In the script, Clytemnestra kills Agamemnon to avenge the death of her daughter. Earlier on, Agamemnon had slain his daughter as a sacrifice to the lords to grant him favor in the war that was brewing in Troy. Even though Clytemnestra does not say anything, she is pained by the way through which her daughter was killed like a goat. She pretends to welcome the King when he returns from the war and later kills him. According to her, he had brought shame and the wrath of the dismayed gods upon the people. Her murder is one of revenge and hatred. It differs from Orestes’ murder of his mother because he kills her for justice, but does not despise her. He kills his mother because she spilled blood, and hers must spill as well. He passes justice for the sake of his weeping sister, and brothers, who are left fatherless and hungry. He killed his mother as vengeance for his father’s death.
The narration has employed the use of choruses that reverberate throughout the story. One role of the chorus is that it helps in the telling and development of the story. Even though the story is told through dialogues from the different characters involved, the characters build on the story and help the reader know the facts that surround the subjects in which the characters engage. For instance, the first chorus introduces us to the life of the kingdom in the story. Through the chorus, the reader canknow that the kingdom has a foe and is at war. Besides, it introduces the god Zeus, who forms the center of the religious culture and happenings in the kingdom. The sacrifice offered to him was the beginning of the murders that take place. the reader is introduced to the queen, who is not in a good mood because of the sacrifice of her daughter to the gods. Through the chorus, we are able to know that the queen is angry with her husband for the death of her child. She harbors feelings of revenge towards him and waits for his return to exert those feelings.
Moreover, the chorus incorporates aspects of voice and tone to showcase the mood of different characters in the story. For instance, the pain that is felt by the queen can only be depicted through the chorus because as graceful as she is, she cannot speak of her painful feelings. We learn of her pain and anger towards the king. Through the chorus, the reader is able to know that she is pretending to be happy with the king. When the opportunity presents itself, she does not hesitate to kill him and justifies her actions with the need for revenge on the king’s treatment of her daughter.
Through the chorus, we learn of the feelings that Orestes has towards his mother. He feels that he must avenge his death and bring justification for the pain that was caused for him and his siblings. We learn that he feels she must pay for what she did because in his eyes, his father was not the evil one. The act that his mother committed was the evil that needed to be taken care of. He felt betrayed by his mother since they experience difficulties without the presence of their father. The chorus helps the reader to feel the emotions of the son, and his need to avenge the death of his father. He goes through an emotional battle before finally deciding to kill her. The difference in the two murders, therefore, is the justification behind them. One was for revenge, which was coupled with hatred, and the other one for vengeance, which was laced with the obligation the son felt towards his father.
Works Cited
"The Oresteia." The Oresteia. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2014. <http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks07/0700021h.html#aii>.
