Aeschylus’ The Oresteia
Teacher’s Guide | Classical Reference Library
Richer Resources Editorial Team
Purpose of This Guide
Aeschylus’ The Oresteia follows a family caught in successive acts of murder and revenge. Across three plays—Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides—the trilogy moves from private retaliation toward a public trial in Athens.
This guide helps teachers explore justice, responsibility, divine authority, gender, and the difficult creation of civic order.
Historical and Literary Context
The Oresteia was first performed in Athens in 458 BCE. It is the only complete trilogy of connected Greek tragedies to survive.
Aeschylus draws on the myth of the House of Atreus, whose history includes betrayal, violence, and inherited hostility. Greek audiences knew much of this story. The dramatic question is not simply who will die, but whether the cycle can ever end.
The Chorus has a substantial role in all three plays.
The Trilogy at a Glance
Agamemnon
King Agamemnon returns from the Trojan War with Cassandra, a captive Trojan prophet. His wife Clytemnestra kills him, invoking both his sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia and the family’s history of violence.
Cassandra foresees the murder but cannot prevent it. Aegisthus, Clytemnestra’s ally, shares in the triumph.
The Libation Bearers
Agamemnon’s son Orestes returns and reunites with his sister Electra.
Commanded by Apollo to avenge his father, Orestes kills Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. His act answers one murder with another, and the Furies pursue him for killing his mother.
The Eumenides
Orestes seeks purification and protection. Apollo defends him; the Furies insist that a mother’s blood demands punishment.
Athena establishes a court in Athens. When the votes are tied, Athena casts the deciding vote for acquittal.
The Furies are persuaded to accept an honored place in the city, transforming their relationship with its people.
Principal Figures
Agamemnon — Victorious commander whose earlier sacrifice of Iphigenia shadows his return.
Clytemnestra — Agamemnon’s wife, who presents his murder as an act of justice.
Cassandra — Captive prophet whose truthful warnings go unheeded.
Orestes — Son ordered to avenge his father, then pursued for matricide.
Electra — Daughter who mourns Agamemnon and joins Orestes in seeking vengeance.
Apollo — Divine supporter of Orestes and defender of his actions.
The Furies — Ancient powers who demand punishment for blood crimes within the family.
Athena — Goddess who establishes a civic process for judging Orestes.
The Chorus — Changing groups of speakers whose fears and arguments shape each play.
Major Themes
Revenge and Justice
Every act of retaliation claims to correct an earlier wrong, yet creates another injury.
Competing Obligations
Orestes is commanded to avenge his father but must kill his mother to do so.
Divine Authority
Apollo, the Furies, and Athena do not initially express a single uncomplicated view of justice.
Gender and Power
Clytemnestra’s rule, the conflict over maternal blood, and Athena’s arguments reveal tensions in the trilogy’s treatment of women and authority.
Private Violence and Public Judgment
The final play imagines a court and civic institutions as alternatives to endless family vengeance.
Persuasion and Reconciliation
The Furies are not simply defeated; Athena offers them a continuing role within the city.
Dramatic Techniques
The trilogy uses recurring images of blood, nets, sacrifice, and pursuit to connect the plays.
Prophecy and dramatic irony deepen the audience’s awareness of approaching disaster.
Different choruses reflect changing social and religious perspectives.
The shift from palace to tomb to courtroom gives the trilogy a larger structural movement from household conflict to civic settlement.
Teaching Objectives
Students should be able to:
- Summarize the central action of each play.
- Explain the claims made by Clytemnestra, Orestes, and the Furies.
- Distinguish revenge from legal judgment.
- Analyze the role of gods in human decisions.
- Examine how imagery links the trilogy.
- Assess whether the ending resolves or transforms the earlier conflicts.
A Flexible Teaching Sequence
- Introduce the House of Atreus and the sacrifice of Iphigenia.
- Read Agamemnon with attention to Clytemnestra’s justification and Cassandra’s warnings.
- Read The Libation Bearers as a conflict between filial duty and the prohibition against killing a parent.
- Trace the Furies’ pursuit into The Eumenides and identify the competing arguments.
- Examine Athena’s court, the tied vote, and the negotiated place of the Furies.
- Revisit the opening question: what has changed about the way justice is pursued?
Passages Worth Close Reading
Clytemnestra’s account of Agamemnon’s death: Justification and revenge.
Cassandra’s prophecies: Foreknowledge and helplessness.
Orestes’ hesitation before killing Clytemnestra: Conflicting duties.
The Furies’ case against Orestes: The claims of kinship and inherited law.
Athena’s judgment and persuasion of the Furies: Civic authority and negotiated peace.
Core Discussion Questions
- Is Clytemnestra seeking justice, revenge, or both?
- Can Orestes obey Apollo without committing a new wrong?
- Why do the Furies refuse to overlook the killing of a mother?
- What does the Athenian trial change—and what does it leave unsettled?
- Why does Athena seek to incorporate the Furies rather than destroy them?
- Does the trilogy present progress toward justice without eliminating violence?
Classroom Approach
Ask students to trace three successive claims of justice: Clytemnestra against Agamemnon, Orestes against Clytemnestra, and the Furies against Orestes.
For each, identify the earlier injury, the claimed duty, the chosen response, and the new consequences.
Then compare this pattern with the procedure Athena establishes.
Interpretive Cautions
Avoid presenting the ending as a simple victory of modern democracy over primitive revenge. The trial remains shaped by divine authority and disputed assumptions about kinship and gender.
Likewise, the Furies’ acceptance of a civic role does not mean their earlier claims were meaningless.
Encourage students to distinguish each character’s justification from the trilogy’s wider dramatic argument.
Note to the Educator
This guide accompanies the Richer Resources Publications edition of Aeschylus’ The Oresteia, translated by Ian Johnston.
Encourage interpretations grounded in the three plays together, while allowing students to question whether the ending provides complete justice.
A printable PDF version of this resource is available by email.
