Tragedy & Recognitions

The Agamemnon

The assignment: Read Aeschylus’ tragedy, The Agamemnon. You may use the on-line version below, but reading from a book (any version will work, but the Green translation in the Penguin Oresteia is preferable) may
make better use of your time.

The Agamemnon occupies one day, the day Agamemnon returns home victorious from Troy, to discover in his queen Clytaemnestra the instrument of his fate. You should have no trouble with the plot (unlike the innumerable Iliad variations). Keep in mind that the story of Agamemnon’s return would be well-known to Greek audiences, so feel free to use the plot summary provided.

Your concern will be to experience and understand HOW this tragedy works. Consider RECOGNITION to be the essential feature of Greek tragedy. Pay attention to how specific characters come to experience a change in their circumstances. Agamemnon, of course, will fall. So too will Cassandra. Argos, perhaps, collectively falls. Pick a few particular scenes to explore how reversal really works in particular characters, in particular circumstances, at particular times. See through Greek eyes, those of Cassandra, for example.

When you can see through one character’s eyes at a moment when recognition takes place, you will share in the crucial dramatic moment, your own experience of recognition. Your assignments on the Iliad required you to consider the credibility of specific actions by attending to particular characters acting in particular circumstances, judged by peers. Your assignment in the Agamemnon is to see how recognition works, how actors and audiences experience the discovery of new worlds.

Begin your reading of The Agamemnon

You may use the electronic text below, but consider using the Penguin edition identified above.

The Agamemnon – click –

Bullfinch’s Agamemnon – click –