The Chorus's Role in The Oresteia

Nikki Huett

September 20, 2018

Dr. Andrew Jacobs

Great Books I

   

                                              The Chorus’s Role in The Oresteia

                  One of the first characters we are introduced to is Chorus. From the actual definition, we can tell that Chorus is not just one person, in particular, it is many. The Chorus is played by a different set of people in each book. The Chorus plays a definite role in this Greek poem as they are the ones responsible for providing the background information to help further the plot. Because of this, they can be believed to be the narrators. Unlike actual narrators of stories, Chorus is considered an actual character as they often converse with the main characters and ask them of their future actions. This essay will cover the first two books of The Oresteia, “Agamemnon” and “The Libation Bearers.”

In “Agamemnon,” the Chorus’s commentary comes from a set of old men. The Chorus occupy most of the lines in “Agamemnon.” They have the most lines in the first story as to help the readers understand the story since it starts off in such an ambiguous spot. Their lines provide context to things that happened in the play and things that did not. For example, king Agamemnon’s sacrifice of his daughter, Iphigenia, for safe passage of the Greek fleet on their voyage to Troy is explained. They also mention the past events of the Trojan War that has lasted for ten years. The Chorus begins to question Agamemnon’s wife, Clytaemnestra’s, sanity as she moves around the palace lighting fires of sacrifice. “I beg you, Healing Apollo, soothe her before her crosswinds hold us down and moor the ships too long, pressing us on another victim..”(Ag.,145-146).  When asked the meaning of the fires, Clytaemnestra says that Troy has fallen. A couple moments later, Agamemnon arrives and is led into the palace by his wife. The Chorus began to suggest a sense of dread of what the future holds as he arrives. They hear screams and the world around them turns into chaos. Clytaemnsetra comes through the doors, covered in blood, admitting to her and her lover, Aegisthus, in the killing of her husband for revenge on him sacrificing their daughter. The first story ends with the Chorus praying for Orestes’s, Agamemnon and Clytaemnsetra’s son, return to the city. “If he still sees the light of day, bring him home, dear Fates, home to kill this pair at last.” (Ag.,1679-1681). The uniqueness of the Chorus’s role in these plays is so blatantly obvious. One second you have them narrating the scene and the next, they are interacting with the situations the characters are causing. They portray how the reader should feel towards certain characters like they would be against Clytaemnestra and feel sympathy towards Agamemnon. This shows a character style that was common back in Greek/Roman times, but not so much today.

      In “The Libation Bearers,” the Chorus have now changed gender from elderly men to elderly women. We start off this play with Orestes at his father’s grave, planting offerings. The Chorus and Orestes’s sister, Electra, enter. Orestes tells them of his plan to avenge his father by killing his mother and her lover. Since they both loved Agamemnon dearly, Electra and the Chorus do not oppose him. The Chorus does not want more blood, but they do think that the wicked queen should get what she deserves. “The outrage stands as it stands, you burn to know the end, but first be strong, be steel, then down and fight.” (Lib.,440-442). Orestes is successfully let into the palace by pretending to be a stranger. This draws suspicion from Aegisthus who calls his guards to investigate the man. Chorus stops them by convincing the nurse that they mean no harm. As Orestes’s plan is following through, the Chorus pray that the gods will have Orestes win. Sure enough, the Chorus hears screams from inside the palace. Orestes’s mission was successful. Orestes begins to feel guilty, but the Chorus do their best to reassure him that he did what was right. As they do so, Orestes starts to see tormenting visions. He runs off and the Chorus wonder when this cycle of revenge will ever end. “Where will it end?- where will it sink to sleep and rest, this murderous hate, this Fury?” (Lib.,1075-1077). Not only does the Chorus differ than the ones in Agamemnon, but they also develop. They differ in that they do have a more active role in “The Libation Bearers”, despite having fewer lines. In the first play, they do share their opinions, they do more in the second play by not just being opinionated, but by convincing characters to do certain acts.

  In conclusion, my original view of the Chorus was that they were minor characters. However, as the story went on, I realized they played such an important role as the main characters did. Though the role of the Chorus is the point of view of many, they embody as if they were just one character alone as they act as these powerful, all-knowing beings. Thus, their role proves that even background characters can be just as significant. They can debate, discuss, and advise with all the main characters, and most importantly, they are the carrier narrative context of the entire trilogy.

Juno vs. Stereotype in The Aeneid

Nikki Huett

Dr. Andrew Jacobs

Great Books I

September 5, 2018

  

                                                    

   Juno vs. Stereotype in The Aeneid

     In Virgil’s epic The Aeneid, the many female characters go beyond the stereotype of being incapable and lazily written. Instead of their emotions being used as a dramatic effect, they are rather used to show how powerful they are. Their emotions play a major part as they dictate their own decisions and reactions to certain happenings. Most notably, Juno, the queen of the gods, who uses her power and rage to her advantage to get what she wants. So, while others may argue the role of these females, I believe their subplots diverge further than what is of a traditional female character.

The main female talked about in this text is Juno, the queen of the gods. She is a prime example of a strong, passionate woman. Juno is plotting to destroy all of Troy and its Trojans because they are planning to ruin her favorite city of Carthage. Because of this, throughout Aeneas’s journey, she becomes an obstacle in his path for his destiny. Being an obstacle for our protagonist, Juno is considered to be antagonistic and a very hated character. In my opinion, women are prone to be more emotional than men, not because of their gender, they are just not afraid to show how upset they truly are. When it comes to emotions for Juno, she happens to show emotions of rage and fury rather than sadness. You could say her acting this way shows an unusual side of femininity that is unconventional, but new. Think about the books you have read before. Are the female characters more innocent or chaotic? They are more likely to be innocent, right? This is why I think that just because Juno is one of our antagonists, it does not leave her out of being an interesting and compelling villain as well.

“Men will make war and peace. War is their work.” (-Turnus, pg.228, line 521)This line is important for only one reason. It tells the reader that there are no known female warriors. Juno is aware of this and uses it to her advantage. In Book V, Juno sends her messenger, Iris, to stir the Trojan women to riot towards the men and burn down their ships. This comes as a surprise to the men, obviously, because who would ever expect women to cause such havoc? Juno is like Satan, she knows she can not win in the end but will try her best to turn others against Aeneas and the Trojans. She remains focused on her task of making the Trojans suffer endlessly. She even states “I am hardly the one to relent. If I can not sway the heavens, I will wake the powers of hell.”(pg.223)to emphasize more on the fact that she will hurt and manipulate anyone to get what she wants. Now, I am not saying going beyond a stereotype means you have to be a conniving maniac, Juno is an immortal goddess who has too much power and overuses it. If women were given more of a chance to lead and have power, then they would use it, responsibly.

Virgil is given the chance to write women differently than they were probably written about around this time, and he does. Though, he is not without fault because he does end up stereotyping a couple of the

characters. Dido, for example, commits suicide over a man breaking her heart. So, I would not consider the author a woman supporter nor a woman hater for his writings. Juno, though written as a character that acts irrational at most points, could still set a good example for women in her ways of being determined and intelligent. The idea of power is not gender-exclusive. Men are given more chances at power because that is how it has always traditionally been. Finally, this day and age, women are becoming more and more respected and I think that if we had better influences in writing and in real life, it would not have taken this long to gain that recognition.