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681 reviews for:
Aeschylus I: Oresteia, Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers & The Eumenides
Richmond Lattimore, Aeschylus, David Grene
3.91 AVERAGE
681 reviews for:
Aeschylus I: Oresteia, Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers & The Eumenides
Richmond Lattimore, Aeschylus, David Grene
3.91 AVERAGE
The Greeks sure did hate women, yeah?
This trilogy of plays seems to be a mythological origin story to the Athenian justice system, which is interesting in its own right. It mostly deals with revenge and justice, and how those two intersect, react, and adapt to one another.
But, yes, lots of familial slaughter in ancient Greece.
Still reads well.
This trilogy of plays seems to be a mythological origin story to the Athenian justice system, which is interesting in its own right. It mostly deals with revenge and justice, and how those two intersect, react, and adapt to one another.
But, yes, lots of familial slaughter in ancient Greece.
Still reads well.
As a whole play, the Oresteia is a wonderful tale of deception, revenge, and justice. I find that the plays alone tend to be a bit confusing, but all put together in one context they all make much more sense and put the moral and message a lot more clearer: justice and law will always triumph over personal opinion. The rise and fall of Clytemnestra as well as the trial of Orestes I find to be very profound, spawning many stories directly from those arcs in general as well as creating the basis for many of our favorite stories, folktale or novel. I've done individual reviews for each play, so if you're interested, please check them out on my profile.
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5. The best Greek play/trilogy I've ever read! Probably even better than The Odyssey and Oedipus Rex... It might even be helpful to read these plays before reading The Odyssey, because it is mentioned in the Od. a lot to foreshadow what's to come in that story, especially "Agamemnon."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re-read (finally) 1/2/2023:
Lowered to a 3 stars. Not my favorite version of the Orestes myth, having now read at least 2 other iterations. I enjoyed the final play, "The Eumenides," the best. It was interesting to read about ancient Greek trials with the gods and goddesses participation, but I prefer Sophocles' "Electra."
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Re-read (finally) 1/2/2023:
Lowered to a 3 stars. Not my favorite version of the Orestes myth, having now read at least 2 other iterations. I enjoyed the final play, "The Eumenides," the best. It was interesting to read about ancient Greek trials with the gods and goddesses participation, but I prefer Sophocles' "Electra."
Had to return to the library, will come back to, perhaps in the fall?
adventurous
challenging
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Very broad and performative, feels like a worthwhile text to analyze for historical purposes but doesn't really hold up. Revenge is bad but also ok?
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced