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Oresteia
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The Oresteia () is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BC, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of the curse on the House of Atreus, and the pacification of the Furies (also called Erinyes or Eumenides).
Key facts
- Play.name
- The Eumenides
- Play.image
- Orestes Pursued by the Furies by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1862) - Google Art Project.jpg
- Play.caption
- Orestes Pursued by the Furies by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
- Play.writer
- Aeschylus
- Play.original language
- Greek
- Play.genre
- Tragedy
- Play.chorus
- Slave women
- Play.characters
- WatchmanClytemnestraHeraldAgamemnonMessengerCassandraAegisthus
- Play.setting
- before the temple of Apollo at Delphi and in Athens
- Play.mute
- SoldiersServants
- Play.image_upright
- 0.65
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Image
- The Murder Of Agamemnon - Project Gutenberg eText 14994.png
Show 4 more facts
- Commons category
- Oresteia
- title
- Ὀρέστεια
- date of first performance
- 0458-00-00
- inception
- 0458-00-00
Sources (3)
via Wikidata · CC0
~27 min read
Article
21 sectionsContents
- ''Agamemnon''
- ''The Libation Bearers'' {{anchor|The Libation Bearers}}
- Chorus
- ''The Eumenides''
- ''Proteus''
- Themes
- Justice through retaliation
- Justice through the law
- Revenge
- Mother-right and father-right
- Matricide and femininity
- Relation to the curse of the House of Atreus
- Contemporary background
- Adaptations
- Key British productions
- Chronology of adaptations
- Translations
- See also
- References
- Bibliography
- External links
The Oresteia () is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BC, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of the curse on the House of Atreus, and the pacification of the Furies (also called Erinyes or Eumenides).
The Oresteia trilogy consists of three plays: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides. It shows how the Greek gods interacted with the characters and influenced their decisions pertaining to events and disputes. The only extant example of an ancient Greek theatre trilogy, the Oresteia won first prize at the Dionysia festival in 458 BC. The principal themes of the trilogy include the contrast between revenge and justice, as well as the transition from personal vendetta to organized litigation. Oresteia originally included a satyr play, Proteus (), following the tragic trilogy, but all except a single line of Proteus has been lost.