This paper examines Aristotle's critical framework for analyzing Greek drama, focusing on his concept of the unities — time, place, character, and plot — and how these principles manifest in the plays of Aeschylus. The discussion traces Aristotle's analytical categories (Mythos, Ethos, Dianoia, Rhesis, and Opsis) and applies them to Prometheus Bound and the Oresteia trilogy. Through close reading of character, dialogue, and dramatic structure, the paper argues that Aeschylus's works exemplify Aristotelian prescriptions, while also noting how the multi-play format of the Oresteia tests and extends those unities across a broader narrative arc.
The paper models applied literary criticism: it introduces a theoretical lens (Aristotle's Poetics), defines its key terms, then reads two major works through that lens in sequence. This method — theory first, application second — allows the analysis to build coherence and avoids unsupported assertion by anchoring each claim to the critical framework established at the outset.
The paper opens with a concise account of Aristotle's prescriptive framework and its five analytical categories. It then applies the unities to Prometheus Bound, illustrating how the play's minimal cast and confined setting satisfy Aristotelian criteria. The third section shifts to the Oresteia, examining character consistency and the interplay of sexuality and revenge in Clytaemnestra and Electra. The conclusion compares the two works and addresses how the trilogy form complicates — but does not violate — the Aristotelian unities.
Greek drama represented a melding of art, religion, and philosophy, and the form of the drama evolved as the playwrights of the time expressed themselves in this medium. In examining drama, Aristotle considers the most successful dramas of his time and determines what they have in common. It is this analysis that leads to his concept of the unities. He decides that the most effective dramas are those that exhibit a unity of time, place, character, and plot, and this then becomes a general rule for achieving successful drama by paying proper attention to these unities in production. Aristotle also offers prescriptions for various aspects of the drama. He notes, for instance, that there are four things the dramatist should aim at in the representation of character: 1) the characters should be morally good; 2) the characters should be suitable; 3) the characters should be lifelike; and 4) the characters should be consistent. Again, these are qualities Aristotle perceived in successful and effective dramas already in existence, and so they become prescriptions for future drama.
The analysis by Aristotle was shaped around the topics of Mythos (plot), Ethos (character), Dianoia (ideas, issues, themes), Rhesis (language), and Opsis (spectacle and staging). The unities cited by Aristotle were most pronounced in the earlier dramas by Aeschylus, who wrote when there were still only two characters on stage speaking at any given time. A third character would be added later, by the time of Sophocles. Unity of character is more clearly maintained when fewer characters are speaking, while the unity of time and place was also adhered to more closely than might be true of later works. Unity of time meant that the action of the play would take place over no more than one day. Unity of place meant that the action would be confined to one locale. Unity of action meant that the plot would center on one central issue or action and would eliminate extraneous material — meaning, as well, that subplots would not be pursued.
Such unities are evident in Prometheus Bound, a play that covers a period of only a few hours, centers on the character of Prometheus on stage with reference to Zeus who never appears, and is set on a rocky area considered by the Greeks to be the end of the world. Any action beyond this time and place comes through dialogue, as Prometheus tells the story of his transgression and explains why he is now being punished, bound to this rock. As noted, only two characters speak together at any one time. Might describes the scene as "the world's limit… The Scythian country, an untrodden desolation" (Greek Tragedies Volume I 65).
The plot is unified around the suffering of Prometheus. The characters other than Prometheus are gods or personified characteristics, such as Might and Violence. These characters represent clearly identifiable and known quantities, creating a kind of allegory in which characters embody traits as much as persons. The central figure of Prometheus is the most rounded and the most important character, adhering to the unity cited by Aristotle.
The Oresteia is the only intact dramatic trilogy from the Greek era. Prometheus Bound was also originally part of a trilogy, being the first of three plays on the same subject. The three plays of the Oresteia are related in theme and together tell the story of the House of Agamemnon. The unities are maintained within each of the plays but not necessarily across all three plays taken together.
You’re 37% through this paper. Sign up to read the remaining 2 sections.
Sign Up Now — Instant Access Already a member? Log inAlways verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.