Character and Personality Traits of Agamemnon in Aeschylus
This essay examines the character and personality traits of Agamemnon as portrayed in Aeschylus' tragedy. It traces how Aeschylus expanded earlier mythological sources to develop Agamemnon as a morally complex figure, particularly through the devastating dilemma of sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia to appease Artemis. The paper explores Agamemnon's identity as a military commander, his awareness and agency in the sacrifice, and the ethical dimensions of his decision as analyzed through Nussbaum's framework and comparisons to the biblical Abraham. It also discusses broader thematic concerns in the trilogy, including cycles of blood vengeance, the conflict between old and new divine orders, and the burden of inheritance.
- Introduction: Aeschylus and the Agamemnon Tradition: Aeschylus expands myth into complex moral tragedy
- The Sacrifice of Iphigenia and Divine Conflict: Divine conflict forces Agamemnon's agonizing sacrifice decision
- Agamemnon's Moral Dilemma and Ethical Responsibility: Ethical frameworks applied to Agamemnon's tragic choice
- Agamemnon's Agency and the Question of Blame: Agamemnon acts knowingly despite divine compulsion
- Atmosphere, Themes, and the Broader Trilogy: Blood vengeance cycles and clashing divine orders
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What makes this paper effective
- The paper situates Aeschylus within a broader literary tradition, noting that earlier poets such as Pindar, Homer, and Hesiod handled the same myth — giving context for Aeschylus' distinctive contributions.
- It uses Nussbaum's philosophical framework from The Fragility of Goodness to elevate the analysis beyond plot summary, connecting classical drama to moral philosophy.
- The comparison between Agamemnon and the biblical Abraham is an effective cross-cultural analogy that sharpens the ethical dimensions of the sacrifice dilemma.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates the use of a moral philosophy framework (Nussbaum's dilemma theory) to interpret a literary text, showing how secondary theoretical sources can deepen literary analysis. This technique — bringing an external philosophical lens to a primary text — is a core undergraduate humanities skill.
Structure breakdown
The essay opens by contextualizing Aeschylus within the mythological tradition, then narrates the Iphigenia episode before shifting to ethical analysis. It considers Agamemnon's agency and culpability through multiple lenses, and closes with thematic observations about the trilogy as a whole, including the cycle of blood crimes and the clash between divine orders.
Introduction: Aeschylus and the Agamemnon Tradition
Agamemnon's virtue of tolerance and liberalism ultimately proves to be his weakness as a king.
Aeschylus' play Agamemnon is not the first performance of this story. The tale of Agamemnon's return from Troy and his consequent death was treated by Pindar, Hesiod, Homer, and Stesichorus, among other poets, and was quite familiar to the Athenian audience watching Aeschylus. Aeschylus, however, selects and merges these traditions, expanding a simple tale of betrayal and murder by providing the essential characters with credible motives — not only at the human level, but also at the divine. This approach allows him to construct a play founded on tragic conflicts far more complicated than those in the mythological sources he draws upon.
Apart from minor details, Aeschylus makes modifications to the background accounts of the characters before the major action of the play, conveyed through details given in the parados. The chorus' very first statement presents an essential adjustment: Menelaus and "Agamemnon, my lord, twin throned, twin sceptered, in twofold power" (Fong, n.d.).
Bibliography
AncientGreece. 2009. 08 October 2015.
Cowley, Christopher. "Moral Dilemmas in Greek Tragedies: A Discussion of Aeschylus's." n.d.
Fong, Julian. Aeschylus' Agamemnon: Myth to Tragedy. 6 January. Julian Fong. 08 October 2015.
Hill, Daniel. "'The future you will know when it happens:' A Study of the Parodos of Aeschylus' Agamemnon." 2012.
Nussbaum, M. The Fragility of Goodness: Luck and Ethics in Greek Tragedy and Philosophy. CUP, 1986.
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