Oresteia

The most famous series of ancient Greek plays, and the only surviving trilogy, is theOresteiaof Aeschylus, consisting ofAgamemnon,Choephoroe, andEumenides. These three plays recount the murder of Agamemnon by his queen Clytemnestra on his return from Troy with the captive Trojan princess Cassandra; the murder in turn of Clytemnestra by their son Orestes; and Orestes' subsequent pursuit by the Avenging Furies (Eumenides) and eventual absolution. Hugh Lloyd-Jones's informative notes elucidate the text, and introductions to each play set the trilogy against the background of Greek religion as a whole and Greek tragedy in particular, providing a balanced assessment of Aeschylus's dramatic art.

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The only complete trilogy to survive from the ancient Greek theater is here presented in the first sound recording of all three plays: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides.

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Agamemnon, king o Argos, returns to Greece triumphant following victory over Troy-only to be brutally murdered by his wife Klytaimestra. Their son Orestes returns from exile and, commanded by the god Apollo, reluctantly murders her in retribution for his father's death. He flees to Delphi, and then to Athens, pursued by Furies intent on avenging Klytaimestra's death. The goddess Athena founds the court of the Areopagus to try the case, and Apollo and the Furies argue over Orestes' future. Can the court stop further bloodshed inside the house of A treus-and can the Athenians escape the consequences, if they acquit Orestes?

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Aeschylus here dramatizes the myth of the curse on the royal house of Argos. The action begins when King Agamemnon is treacherously slain by his wife and ends with the trial of their son, Orestes, who avenged his mother's treachery.

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Introductory essay, notes and glossary by W.B.Stanford

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Drama of doom and revenge depicting the homecoming of King Agamemnon after the Trojan War, his murder by his wife, Clytemnestra, and the revenge of his death by his children, Electra and Orestes.