The Oresteia: Agamemnon; The Libation Bearers; The Eumenides (Penguin Classics)

Senior Thesissss

I studied these plays and fell in love with them. I have always been a sucker for the classics, ever since reading Oedipus Rex in high school. I recommend reading all three plays as one continuation, since neither Agamemnon nor the Libation Bearers conclude. It is a wonderful, poetic work and should be read with an attention to the ancient Greek philosophy concerning justice and blood feuds. The...more

I studied these plays and fell in love with them. I have always been a sucker for the classics, ever since reading Oedipus Rex in high school. I recommend reading all three plays as one continuation, since neither Agamemnon nor the Libation Bearers conclude. It is a wonderful, poetic work and should be read with an attention to the ancient Greek philosophy concerning justice and blood feuds. The web of vengeance is stimulating.   hide

Good stuff.

I am dipping into this book, to sort out some issues raised in Logicomix. BTW* I inherited my copy of the Orestia from my father, when he died. Compared with families like the House of Atreus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Atreus my family was extremely peaceful and well adjusted....

The story of the ruling house of Argos as an allegory for the rise of law out of barbarity.

Really a wonderful tragic play. Deals with some deep issues and has a few very powerful scenes. A quality time for every lover of tragic writings.

Aeschelus' trilogy leaves me with one overpowering message: he demonstrates the need to overcome blood feuding cycles in which everyone is to blame and everyone has cause for retribution (a catch-22, if you will). Although Aeschelus' solution is to impose Athena as the embodiment of justice, his work is still a seminal piece of the formation of impartial law in the Western world. The catch when...more

Aeschelus' trilogy leaves me with one overpowering message: he demonstrates the need to overcome blood feuding cycles in which everyone is to blame and everyone has cause for retribution (a catch-22, if you will). Although Aeschelus' solution is to impose Athena as the embodiment of justice, his work is still a seminal piece of the formation of impartial law in the Western world. The catch when it comes to today's world, of course, is that nobody is impartial -- hence the utility of having a god perform the arbitral function. All the same, it's a laudable ideal.   hide

The Birth of a Nation, Athens-style.

I've started reading it today, so I stilldon't know whether I'll like it or not, but I generally like Greek Literature. I liked it very much, but I usually don't enjoy plays that are translated in verse. Very nice! I liked the first and the second part of it more than the 3rd part! But it's all so interesting!