Aeschylus's Agamemnon, the first play of the trilogy, calls our attention to a central concept of justice; Justice as revenge. From the killing of Agamemnon and Cassandra and also from the prophesy of Cassandra (that Clytemnestra will be killed due to her action) we find a clear concept of Justice. That Agamemnon is killed for his and his father's action and that Cassandra is killed for her betrayal to god, Apollo and Clytemnestra and Agisthus will be killed for killing Agamemnon and Cassandra are the acts of Justice. And justice is done in the form of revenge.
The pre-Olympian religion equates ‘justice with vengeance’. Moreover there are ‘the Furies’, the three avenging deities, whose function is, as it is said:
"… to punish three major sins: blasphemy against the gods; treachery to a host or guest, and the shedding of kindred blood."
So those who commit above mentioned sins are worth to be punished.
In the very beginning of the play, Agamemnon, the King of Argos, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the commander of the Greek armies during the siege of Troy, commits a sin of “the shedding of kindred blood” by slaughtering his virgin daughter Iphigenia. As Clytemnestra cries:
“His child, and my own darling, whom my pain brought forth-He killed her for a charm to stop the Thracian wind!”
So, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife and Iphigenia’s mother, plans to murder him with ruthless determinationas soon as he comes back to home after ten years and finally does. We, the audience, hear the scream of Agamemnon while Clytemnestra blows him the mortal strike:
“Help, help! I am wounded, murdered , here in the room!Help, help again! –a second, mortal blow!”
She feels no guilt and is convinced of the justice of killing the man who killed her daughter.The angry wife Clytemnestra adds that Zeus himself is using her as a divine tool to imply justice upon Agamemnon because of his fatherAtreus’s misdeed. But what she fails to understand is that by killing her husband, she becomes a part of the cycle of killing.
Aegisthus, Agamemnon's cousin, supports Clytemnestra and considers this killing as Justice:
“O happy day, when justice comes into her down!…………..Justice restored me to my native land.…………………..Thus satisfied I could die now,Seeing Agamemnon in the trap of Justice, dead.”
Aegisthus supports this killing and considers justice becauseAgamemnon's father Atreusboiled two of Thyestes' sons, Aegisthus' brothers, and served them boiled in a cauldron to their father at a banquet. Since then, Aegisthus has been in exile awaiting a chance to seek revenge for the terrible crime. Andfinally justice is done in the form of revenge.
Paris,the Trojan prince, abducting Helen, Menelaus’ wife, violets the host and guest relationship and commits a crime of “treachery to a host”. SoAgamemnon is sent by Zeus to punish himas the agent of justice. As Agamemnon says:
“As for just revenge, I wrought on Priam’s Troy,…………………We have made Troy payFor her proud rape a woman’s price”
By killing Paris, Agamemnon established justice for his treachery against host.
Cassandra, daughter of King Priam, whom the god Apollo loved and granted the gift of prophecy, rejects his love and commits a sin of “blasphemy against the gods”. As Cassandra herself confesses:
“He [Apollo]”urged me hard, made warmest protest of love.I gave my word and broke it- to the God of Words.”
So Apollo revenges on by decreeing that no one would believe her predictions. Incidentally, she is killed by Clytemnestrawith Agamemnon.This isthe justice for her done by the god Apollo as she dares defy him.
From the prediction of Cassandra, we come to know that the murder of Agamemnon does not end the shedding of blood:
“…a son resolvedTo kill his mother, honouring his father’s bloodHe now a wandering in exile, shell return…”
Moreover, the Chorus of Elders does not believe that Zeus has used Clytemnestra as a divine tool to exact justice against Agamemnon for killing Iphigenia or to punish him for Atreus' sins. Instead, they believe firmly that she is very wrong, and they pray for the day that Agamemnon's son Orestes will return and as a rule of "an eye for an eye", will kill his mother and Aegisthus to avenge his father's death:
“Oh, does Orestes live? Kind fortune, bring him home,To se against thee two his sword invincible!”
Thus the cycle of bloodshed will continueeven further because sin only begets another sin.When one has committed sin there is no return.
This
paper is prepared for you by Talim Enam, BA (Hons), MA in English.
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