The Role of Aegeus in "The Medea" (Prompt 8)

If you were thinking Medea's simply crazy or a horrible person, the interaction between her and Aegeus might be one of several moments in the play that would make you reconsider. For Aegeus proves such a kind and understanding character that we cannot but seeing the same qualities in Medea as long as they are "old friend(s)" (80). Aegeus genuinely cares about how Medea feels; he sympathizes with her, offers her advice and help in the form of a place of refuge. Especially against Medea's unfaithful husband Jason, Aegeus appears kind: he is a faithful friend and does not treat her as a barbarian like Aegeus does. At this point, we do know Medea to be violent and not completely truthful, hiding her plans from Aegeus and her future victims, but we can also see positive qualities in her personality: she values marriage, her children, and faithfulness, and she can think for herself and defy gender roles. The close friendship between Medea and Aegeus only makes her more likable.

The fact that Aegeus is not only a nice man but King of Athens is also significant. We know that the Athenian audience would have liked and respected the character of Aegeus just like they would in real life. That such a trustworthy, highly-regarded character can not only associate with Medea, but support her and sympathize with her, would have made the audience wonder if they should do the same just as it made me. Aegeus says, "Indeed, Medea, your grief was understandable" (83). When Medea tells Aegeus she will be exiled from Corinth, Aegeus responds with astonishment: "Banished? By whom? Here you tell me of a new wrong" (83).When Aegeus sees Medea, he is unaware of her plans to murder her family, the princess and her father in order to spite her husband Jason. But if not only Medea herself and the Chorus, but the King of Athens - whose opinion we are supposed to trust - all think her grief is "understandable" and her impending exile "wrong," then it is highly unclear how we should think of Medea. She is at once a devious, ruthless murderer and an unlucky, mistreated, sane woman.

Clytemnestra and Athena (Prompt 8)

Both Clytemnestra and Athena are exceptional women in that they deviate from common roles of female goddesses and mortals. As the goddess of war, Athena is imbued with characteristics more often associated with male characters. But Athena, unlike Clytemnestra, is accepted and even revered because she embodies only positive characteristics associated with women and men.

Clytemnestra is, of course, imbued with the deviousness associated with many other female characters in Ancient Greek literature (Calypso, Circe, Hera, Aphrodite). But her acquisition of certain "male" traits and abandonment of certain "female" traits is the last straw for Clytemnestra.

A willingness to avenge the wrongly dead (as we see in her son Orestes) takes over Clytemnestra and even leads her to hold and use a sword, unlike any other woman. The unfaithfulness we see when Agamemnon arrives in his chariot with another woman has also been adopted by Clytemnestra, with Aegisthus.

One trait associated with femininity Clytemnestra abandons is submissiveness. She refuses to appease Agamemnon after killing Iphigenia, even though that was considered necessary. Clytemnestra also relinquishes all motherly qualities, highlighting her distance from Orestes, which adds justification to his matricide. Apollo claims, "The mother is no parent of that which is called / her child, but only nurse of the new-planted seed / that grows" (158). By shedding herself of the roles of mother and wife, as well as by assuming the role of an avenger, Clytemnestra rebels and later receives an adequate punishment for non-conformity. Clytemnestra and Athena are similar in their atypical combination of female and male characteristics. But while the most acceptable traits of both genders manifest themselves in Athena, the least acceptable characteristics present themselves in Clytemnestra.

A Revealing Final Conversation (Prompt 5)

In "The Libation Bearers," both Orestes and his mother, Clytemnestra, experience a range of revealing emotions before their imminent conflict.

Even though Apollo has encouraged Orestes to avenge his father and ensured his safety from punishment, Clytemnestra's son still has doubt. In the last minute, Orestes needs extra assurance of his friend, asking "What shall I do, Pylades? Be shamed to kill my mother" (124). For even though Apollo, as well as Pylades and the Chorus see Orestes' revenge as necessary and just, he has also to fathom the law against matricide and its curse. Orestes is conflicted, not only because of his horrible duty, but because of two forces that cannot be reconciled. Nevertheless, Orestes later gains the courage to carry out the deed with dignity: "Yes, this is death, your wages for my fathers fate" (126). Orestes must leave behind qualms, and instead choose a side and justify it. Orestes is an impulsive, uncertain character.

Clytemnestra shows a greater range of emotions than Orestes - not just from hesitant to certain. Clytemnestra first is portrayed as weak, sad and motherly: "Oh take pity, child, before this breast / where many a time, a drowsing baby, you would feed" (124). Clytemnestra's technique moves from innocent and miserable, to somewhat guilty and logical, partially blaming "destiny" for Agamemnon's death (125). As death approaches, Clytemnestra changes her manner to angry and cold: "Take care. Your mother's curse, like dogs, will drag you down" (126). As Clytemnestra's death becomes more and more apparent, she almost becomes less fearful. Clytemnestra's motherly and innocent affectations fade, while she accepts more and more blame for killing Agamemnon. As well, Clytemnestra's feeling of distance from her Orestes turns into a feeling of hatred for him. In her last conversation with Orestes, as Clytemnestra accepts fate feelings of hatred for her son and pride in the murder of her husband are expressed.

What's So Bad About Clytaemestra? (Prompt 4)

Kassandra, Agamemnon, Chorus, I hear you: Clytemnestra is a terrible woman. She kills Agamemnon upon his return from so many years at war, she is unfaithful with Aegisthus, and she likes the idea of taking over Argos with him once her husband is dead. She appears to feel no remorse for her actions, and it doesn't help that she speaks like a crazy murderer: "That man is Agamemnon, my husband; he is dead; the work of this right hand that struck in strength of righteousness. And that is that" (81).

But I don't know if I see Clytemnestra as such a bad person as Kassandra, Agamemnon and the Chorus do. Nor should we make the assumption that, given the historical and social context in which "Agamemnon" was written, Aeschylus saw and described Clytemnestra to be as horrible as the characters see her. Outside of her power-greed and lust, her motives for killing her husband are legitimate: she wishes to avenge her daughter, whom Agamemnon "slaughtered like a victim...to charm away the winds of Thrace" (81). I would also argue that this is her main motive, as she mentions revenge for the death of her daughter first and more often than the prospects of going off with Aegisthus and attaining power.

Perhaps I am biased, because I just do not understand the idea that Iphegenia had to die. I not only am not living in the social and historical time of "Agamemnon," fully grasping the notion that her sacrifice was necessary for favorable winds, but I am not a spiritual person. But Clytemnestra doesn't get it either, so I don't think I'm crazy. How could Agamemnon kill his own daughter, so innocent, so precious to Clytemnestra and presumably her siblings?

I feel as though I am not supposed to feel this sympathy for Clytemnestra: nobody in "Agamemnon" nor "The Odyssey" has anything nice to say about her, and she is imbued with a certain selfishness, which manifests itself in her cheating with Aegisthus and her hopes of power in Agamemnon's place. Also, it is not out of the question to assume I am supposed to hold certain gender biases, classifying Clytemnestra as just another devious woman, such as Calypso, Circe, Hera, and Aphrodite.

But perhaps it is exactly this conflicted feeling that Aeschylus intended. Maybe one aspect that made this play so popular is the complexity of our 'villain.' What would you do if someone killed your child? On the surface, Clytemnestra is a caricature of a villain, a devious woman. Beneath the surface, however, Clytemnestra may have the same love for family that we would have, whether we would like to admit it or not.

Penelope's Masculinity (Prompt 6)

We all know that women are inferior to men in the worlds of "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey." When we think of why they are considered inferior, we might look at the fact that there are more instances of women being devious or selfish than there are of men: Circe, Calypso, Aphrodite, Hera, Clytemnestra provide the major examples. They really are selfish. But women in "The Odyssey" are often not defined by their immoral actions; they simply are inferior because they are women. Helen, for instance, is blamed for the Trojan War and labeled a horrible woman for that reason, even though it was truly Paris' lust and selfishness that started the conflict. It is merely the fact that Helen is a woman - in fact, the epitome of woman-ness, since she is the most beautiful woman - that means that she deserves disrespect, as well as more blame than Paris. Somehow, women in these epics are inherently second-class, no matter what they do.


However, Penelope may provide an exception to this rule. The suitors criticize her for being "cunning" (21), leading them on and tricking them. But at no point in "The Odyssey" does anything the suitors say have any gravity - we are never expected to believe them or side with them for a second. No, Penelope is pretty perfect. She is loyal, beautiful, kind, generous, and intelligent.


Perhaps the main reason, however, why Penelope is so perfect - almost at a man's level - is that she has certain qualities associated more with men than with women. She definitely does not have the bad qualities more associated with women, of being devious, cunning, and selfish. Instead, Penelope is strong, and a good fighter, like a man. For she really does hold the fort while Odysseus is away, cleverly putting off marriage to one of the suitors at home, and never giving up on her husband. In Book 23, when Penelope apologizes for not welcoming Odysseus on sight, she demonstrates her toughness: "I armed myself long ago against the frauds of men, impostors who might come - and all those many whose underhanded ways bring evil on!" (436). Not only does Penelope use the word "armed" to describe her self-protection, but here she recalls how she was able to successfully stay above these men's tricks. Penelope essentially did her part in fighting in the war at Odysseus' palace. Though Penelope does not perform the manly tasks of holding a sword and actually killing the suitors as the men in her family do in "The Odyssey," she does what all she can to help, within the confines of her femininity. It is Penelope's acting in as much of a masculine manner as possible, that makes Penelope the exception to the rule that all women are inferior. In "The Odyssey," women are innately second-class to men, unless they are able to exhibit certain "masculine" characteristics - it seems specifically bravery and strength in conflicts.