Serious survey: ORESTEIA

Please, vote seriously and only after a good reading of the Tragedy, or at least some basic info about it, in case you don't know\remember.
We all know this epic classic Tragedy from Eschilo, now the poll:

WHO IS RIGHT? ORESTE or the ERINNI?

Public poll.

Comments very highly welcomed.

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The theme in the Oresteia is repeated in the "Vengeance belongs to the Lord" theme in the Bible. In other words, by choosing Orestes or the Erinys you're choosing between personal vengeance or punishment by society, or in other words judicial punishment. Personally I choose Orestes. Agamemnon's wife killed him and his concubine Cassandra partly to avenge her daughter's sacrifice, although according to the myth she was replaced in the last second, so her main reason is to keep her social place and life after entering an adulterous relationship. But even if her reasoning to kill her husband because he sacrificed their daughter is just, it does not absolve her from the murder of Cassandra. In this I think we can clearly see that the revenge for Iphighenia is just pro forma and to give her justification in the eyes of the other Mecenians. Her real goal is self-preservation after her adultery and surplanting the dynasty with one of her own choosing. Plus, while Orestes is guilty of matricide, his mother is guilty of regicide and double homicide. In orestes we see the embodiment of the "lone gunman" theme, that of a citizen delivering justice(or vengeance) out of moral obligation when society does not act, no matter the odds or the sacrifices that he has to suffer.

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it seems someone's awake here

the real deep focus of this, like almost every other classic, is, as almost always, the relation between men and gods

the whole tragedy is bound to its last fragment, the Areopago

I would argue that this is present in pretty much every classic, ancient or more recent, since the gods are in many cases an embodiment of morals. Case in point Athena judging that a hanged jury should mean acquital because mercy should have a priority over harshness. But evolution of the Gods in ancient mythology is another topic entirely.

Originally Posted by torongill

the gods are in many cases an embodiment of morals.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Gods represent archetypal istances.