Agamemnon Essay -- essays research papers

Aeschylus was born in 525 B.C. and died in 466 B.C. He was the first of the three Athenian dramatists, the other two being Sophocles and Euripides. The first of Aeschylus’ plays were laid open in 499. He was established as the founder of tragedy, according to Aristotle. He diminished the importance of the chorus and introduced a second actor. Between the years of 484 and 458, he won awards at the festival in the City Dionysia. He wrote more than ninety plays, but only seven survive. The oldest of these is The Suppliant Maidens. The trilogy, Agamemnon, Choephore, and Eumendis, was not long before 458. Aeschylus acted in his own plays. His family belonged to an old Athenian nobility and, as part of his duty, he fought in at least two wars where the Greeks defeated the Persians: Marathon and Salamis. Some scholars say that he participated in one or more of the northern expeditions in the years following the Persian War. Aeschylus died and was buried in Gela in 456 B.C. A fable state that an eagle dropped a tortoise on his bald head mistaking it for a rock that it could crack its rock on. That is ridiculous. Word count: 202 The plot section: A bit of background: The king of Argos, Atreus, had a very large quarrel with Thyestes, his younger brother. Thyestes had seduced Atreus’ wife, Aerope. Thyestes went into exile. Agamemnon, seeking revenge, welcomed him back, promising forgiveness. When Thyestes returned, Agamemnon served Thyestes’ sons to him in a stew and showed their heads on a silver platter to him. Thyestes went into exile again. Aerope had previously been married to Atreus’s son Plisthenes and had two children, Agamemnon and Menalaus. The children were raised by Atreus and married sisters: Clymenstra and Helen. Paris stole Helen and Agamemnon arranged the war to get her back. This war lasted ten years and the plot starts at Agamemnon’s return home. The watchman is sitting on the roof of Agamemnon’s palace awaiting the beacon signaling that the war was over. He is sad that his master is gone and what has been happening in his absence. What has been happening is Clymenstra has been â€Å"getting friendly† with Aegisthus, Thyestes’ son. Aegisthus is seeking revenge on Agamem... ...the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.† This tells us that lust and pride are of the world. Clymenstra was definitely of the world. She lusted after someone and was prideful in her lies. All of these things are wrong and we know that they are not looked upon favorably by our Father in heaven. We learn that from this book. Another theme is do not commit adultery. It is in the Bible! Exodus 20:14 says,† Thou shall not commit adultery."This does not mean just sleeping with someone who is not your husband or wife. It can also mean do not lust with your eyes and mind. When you look at someone with lustful thoughts, it is considered adultery. The last theme I saw was when Agamemnon walked on the tapestries to please his wife although he knew it would displease the gods. This teaches me that we should have an attitude of â€Å"no compromise.† He compromised his values for someone else. This is not the way things should be in Christian lives. Too many people compromise and stretch their values to suit everyone else’s needs. Christ did not comprise on the cross, we should not either. Word count: 297