GRK 142 Lecture Notes - Lecture 25: Erinyes, Tyrant, Eye For An Eye
Document Summary
Life and works: 70-90 plays (~20 competitions, born in 525 in athens, dies in 456 in syracuse, writes his own epitaph. Doesn"t mention first place prizes (which he got a lot of) Only talks about being a hoplite in the battle of marathon: probably middle class. Oresteia only surviving complete tragedy: the agamemnon. Story of house of atreus (cursed family with continuous violence) Clytemnestra cheats on agamemnon with his cousin (aegisthus) Takes over land and rules as tyrant with aegisthus. Theme of entanglement: the libation-bearers erinyes take down murderers, the eumenides. Eunomia harmony because everyone follows the laws. New gods are victorious over old gods (arestes" trial) Furies eye for an eye mentality if you kill a relative. Apollo argues that arestes shouldn"t be killed for killing his mother because she isn"t really his relative since the mother is just the passive parent. Athens in tragedy thought they were better than everybody else. Athenians start to worship him top playwright.
