Topic > Revenge and Violence in Agamemnon

Aeschylus' play “Agamemnon” seeks to show its audience that revenge only leads to further violence. This is prominently displayed through the character's central beliefs and motivations which are encouraged through the actions of others, which inevitably repeat themselves again and again. The work focuses mainly on the house of Atreus and it is burdened by the curse that has caused generations of misery and acts of revenge. The show uses a poetic and metaphorical style that emphasizes the true nature of each character, background and settings. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay All the events of the play could be connected to the beginning, when Tantalus, one of the sons of Zeus, chose to kill his son, Pelops and serves his flesh to the gods, committing an act of "arrogance". This was the first act of violence that occurred. Pelops had been saved, but his father's sins remained in the bloodline. Atreus, Agamemnon's father, and Thyestes were two of Pelops' sons. They killed their half-brother and were consequently banished. Once again, this added to the curse and stemmed from the hatred and vengeance that consumed them. Aegisthus, who had been raised by Atreus, killed him, another act of revenge and so his sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus were exiled to Sparta, where the king accepted them as royalty. The betrayal of those they were closest to, began a hatred towards someone, and their lust for power and revenge became a pattern within the bloodline. Atreus had killed his brother to take the throne, and Aegisthus, who was later revealed to be Clytemnestra's lover, had killed Agamemnon in the name of his father, Thyestes, the same man Agamemnon had killed. Perhaps it was a matter of Karma or just coincidence, but this violent behavior was undoubtedly derived from acts of mutual revenge and formed a pattern, woven together in an attempt to create a profound story told by none other than Aeschylus himself. .Moreover, the thirst for revenge was passed down the line, as it would have been if they had continued to make the same mistakes as their ancestors before them. When Paris, son of the king of Troy, took Helen to Troy with him (where she married her brother despite being married to Menelaus), Atreus' sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, saw fit to go to war with them, believing that their actions were justified and an act of 'dam'. Their revenge on Troy blossomed from the pride they saw and made them delusional in that sense. When Artemis asked for an offering, specifically the carcass of her daughter Iphigenia, Agamemnon took little time to think about it: "Abandon the fleets, fail the alliance?" however, despite the fact that his daughter's life was in danger, Agamemnon was too possessed by his lust for revenge to rightly see how his actions would affect others: "Law is law! – Let all be well." Aeschylus had purposely sculpted Agamemnon's dialogue to show that pride had blinded him and that, above all, Agamemnon was a stupidly arrogant man who would do anything to stay above everyone else, even if it took ten years and millions of innocents. lives to do it. The bloodlust and furious violence have led to 10 years of deaths, and for what? But the small life of a woman who had willingly married another man… not that she too deserved the fate of death, just that her life was not worthy of the millions Agamemnon had sacrificed. Aeschylus, in writing the work, had intentionally erased any common sense that could be used in this type of situation. The,.