Agamemnon S Murder in the Odyssey and Libation Bearers

¶ … Odyssey/Libation Bearers

The Odyssey, which was written by Homer, and the Libation Bearers, which was written Aeschylus are some of the ancient Greek writings that act as classic literature. These writings depict events and tragedies that happened in the traditional Greek society and provide important lessons for modern literature given their classical nature. One of the pertinent passages from the Odyssey by Homer and the Libation Bearers from the Greek tragedies is the story of Agamemnon. The Odyssey by Homer provides a detailed account of the life and times of Agamemnon who was a Greek king and the brother of Menelaos. On the other hand, the Libation Bearers was written after Agamemnon's death and acts as one of the major components of the trilogy by Aeschylus, an ancient Greek playwright. The passages have certain similarities and differences based on a specific theme that underpinned and/or inspired the writers.

Summaries and Descriptions

The specific passage chosen from the Odyssey and Libation Bearers is the story about the death of King Agamemnon. Homer is the author of the epic that contains several passages with different people speaking to others under different circumstances. The opening lines of Book I of the Odyssey begin with Zeus condemning Aegisthus for disregarding his divine warnings (Hughes, n.d.). After refusing to listen to Zeus, Aegisthus seduces King Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra whom they have an affair with. Together with Clytemnestra, Aegisthus plots to kill King Agamemnon when he returned from fighting the Trojan War. As reported in Book III, Line 21, "Together they murdered Agamemnon upon his homecoming." The murder of King Agamemnon was later avenged by his son, Orestes as shown in Book III, Line 22, "Then, seven years later, he was avenged by his son, Orestes." In Book XI, Agamemnon creates misogyny tradition in the underworld when he narrates the story of his wife's infidelity to Odysseus. Agamemnon warns Odysseus that the days of faithful wives no longer exist, which becomes a major influence in Odyssey's life. Actually, the story influences the behavior of Odysseus as he returns home pretending to be a beggar (Hughes, n.d.).

The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus provides details regarding life after the murder of Agamemnon since it was written many years after the king's murder at the hand of his wife and Aegisthus (Webster, n.d.). The second play in Oresteia trilogy commences at Agamemnon's tomb when his son, Orestes, returns home secretly with Pylades. As a sign that he had reached maturity, Orestes shaved two locks of his hair, which were each dedicated to the local river and mourning his father. The chorus of slave women accompanying Orestes and Pylades brought libations to pour on Agamemnon's tomb. The women complained about Clytemnestra who is portrayed as godless since she sent them to appease the king's ghost. In Line 121, the women urge Electra to pray for a man or daemon to come and kill, " ... kill those who killed ... " i.e. Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Orestes later killed Clytemnestra and attempted to justify his actions by arguing that justice had been served. However, he later flees Argos as he was pursued by the Erinyes who cursed him for killing his mother.

Thematic Context

The thematic context of the story of Agamemnon in the Odyssey is unfaithfulness and its subsequent consequences. Clytemnestra, King Agamemnon's wife is presented as an unfaithful, weak, and faithless wife who is easily seduced by the king's wife. Given her unfaithfulness, Clytemnestra becomes Aegisthus' tool as she is used to plan the killing of her husband (Suksi, n.d.). While her own will is hardly presented in the passage, Clytemnestra forms the thematic context of the passage i.e. unfaithfulness. Even though she had no intentions to kill her husband, the affair with her husband's enemy acts as a catalyst for the murder of Agamemnon. This is evidenced in Line 21 of Book III which states, "Together they murdered Agamemnon upon his homecoming." The thematic context of infidelity or unfaithfulness in this passage in the Odyssey is shown when Odysseus visits the underworld in Book XI. The ghost of the dead king narrates the story of Agamemnon's murder and concludes with a warning about unfaithfulness. The king warns Odysseus of the dangers posed by an unfaithful wife, which demonstrates that Clytemnestra's undoing is her unfaithfulness. In Line 421-434 of Book XI, Odysseus is urged to be cautious in his return and avoid falling into the trap of an unfaithful wife (Suksi, n.d.). Therefore, unfaithfulness is the thematic context of the story of Agamemnon in the Odyssey.

In contrast, the thematic context of the story of King Agamemnon's death in the Libation Bearers by Aeschylus is justice. This is primarily because the story was written many years after King Agamemnon's death and focuses on revenge (Webster, n.d.). Unlike the Odyssey, the second play in Oresteia trilogy (The Libation Bearers) focuses on how Agamemnon's death was avenged by his Son, Orestes, after his secret return from exile. The author seems to focus on the transfer of the administration of justice from Orestes to Erinyes following the murder of King Agamemnon and later Clytemnestra. This evidenced in Orestes proclamation that "... justice has been served..." after killing Clytemnestra in order to justify his actions. The Erinyes cursed Orestes and pursued him for killing his mother, which they consider a more severe crime than Clytemnestra's role in the murder of her husband.

Similarities and Differences

Even though the passages seemingly focus on the murder of King Agamemnon and the aftermath of the killing, they have significant similarities and differences. One of the similarities in the passage is their description of the King Agamemnon's murder in terms of the involvement of his wife in the murder plans. While the passages are written by different people under varying circumstances, they seemingly concur that Clytemnestra's affair with Aegisthus acted as a catalyst for her husband's murder. Secondly, the authors use the same imagery in their portrayal of Clytemnestra and King Agamemnon. Similar to the Libation Bearers, Lines 246-250 in the Odyssey depict Agamemnon as an eagle whereas Clytemnestra is portrayed as unfaithful and a viper. This portrayal reflects the author's view of the characters and influences their thematic contexts in the passages.