Aeschylus and Homer Aeschylus\' \"Agamemnon\"

Aeschylus and Homer

Aeschylus' "Agamemnon" and Homer's "Odyssey": A tale of two post-war kingdoms, two different philosophies of family and post-war fates

Both Aeschylus and Homer portray two different versions of a post-war homecoming by the central protagonists of the texts of the "Agamemnon" and "The Odyssey." Agamemnon and Odysseus are both Greek generals who fought successfully in the Trojan War. Both men are kings. But while the dramatist Aeschylus portrays an ungrateful homecoming on the part of the central protagonist's wife, and dramatizes a dark prophesy of death that is ultimately fulfilled, as well as stresses the inevitability of fate at the hands of vengeful women, Homer shows a far different possibility for a wartime homecoming. Homer shows how unexpected happy endings can occur, despite the persistent influence of the gods in human affairs. Homer depicts a loyal wife and son waiting for the main protagonist, upon Odysseus' return from the Trojan War. These different family portraits suggest that in Aeschylus' point-of-view, war destroys family alliances and a true post-war homecoming that recaptures the past is impossible, given the moral as well as territorial destruction of war. But Homer suggests, even though years may be lost, there is still a family bond that can be sustained, despite years of separation.

In the tale of Agamemnon, the Trojan War was embarked upon with a scene of family destruction. The reader or listener learns from the 'back' story of the play's Chorus that Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter to create a good wind towards Troy, so he could command the Greek army and keep his promise to Menelaus. Clytemnestra swore vengeance upon her husband, and took a lover in the interim. She has waiting to kill Agamemnon for years, as she does at the end of the play. She also kills Cassandra, the unwilling prophetess and concubine who Agamemnon has brought back from Troy. Even though he has been unfaithful to his wife, Agamemnon is angry with Clytemnestra for not remaining faithful to him as a husband. Clytemnestra is viewed negatively as a woman, in the viewpoint of both Cassandra and the Chorus. Her grievance as a mourning mother is taken less seriously than the horror of killing her husband. Overall, the destruction that occurs during this homecoming suggests that war is so destructive to the world and family order that it rends the cosmos. The pre-war home cannot be reconstructed.

In contrast, Homer shows a home that can be rebuilt. Unlike "Agamemnon," Odysseus returns to an Ithaca that does not appear to be happy on the surface. But while Agamemnon's home appeared to be happy to the general, it was a fiction created by his wife so she could avenger her daughter. Odysseus' palace is overrun with suitors, vying for the hand of Penelope, his wife. But while Clytemnestra uses her cleverness to trick her husband, Penelope uses her cleverness to trick the suitors. Throughout much of the first few books of the "Odyssey," Odysseus' son Telemachus is shown, trying to find out information about his father's mysterious absence. The wife and son of Odysseus never give up on the king, and remain loyal to the last. Ultimately, the goddess Athena stands by Odysseus, and ensures that he can recreate his home, as he kills all of the suitors and establishes a new relationship with his son and wife. This is symbolized by his return to the marital bed that he carved with his own hands for Penelope, and his remembering the 'secret' of the bed.