The work of the great Hellenic tragedian Aeschylus, the trilogy "Oresteia" (458) is the only one fully come down to us intact from Greek drama. The plot of the "Oresteia" is the myth about the fate of Agamemnon the King of Argos, over whose family hung over the "hereditary curse". The idea of divine retribution, comprehending not only the offender but also his descendants, was common in the time of Aeschylus.
Returning victorious from the Trojan War, Agamemnon on the first day was killed by his wife, Clytemnestra. The trilogy "Oresteia" is named after the son of Agamemnon, Orestes, who killed his mother to avenge for his father's death. The first part of the trilogy ( "Agamemnon") tells about the return of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra’s feigned joy, and how she with flattering speeches lures her husband in the bath and there kills him with an ax; at the same time she kills daughter of Priam, the prophetess Cassandra.
In the second part of the "Oresteia" ( "Libation Bearers") Aeschylus describes how the children of Agamemnon avenge his father's death. Obeying the will of Apollo, and inspired by his sister Electra and friend Pylades, Orestes kills Clytemnestra. Immediately afterwards Orestes is pursued by the ancient goddess of vendetta Erinyes, who obviously represent the remorse of Orestes-matricide.
In the third part of the "Oresteia" ( "The Eumenides") Aeschylus depicts the trial of Orestes. Erinyes , the defenders of the rights of the mother accuse Orestes; god Apollo, who inspired Orestes to commit the murder, protects Orestes at the court, Athena appears as a judge. In the scene of the court one of the main ideas of the trilogy is embodied. Mother's Murder in the ancient society was considered the most serious crime, whereas murder of her husband may be redeemed, the murder of a mother may not: because a husband is not a blood relative of his wife. That is why the Erinyes protect Clytemnestra and demand the punishment of Orestes.
Apollo and Athena, the 'new gods' of Greece embodying the principle of citizenship, have a different point of view. Apollo in his speech at the trial blames Clytemnestra of the murder of a man, that in his opinion is much worse than the murder of a woman, even a mother. He argues that father's role for his children is immeasurably higher than the value of the mother, and that Orestes had to kill Clytemnestra, who shed the blood of his father. Aeschylus rejects in "Oresteia" not only the custom of blood vengeance, but also the religious cleansing of spilled blood.
According to the interpretation of Aeschylus, religious cleansing is not enough - that is why Apollo can not protect Orestes from the Erinyes’ persecution, and Orestes is forced to turn to Athena who established the court on the hill of Ares (the Areopagus). Aeschylus calls for the transfer of case of the murder to the citizens. Such a solution to the problem was the more relevant, as at the time in Athens took place a fierce struggle between democracy and aristocracy, which again raised its head after the Greco-Persian wars. Areopagus - the council of elders - was a stronghold of the aristocracy until the establishment of a democratic order. After the victory of democracy it has ceased to be a legislative body, it preserved only the function of the Supreme Court on criminal and religious affairs. At the time of the outbreak of this fight Aeschylus performed his “Oresteia” substantiating and justifying the institution of the Areopagus, portraying it as the establishment of the gods, but only in its direct function as the Supreme Court. As a result of the trial Orestes is acquitted: although the voices of the members of the Areopagus are equally divided, Athena "cast stone" for Orestes, and that decided his fate. In honor of the Erinyes in Athens a cult established, but they will be worshipped now under the name of the Eumenides, supportive goddess, givers of fertility.
Reconciling aristocratic principles with democratic Aeschylus with his “Oresteia” encourages citizens to a reasonable settlement of the conflict, to the mutual concessions for the sake of civil peace. The tragedy repeatedly calls for harmony and warning against civil wars. By adopting new rules on certain conditions, aristocrats acted reasonably, like Erinyes agreed to perform a new role and abandon their claims.
Condemnation of aggressive war also sounds is "Oresteia": the prophetess Cassandra and the chorus in the first part of the trilogy (in the tragedy "Agamemnon") speeches that although the crimes are committed because of the curse gravitating over them for ancestor, Agamemnon is guilty of shedding the blood of his compatriots at Troy, and it also resulted in a penalty. Condemnation of war sounds not only about reminders of the fallen Greek soldiers, but also in the descriptions of defeated Trojans.
In the "Oresteia" Aeschylus clearly expressed the belief in man's responsibility for his actions, although world is governed by the gods, the effectiveness of the court depends on the line of human behavior. Aeschylus shows how Agamemnon himself incurs trouble logging into his house on the purple carpet spread out before him by his wife, and he knows that it could incur the wrath of the gods: human should not accept divine honors.
Developing forms of ancient Greek drama, Aeschylus has reduced the role of the chorus, and paid more attention to the action on stage, but the choruses still occupy in his tragedies significant place. The language is deliberately heavyweight, images are monumental. Some Aeschylus' characters are silent, because of the need to share all replicas between the two actors; however, in the "Oresteia" in the action is involved the third actor, introduced by Sophocles, Aeschylus still is not accustomed to using this new innovation: although the three actors are present on the scene, but in a conversation usually only two persons are involved. For example, in " Libation Bearers " in the third episode three characters are taking part: Orestes, Pylades and Clytemnestra, but Pylades enters into the conversation once with a short remark. Therefore Aeschylus’s dramas retain a certain static in the framework that fits the story stretched into an entire trilogy. This static is exacerbated by a special Aeschylus’s artistic technique called in the Greek theater "dumb sorrow". This technique has already been noted in Aristophanes’ “Frogs”. Aeschylus’s heroes are silent while other characters talk about them, using the silence to draw to these heroes the attention of the viewer.
