The Oresteia - Aeschylus (second study)

In the Oresteia trilogy Aeschylus addressed the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the House of Atreus, the royal family of Mycenae. One of the supreme productions of all literature, it deals with two great themes: the retribution of crime and the inheritance of evil.

The Oresteia is the only complete trilogy to have survived from Ancient Greece. Like The Odyssey it depicts the aftermath of the Trojan War and the homecoming of the fighters. In Agamemnon, a king’s decision to sacrifice his daughter and turn the tide of war inflicts lasting damage on his family, culminating in a terrible act of retribution. The Libation Bearers deals with the aftermath of Clytemnestra’s regicide, as her son Orestes sets out to avenge his father’s death. In The Eumenides, Orestes is tormented by supernatural powers that can never be appeased. Forming an elegant and subtle discourse on the emergence of Athenian democracy out of a period of chaos and destruction, the Oresteia is a compelling tragedy exploring the tensions between our obligations to our families and the laws that bind us together as a society.

To study these plays as a group is to experience both the familiarity and the strangeness of the ancient world.  The plays that Athenians crowded into theatres to watch show people who are profoundly different to us in their outlook, but also startlingly like us in their conflicts and desires. 

Translator Sarah Ruden is a writer, translator and classical scholar who brings a fresh and accessible approach to the Oresteia.  Considered a leading interpreter of ancient literature, her publications include poetry, essays and an acclaimed biography of Virgil.

Praise for The Greek Plays:

“Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm deftly have gathered strong new translations from Frank Nisetich, Sarah Ruden, Rachel Kitzinger, Emily Wilson, as well as from Mary Lefkowitz and James Romm themselves. There is a freshness and pungency in these new translations that should last a long time. I admire also the introductions to the plays and the biographies and annotations provided. Closing essays by five distinguished classicists—the brilliant Daniel Mendelsohn and the equally skilled David Rosenbloom, Joshua Billings, Mary-Kay Gamel, and Gregory Hays—all enlightened me. This seems to me a helpful light into our gathering darkness.”

Harold Bloom

JOINING DETAILS:

• Seven two-hour meetings live on Zoom, from 5.30-7.30 pm (UK time) on consecutive Thursdays from 10 September to 22 October led by Susanna Taggart and Caroline Hammond
• Recommended edition: The Greek Plays- Sixteen Plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, Ballantine Books, ISBN: 978-0-8129-8309-8
• £280 for 7 meetings with two facilitators, to include opening notes and resources.