The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus
The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus
Synopsis:
In Aeschylus’s powerful Greek tragedy The Libation Bearers, the second play in the Oresteia trilogy, the exiled Orestes returns to Argos years after his father Agamemnon’s murder, guided by Apollo’s oracle to avenge the crime by slaying his mother Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. Reuniting with his grieving sister Electra at Agamemnon’s grave during a ritual libation ordered by the queen, the siblings pray for justice and plot their deadly revenge amid the Chorus’s encouragement. Exploring themes of vengeance, familial curse, divine command versus human morality, and the inescapable cycle of bloodshed, this gripping drama deepens the tragic conflict of justice in the Greek world.
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Review
The second Greek play of the Oresteia. In my year of Greek, I was most nervous about not liking the Greek plays out of all my reading lists. The first play, Agamemnon, was not that interesting to me and while I saw the themes that others saw in their talks (Romans Road Press and Ascend podcast), it didn’t really grab me one way or the other. I knew the backstory of Agamemnon that the Greeks would know that they would enjoy it more, and the conversation of justice/revenge is evident. It just didn’t grab me.
The Libation Bearers was like the Empire Strikes Back in the Oresteia series. The Greek tension of justice/revenge is even more clear here, and the struggle between Orestes and Electra on a conscience and moral level. The play does a masterful job here of building tension, and while some aspects of Clytemnestra and the murder plot are more straightforward, the rising tension is masterfully done. The characters feel almost pulled along by fate to complete their actions, but even in that pull, it is not clear which is the right path. The justice and revenge here are felt in the characters rather than in the mind of the reader (or the playgoer) that Agamemnon had. My biggest complaint is that even with Orestes and Electra struggling to figure out what to do, they never once contemplate at all their sacrificed sister, Iphigenia, by their father. It’s in the background of the story, but they show no loss or further conflict that this should raise. I’m really looking forward to the last part of the trilogy. Hopefully Ewoks won’t show up here, though.
Final Grade
A
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