After
reading Agamemnon, I was sure that
Greek plays should be better enjoyed as performance than as book. I have read
Sophocles’ Oedipus several years ago,
and have almost forgotten how beautiful and dynamic Greek plays are, with all
the strophe-antistrophe-epode. Reading them in books reduces the plays’
dramatic uniqueness. Unlike modern plays like Wilde’s or Shaw’s—or even
Shakespeare’s—which are rich in characters and dialogs, in Agamemnon I only met
with Clytemnestra, Agamemnon (whose name served as the title, but the character’s
emotion was not much explored), Cassandra, and Aegisthus, besides the Chorus,
the Watchman, and the Herald.
The play is
opened by the watchman, who is waiting for a signal from Troy. King Agamemnon
and his troops is on a mission to bring home Helen (his brother’s Menelaus’
wife) from her capture in Troy. Then it’s slowly revealed that before sailing
to Troy, Agamemnon made a human sacrifice so that the wind favored them. The
victim was his own daughter. The scene before the sacrifice was quite
heartrending…
On Agamemnon’s
leave, the queen Clytemnestra rules the kingdom. She seems to be rejoiced when
finally her husband comes home safely and triumphantly. However, a slave whom
Agamemnon has brought from Troy (the daughter of Priam, Cassandra) predicts
that Agamemnon would be killed by his wife. It turns out that the murder was
planned by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus (Agamemnon’s cousin) as an act of
revenge. Clytemnestra avenges her daughter’s murder; while Aegisthus blames
Agamemnon for serving his two brothers (boiled!) to his father—who was
Agamemnon’s rival of the throne of Argos.
While
Agamemnon is constructed by beautiful rhymes, the length of the each dialog
could be quite tedious to read. Maybe it’s because Aeschylus was one of the
first Greek tragedians. Euripides’ Medea
and Sophocles’ Oedipus were more enjoyable
for me.
Three stars
for Agamemnon.
~~~~~~~~~~~
I read ebook from Adelaide University’s Online Library
This book is counted as:
85th book for The Classics Club Project
Wow! I recently enjoyed a lecture about this book (Books that made History, Books that can change your life, by Great Courses - I highly reccomend it!). However, I've always been a bit intimidated of Greek classics. You have helped open me a bit more to the idea of diving into them.
ReplyDeleteI have read only 2 Greek plays, but loved Oedipus and Medea more than Agamemnon. Hopefully you'll find new interest in Greek classics ;)
DeleteI read this one for the Play On challenge as well and I agree... I think I'd rather see it performed. It was hard to follow for me.
ReplyDeleteYep. I wonder whether the other 2 in the trilogy are better than this one...
DeleteI agree with you - these plays are definitely meant to be performed. Emma
ReplyDeleteI've got Aeschylus on my list to read. I've barely read any Greek plays, in fact I think I've only read a few by Euripides. I'm not relishing the prospect, but I do have *some* hope :)
ReplyDelete