Agamemnon, Lines 1500-1964

1. satiate (line 1534): filled to satisfaction





2. Cassandra continues to speak of her own death, and Agamemnon's. The chorus begins worry just as they hear cries of pain from inside the palace. They open the doors to find Clytemnestra standing over the bodies of both Agamemnon and Cassandra with an ax covered in blood. She describes exactly how she murdered her husband to the chorus, without the slightest bit of remorse. The chorus concludes that she should have to leave the kingdom, but then they change their minds and decide that she can stay and they will blame the death on Helen. Clytemnestra reasons that Agamemnon deserved his death because he killed their daughter, and he was evil. Also, Clytemnestra's lover Aegisthus comes into the play and is happy that Agamemnon is dead. He reveals that Agamemnon's father boiled and ate two of Aegisthus's father's sons. Therefore, his family has always wanted revenge and the only way to do this was through Agamemnon's death. The chorus at first says that Aegisthus should take the fall for Clytemnestra's crime, but then she reasons with them and they accept their rule.





3. One of the questions that I had from the first section was if Clytemnestra did her job too well. After reading the last section, I firmly believe that she has done her job too well. When she admits that she murdered her husband and Cassandra, instead of being exiled from the kingdom, she convinces the chorus that Agamemnon deserved his death and that she should not be punished and this crime can be blamed on Helen. She is a very powerful and manipulative woman and can get others to do what she wants. Soon after this, her lover is introduced. The chorus wants to convict him of this crime because he has let a woman do the job for him, and not only do they not follow through with this decision but they even accept the rule of Clytemnestra and her lover. Now that Clytemnestra is in power again, the author alludes to the idea that somebody will come back to avenge the death of Agamemnon.







4. a) Did Clytemnestra defy her fate in murdering Agamemnon?



b) Was the author intending to create a pathos for Cassandra in that she was cursed by Apollo and people will not believe her?



c) Will Clytemnestra be punished by the gods for having an affair?