog. adj.) what sort of

(3) ϲτέγη, ϲτέγηϲ, ἡ = house (pref.); roof

(4) Χο., οἱ = Chorus

(4) Ἀτρειδης, ου = sons of Atreus

Grammar:

(1) Κα. = noun: fem., sg., nom.,

(1) ὤπολλον = noun: masc., sg., voc., crasis for ὤ Ἀπόλλον

(2) ἀγυιᾶτ’: noun: masc., sg., voc.

(2) Ἀπόλλων: noun: masc., sg., nom.,

(2) ἐμόϲ: possessive adj: sg., nom.

(3) ἆ: exclamatory

(3) ποῖ: direct interrogative adv: with gen, in a particular country, on earth

(3) ποτ’: enclitic adv: translation: sometime, sometimes, ever, once

(3) ἤγαγέϲ: verb: 2nd person, sg., aorist, indicative, active voice, transitive

(3) με: enclitic personal pronoun: sg., acc.

(3) πρὸϲ: preposition: + acc, acc. uses = place/time towards, relating two objects; dat. uses = motion verbs, in addition to, before, close by, near, in addition to; gen. uses = of place, dependence, by

(3) ποίᾱν: interrogative adj: translation: what sort of

(3) ϲτέγην: noun: fem., sg., acc.

(4) Xo. = noun: masc., pl. nom.

(4) Ἀτρειδῶν: noun: masc., pl., gen, article: τῶν, translation: sons of Atreus

Works Cited:

Oxford Reference Online

Dickinson

Perseus Tufts Word Search Tool

Cambridge Greek Lexicon

Aeschylus I edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore

Aeschylus edited by Marsh H. McCall Jr.