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The Oresteia

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Emperorbjt
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Re: The Oresteia

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President Camacho wrote:I understand and agree with what you've said. I still think Clytemnestra killed her husband for power and not because he killed her daughter. Look how horribly she treated Electra.
The more I think about it, the more I agree with you that power is Clytemnestra's first motivation. But, one thing that makes these work so great is that fact that almost everyone's motivation is multifaceted and complex.
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President Camacho

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Re: The Oresteia

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For sure... Clytemnestra, Aegisthus, and Orestes all had more than one reason to murder.
Emperorbjt
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Re: The Oresteia

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I have finished the trilogy. It seems tat the cycle of retribution and vengeance is ended. It is "replaced" by Democratic methods, in particular, Trial by Jury. As presented in the last play, the systematic gathering and examination of evidence, followed by a vote of citizens settles the dispute.

The old ways and traditions, as symbolized by both the Furies, and the sequence of events that had gone before, are to be replaced by the newer, less brutal, and more rational ways, symbolized by Athena.

I am often so very amazed, at how much present day civilization, owes to those relatively few people, living in the Greek City states, so long ago.
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President Camacho

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Re: The Oresteia

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I understand that is the meaning of the play. Athena/Athens is law and under god. They reach their verdict with the help of God. God is law.

All I'm trying to say is that a deity still controls men. It's a society which makes their own laws but somehow convinces itself that the wisdom is sent from above.
Emperorbjt
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Re: The Oresteia

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President Camacho wrote:I understand that is the meaning of the play. Athena/Athens is law and under god. They reach their verdict with the help of God. God is law.

All I'm trying to say is that a deity still controls men. It's a society which makes their own laws but somehow convinces itself that the wisdom is sent from above.
This is a good point. The fact that in the Athena makes the final decision adds an interesting wrinkle.

As I said before, Aeschylus is never simple!
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