The House of Atreus (The Oresteia)

About this book

This is the Oresteia, the only complete trilogy of Greek tragedies to survive. In Agamemnon, the king returns from the Trojan War with the prophetess Cassandra and is murdered by his wife Clytemnestra, who has never forgiven him for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia. In The Libation Bearers, their son Orestes returns from exile to avenge his father by killing his mother. In the last play, pursued by the Furies, Orestes is tried before a court of Athenians with the goddess Athena presiding, and the cycle of revenge gives way to justice.

Context and significance

Aeschylus (about 525–456 BC), who had fought the Persians at Marathon, won first prize with the trilogy in 458 BC. Its story of a law court replacing the blood feud is one of the founding myths of Western law. It pairs well with Homer's Iliad, the story of the war Agamemnon led.

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