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122-570: The Oresteia trilogy consists of three plays: Agamemnon , The Libation Bearers , and The Eumenides . It shows how the Greek gods interacted with the characters and influenced their decisions pertaining to events and disputes. The only extant example of an ancient Greek theatre trilogy, the Oresteia won first prize at the Dionysia festival in 458 BCE. The principal themes of the trilogy include

244-567: A "ravage" between mother and daughter; Doris Bernstein sees the murder as a step on the path towards Electra's individuation; and Melanie Klein views it as emblematic of the dual power of the psyche to split of the mother into a good object and a bad one. Serena Heller recalls Ronald Britton's idea of the Athene-Antigone Complex to explain Electra's hatred of her mother deriving from an intense idolization of her father and, thus,

366-449: A city. Apollo Agyieus was the protector of the streets, public places and home entrances. In Hellenistic times, especially during the 5th century BCE, as Apollo Helios he became identified among Greeks with Helios , the personification of the Sun. Although Latin theological works from at least 1st century BCE identified Apollo with Sol , there was no conflation between the two among

488-474: A compulsion to exonerate herself from the restraints of feminity and the female body. Once the girl recognizes her gendered difference in the world, she must undergo re-cognition, deciding whether to mourn the maleness that she does not possess, or engage in a choice which frees them from their gendered bind. Athene, Antigone, and Electra all have a desire for "female castration" that dictates their choices in their patriarchal societies. Amber Jacobs also claims that

610-628: A constructive force of vigilance in Athens. She then changes their names from the Furies to "the Eumenides" which means "the Gracious Ones". Athena then ultimately rules that all trials must henceforth be settled in court rather than being carried out personally. Proteus ( Πρωτεύς , Prōteus ), the satyr play which originally followed the first three plays of The Oresteia , is lost except for

732-402: A cry is heard: Agamemnon has been stabbed in the bathtub. The chorus separates from one another and rambles to themselves, proving their cowardice, when another final cry is heard. When the doors are finally opened, Clytemnestra is seen standing over the dead bodies of Agamemnon and Cassandra. Clytemnestra describes the murder in detail to the chorus, showing no sign of remorse or regret. Suddenly,

854-412: A healer. Some commonly-used examples are "paion" ( παιών literally "healer" or "helper") "epikourios" ( ἐπικούριος , "succouring"), "oulios" ( οὔλιος , "healer, baleful") and "loimios" ( λοίμιος , "of the plague"). In later writers, the word, "paion", usually spelled "Paean", becomes a mere epithet of Apollo in his capacity as a god of healing . Apollo in his aspect of "healer" has a connection to

976-540: A list of gods , goddesses , and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion . The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house the statue of a god or goddess, or multiple deities, and might be decorated with relief scenes depicting myths. Divine images were common on coins. Drinking cups and other vessels were painted with scenes from Greek myths. Goddess of beauty, love, desire, and pleasure. In Hesiod 's Theogony (188–206), she

1098-418: A luxuriant beard, and holding a trident . His sacred animals include the horse and the dolphin. His wedding with Amphitrite is often presented as a triumphal procession . In some stories he rapes Medusa, leading to her transformation into a hideous Gorgon and also to the birth of their two children, Pegasus and Chrysaor. His Roman counterpart is Neptune . King of the gods, ruler of Mount Olympus, and god of

1220-517: A passive role and do not influence the plot. In contrast, The Libation Bearers ' Chorus desire vengeance, and influence both Electra 's and Orestes ' actions, shepherding Orestes towards revenge. The final play of the Oresteia , called The Eumenides ( Εὐμενίδες , Eumenídes ), illustrates how the sequence of events in the trilogy ends up in the development of social order or a proper judicial system in Athenian society. In this play, Orestes

1342-510: A she-wolf before giving birth. This is given as the reason why Homer describes Apollo as the "wolf-born god". Libanius wrote that neither land nor visible islands would receive Leto, but by the will of Zeus Delos then became visible, and thus received Leto and the children. According to Strabo, the Curetes helped Leto by creating loud noises with their weapons and thus frightening Hera, they concealed Leto's childbirth. Theognis wrote that

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1464-626: A son of Hermes, catalyzing the curse of the House of Atreus. Pelops had two children, Atreus and Thyestes , who are said to have killed their half-brother Chrysippus, and were therefore banished. Thyestes and Aerope , Atreus' wife, were found out to be having an affair, and in an act of vengeance, Atreus murdered his brother's sons, cooked them, and then fed them to Thyestes. Thyestes had a son with his daughter and named him Aegisthus, who went on to kill Atreus. Atreus' children were Agamemnon , Menelaus , and Anaxibia . Leading up to here, we can see that

1586-479: A stop near the end of The Eumenides when Athena decides to introduce a new legal system for dealing out justice. Justice through the law is achieved in The Eumenides . After Orestes begged Athena for deliverance from the Furies, she granted him his request in the form of a trial. Rather than forgiving Orestes directly, Athena put him to trial to find a just answer to the question of his innocence. This

1708-541: A temple. Both orders were abandoned for the Corinthian order gradually during the Hellenistic age and under Rome. The most important temples are: In the myths, Apollo is the son of Zeus , the king of the gods, and Leto , his previous wife or one of his mistresses. Apollo often appears in the myths, plays and hymns either directly or indirectly through his oracles. As Zeus' favorite son, he had direct access to

1830-565: A two-line fragment preserved by Athenaeus . It is widely believed to have been based on the story told in Book IV of Homer 's Odyssey , where Menelaus, Agamemnon's brother, tries to return home from Troy and finds himself on an island off Egypt, "whither he seems to have been carried by the storm described in Agam.674 ". The title character, "the deathless Egyptian Proteus ", the Old Man of

1952-466: A watchman looking down and over the sea, reporting that he has been lying restless "like a dog" for a year, waiting to see some sort of signal confirming a Greek victory in Troy . He laments the fortunes of the house, but promises to keep silent: "A huge ox has stepped onto my tongue." The watchman sees a light far off in the distance—a bonfire signaling Troy's fall—and is overjoyed at the victory and hopes for

2074-481: Is Ceres , is a daughter of Cronus and Rhea , and was swallowed and then regurgitated by her father. She is a sister of Zeus , by whom she bore Persephone , who is also known as Kore, i.e. "the girl." One of the central myths associated with Demeter involves Hades ' abduction of Persephone and Demeter's lengthy search for her. Demeter is one of the main deities of the Eleusinian Mysteries , in which

2196-637: Is Jupiter , also known as Jove. The Titan gods and goddesses are depicted in Greek art less commonly than the Olympians. The Gigantes were the offspring of Gaia (Earth), born from the blood that fell when Uranus (Sky) was castrated by their Titan son Cronus , who fought the Gigantomachy, their war with the Olympian gods for supremacy of the cosmos. They include: Apollo Apollo

2318-418: Is a daughter of Rhea and Cronus , and a sister of Zeus . Not often identifiable in Greek art, she appeared as a modestly veiled woman. Her symbols are the hearth and kettle. She plays little role in Greek myths, and although she is omitted in some lists of the twelve Olympians in favour of Dionysus, no ancient tale tells of her abdicating or giving her seat to Dionysus. Her Roman counterpart Vesta , however,

2440-489: Is a deer. Her Roman counterpart is Diana . Goddess of reason, wisdom, intelligence, skill, peace, warfare, battle strategy, and handicrafts. According to most traditions, she was born from Zeus's forehead, fully formed and armored, after Zeus swallowed her mother, Metis , whole. She is depicted as being crowned with a crested helm, armed with shield and spear, and wearing the aegis over a long dress. Poets describe her as "grey-eyed" or having especially bright, keen eyes. She

2562-513: Is a possible attestation in the lacunose form ]pe-rjo-[ (Linear B: ] 𐀟𐁊 -[) on the KN E 842 tablet, though it has also been suggested that the name might actually read " Hyperion " ([u]-pe-rjo-[ne]). The etymology of the name is uncertain. The spelling Ἀπόλλων ( pronounced [a.pól.lɔːn] in Classical Attic ) had almost superseded all other forms by the beginning of

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2684-469: Is a principal motivator for most characters in Oresteia . The theme starts in Agamemnon with Clytemnestra, who murders her husband, Agamemnon, in order to obtain vengeance for his sacrificing of their daughter, Iphigenia. The death of Cassandra, the princess of Troy, taken captive by Agamemnon in order to fill a place as a concubine, can also be seen as an act of revenge for taking another woman as well as

2806-427: Is a special patron of heroes such as Odysseus . She is the patron of the city Athens (from which she takes her name) and is attributed to various inventions in arts and literature. Her symbol is the olive tree. She is commonly shown as being accompanied by her sacred animal, the owl. Her Roman counterpart is Minerva . Goddess of grain, agriculture, harvest, growth, and nourishment. Demeter, whose Roman counterpart

2928-401: Is also stated to be Leto's sister. Wanting to escape Zeus' advances, she flung herself into the sea and became a floating rock called Ortygia until the twins were born. When Leto stepped on the rock, four pillars with adamantine bases rose from the earth and held up the rock. When Apollo and Artemis were born, their bodies shone radiantly and a chant was sung by Eileithyia and Lachesis , one of

3050-510: Is also the bringer of disease and death with his arrows, similar to the function of the Vedic god of disease Rudra . He sends a plague ( λοιμός ) to the Achaeans . Knowing that Apollo can prevent a recurrence of the plague he sent, they purify themselves in a ritual and offer him a large sacrifice of cows, called a hecatomb . The Homeric Hymn to Apollo depicts Apollo as an intruder from

3172-428: Is an important pastoral deity, and he was the patron of herdsmen and shepherds. Protection of herds, flocks and crops from diseases, pests and predators were his primary rustic duties. On the other hand, Apollo also encouraged the founding of new towns and the establishment of civil constitutions, is associated with dominion over colonists , and was the giver of laws. His oracles were often consulted before setting laws in

3294-758: Is called "the archer" and the bow is also an attribute of Shiva . Rudra could bring diseases with his arrows, but he was able to free people of them and his alternative Shiva is a healer physician god. However the Indo-European component of Apollo does not explain his strong association with omens, exorcisms, and an oracular cult. Unusually among the Olympic deities, Apollo had two cult sites that had widespread influence: Delos and Delphi . In cult practice, Delian Apollo and Pythian Apollo (the Apollo of Delphi) were so distinct that they might both have shrines in

3416-749: Is connected with the Ancient Macedonian word "pella" ( Pella ), stone . Stones played an important part in the cult of the god, especially in the oracular shrine of Delphi ( Omphalos ). George Huxley considered the identification of Apollo with the Minoan deity Paiawon, worshipped in Crete, to have originated at Delphi. In the Homeric Hymn , Apollo appears as a dolphin carrying Cretan priests to Delphi, to which site they evidently transfer their religious practices. Apollo Delphinios or Delphidios

3538-588: Is considered to be the most beautiful god and is represented as the ideal of the kouros (ephebe, or a beardless, athletic youth). Apollo is known in Greek-influenced Etruscan mythology as Apulu . As the patron deity of Delphi ( Apollo Pythios ), Apollo is an oracular god—the prophetic deity of the Delphic Oracle and also the deity of ritual purification. His oracles were often consulted for guidance in various matters. He

3660-473: Is credited to Apollo and his sister Artemis. Apollo is usually described as carrying a silver or golden bow and a quiver of silver or golden arrows. As the god of mousike , Apollo presides over all music, songs, dance, and poetry. He is the inventor of string-music and the frequent companion of the Muses, functioning as their chorus leader in celebrations. The lyre is a common attribute of Apollo . Protection of

3782-451: Is hunted and tormented by the Furies , a trio of goddesses known to be the instruments of justice, who are also referred to as the "Gracious Ones" ( Eumenides ). They relentlessly pursue Orestes for the killing of his mother. Through the intervention of Apollo , Orestes is able to escape them for a brief moment while they are asleep and escape to Athens under the protection of Hermes . Seeing

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3904-614: Is mentioned that Agamemnon had to sacrifice his innocent daughter Iphigenia to shift the wind for his voyage to Troy. This caused Clytemnestra to plot revenge on Agamemnon . She found a new lover Aegisthus and when Agamemnon returned to Argos from the Trojan War , Clytemnestra killed him by stabbing him in the bathtub and went on to inherit his throne. The death of Agamemnon thus sparks anger in Orestes and Electra ; they plot matricide (the death of their mother Clytemnestra) in

4026-510: Is often accompanied by the Muses. His most famous temple is in Delphi , where he established his oracular shrine. His signs and symbols include the laurel wreath , bow and arrow, and lyre . His sacred animals include roe deer , swans, and pythons. Some late Roman and Greek poetry and mythography identifies him as a sun-god, equivalent to Roman Sol and Greek Helios . God of courage, war, bloodshed, and violence. The son of Zeus and Hera , he

4148-455: Is one of the Olympian deities in classical Greek and Roman religion and Greek and Roman mythology . Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more. One of the most important and complex of the Greek gods, he is the son of Zeus and Leto , and the twin brother of Artemis , goddess of the hunt. He

4270-474: Is said to be the end of the curse of the House of Atreus. The curse holds a major part in the Oresteia and is mentioned in it multiple times, showing that many of the characters are very aware of the curse's existence. Aeschylus was able to use the curse in his play as an ideal formulation of tragedy in his writing. Some scholars believe that the trilogy is influenced by contemporary political developments in Athens. A few years previously, legislation sponsored by

4392-461: Is seen to be broken when Orestes is not killed by the Furies, but is instead given his freedom and deemed innocent by the goddess Athena. To the anthropologist Johann Jakob Bachofen ( Das Mutterrecht , 1861), the Oresteia shows Ancient Greece's transition from "hetaerism" ( polyamory ) to monogamy ; and from "mother-right" ( matriarchal lineage) to "father-right" ( patriarchal lineage). According to Bachofen, religious laws changed in this period:

4514-415: Is the first example of proper litigation in the trilogy and illuminates the change from emotional retaliation to civilized decisions regarding alleged crimes. Instead of allowing the Furies to torture Orestes , she decided that she would have both the Furies and Orestes plead their case before she decided on the verdict. In addition, Athena set up how the verdict would be decided. By creating this blueprint,

4636-460: Is the goddess of marriage, Zeus's many infidelities drive her to jealousy and vengefulness. Her sacred animals include the heifer, the peacock, and the cuckoo. Her Roman counterpart is Juno . God of boundaries, travel, trade, communication, language, writing, cunning and thieves. Hermes was also responsible for protecting livestock and presided over the spheres associated with fertility, music, luck, and deception. The son of Zeus and Maia , Hermes

4758-434: Is the messenger of the gods, and a psychopomp who leads the souls of the dead into the afterlife. He was depicted either as a handsome and athletic beardless youth, or as an older bearded man. His attributes include the herald's wand or caduceus , winged sandals, and a traveler's cap. His sacred animals include the tortoise. His Roman counterpart is Mercury . Virgin goddess of the hearth, home, domesticity and chastity. She

4880-447: Is then able to enter the palace, where he then kills Aegisthus, who was without a guard due to the intervention of the chorus in relaying Clytemnestra's message. Clytemnestra then enters the room. Orestes hesitates to kill her, but Pylades reminds him of Apollo's orders, and he eventually follows through. Consequently, after committing the matricide, Orestes is now the target of the Furies ' merciless wrath and has no choice but to flee from

5002-420: Is used as a trial dummy by Athena to set-up the first courtroom trial. He is also the object of the Furies, Apollo, and Athena. After the trial comes to an end, the votes are tied. Athena casts the deciding vote and determines that Orestes will not be killed. This does not sit well with the Furies but Athena eventually persuades them to accept the decision; instead of violently retaliating against wrongdoers, become

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5124-681: The Almeida Theatre and was transferred that same year to the West End 's Trafalgar Studios . Two other productions happened in the UK that year, in Manchester and at Shakespeare's Globe . The following year, in 2016, playwright Zinnie Harris premiered her adaptation, This Restless House , at the Citizen's Theatre to five-star critical acclaim. Greek gods The following is

5246-504: The common era , but the Doric form, Apellon ( Ἀπέλλων ), is more archaic, as it is derived from an earlier * Ἀπέλjων . It probably is a cognate to the Doric month Apellaios ( Ἀπελλαῖος ), and the offerings apellaia ( ἀπελλαῖα ) at the initiation of the young men during the family-festival apellai ( ἀπέλλαι ). According to some scholars, the words are derived from

5368-498: The toponymic epithet Abaeus ( Ἀπόλλων Ἀβαῖος , Apollon Abaios ), was important enough to be consulted by Croesus . His oracular shrines include: Oracles were also given by sons of Apollo. Many temples were dedicated to Apollo in Greece and the Greek colonies. They show the spread of the cult of Apollo and the evolution of Greek architecture, which was mostly based on the rightness of form and on mathematical relations. Some of

5490-465: The " Electra complex " the jealousy of the daughter towards the mother for her sexual engagement with the father. Sigmund Freud disagreed with this claim, noting that the " Oedipus complex " cannot be applied directly to the female sex, since daughters do not undergo the same penis-envy as sons. Many contemporary scholars have theorized what this matricide means in the context of womanhood: Dana Tor invokes Lacan to argue that Electra's scheming represents

5612-483: The "natural sexual behaviour" of men and women. For the feminist Kate Millett , the latter factor is mistaken, and The Eumenides is important in documenting the state's arguments for repression of women. Electra's role in the murder of her mother has been hotly contested by scholars throughout time. Many view Electra's by-proxy killing of her mother as a representation of daughter-inflicted matricide. Psychoanalyst Carl Jung attributes her behavior to what he coined as

5734-802: The 2nd and 3rd century CE, those at Didyma and Claros pronounced the so-called "theological oracles", in which Apollo confirms that all deities are aspects or servants of an all-encompassing, highest deity . "In the 3rd century, Apollo fell silent. Julian the Apostate (359–361) tried to revive the Delphic oracle, but failed." Apollo had a famous oracle in Delphi, and other notable ones in Claros and Didyma . His oracular shrine in Abae in Phocis , where he bore

5856-560: The Apollo and Athena of The Eumenides present the patriarchal view. The Furies contrast what they call "gods of new descent" with the view that matricide is more serious than the killing of men. With Athena acquitting Orestes, and the Furies working for the new gods, The Eumenides shows the newfound dominance of father-right over mother-right. Bachofen's interpretation was influential among Marxists and feminists . Feminist Simone de Beauvoir wrote in The Second Sex (1949) that

5978-538: The Doric word apella ( ἀπέλλα ), which originally meant "wall," "fence for animals" and later "assembly within the limits of the square." Apella ( Ἀπέλλα ) is the name of the popular assembly in Sparta, corresponding to the ecclesia ( ἐκκλησία ). R. S. P. Beekes rejected the connection of the theonym with the noun apellai and suggested a Pre-Greek proto-form * Apal un . Several instances of popular etymology are attested by ancient authors. Thus,

6100-480: The Eleusinian Mysteries. In ancient art she is usually depicted as a young woman, usually in the scene of her abduction. God of the sea, rivers, floods, droughts, and earthquakes. He is a son of Cronus and Rhea , and the brother of Zeus and Hades . He rules one of the three realms of the universe, as king of the sea and the waters. In art he is depicted as a mature man of sturdy build, often with

6222-525: The Furies asleep, Clytemnestra 's ghost comes to wake them up to obtain justice on her son Orestes for killing her. After waking up, the Furies hunt Orestes again and when they find him, Orestes pleads to the goddess Athena for help. She responds by setting up a trial for him in Athens on the Areopagus . This trial is made up of a group of twelve Athenian citizens and is supervised by Athena. Here Orestes

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6344-623: The Greeks most often associated Apollo's name with the Greek verb ἀπόλλυμι ( apollymi ), "to destroy". Plato in Cratylus connects the name with ἀπόλυσις ( apolysis ), "redemption", with ἀπόλουσις ( apolousis ), "purification", and with ἁπλοῦν ( [h]aploun ), "simple", in particular in reference to the Thessalian form of the name, Ἄπλουν , and finally with Ἀειβάλλων ( aeiballon ), "ever-shooting". Hesychius connects

6466-460: The Romans. His sacred animals include dolphins, serpents, tigers, and donkeys. King of the underworld and the dead. He is also a god of wealth. His consort is Persephone . His attributes are the drinking horn or cornucopia , key, sceptre, and the three-headed dog Cerberus . His sacred animals include the screech owl. He was one of three sons of Cronus and Rhea , and thus sovereign over one of

6588-776: The Sea, is described in Homer as having been visited by Menelaus, who sought to learn his future. Proteus tells Menelaus of the death of Agamemnon at the hands of Aegisthus and the fates of Ajax the Lesser and Odysseus at sea. Proteus is compelled to tell Menelaus how to reach home from the island of Pharos: The satyrs who may have found themselves on the island as a result of shipwreck . . . perhaps gave assistance to Menelaus and escaped with him, though he may have had difficulty in ensuring that they keep their hands off Helen. The only extant fragment that has been definitively attributed to Proteus

6710-512: The appearance of things there was the permanent principle of mathematics. The Doric order dominated during the 6th and the 5th century BC but there was a mathematical problem regarding the position of the triglyphs, which could not be solved without changing the original forms. The order was almost abandoned for the Ionic order , but the Ionic capital also posed an insoluble problem at the corner of

6832-451: The architects were trying to achieve this esthetic perfection. From the earliest times there were certain rules strictly observed in rectangular peripteral and prostyle buildings. The first buildings were built narrowly in order to hold the roof, and when the dimensions changed some mathematical relations became necessary in order to keep the original forms. This probably influenced the theory of numbers of Pythagoras , who believed that behind

6954-400: The bands fastened onto him and declared that he would be the master of lyre and archery, and interpret the will of Zeus to humankind. He then started to walk, which caused the island to be filled with gold. The island Delos used to be Asteria , a goddess who jumped into the waters to escape the advances of Zeus and became a free-floating island of the same name. When Leto got pregnant, Hera

7076-581: The capital of ancient Macedonia ) and Πελλήνη ( Pellēnē / Pellene ). The Hittite form Apaliunas ( x-ap-pa-li-u-na-aš ) is attested in the Manapa-Tarhunta letter . The Hittite testimony reflects an early form * Apeljōn , which may also be surmised from the comparison of Cypriot Ἀπείλων with Doric Ἀπέλλων . The name of the Lydian god Qλdãns /kʷʎðãns/ may reflect an earlier /kʷalyán-/ before palatalization, syncope, and

7198-476: The classical Latin poets until 1st century CE. Apollo ( Attic , Ionic , and Homeric Greek : Ἀπόλλων , Apollōn ( GEN Ἀπόλλωνος ); Doric : Ἀπέλλων , Apellōn ; Arcadocypriot : Ἀπείλων , Apeilōn ; Aeolic : Ἄπλουν , Aploun ; Latin : Apollō ) The name Apollo —unlike the related older name Paean —is generally not found in the Linear B ( Mycenean Greek ) texts, although there

7320-399: The contrast between revenge and justice , as well as the transition from personal vendetta to organized litigation . Oresteia originally included a satyr play , Proteus ( Πρωτεύς ), following the tragic trilogy, but all except a single line of Proteus has been lost. Agamemnon ( Ἀγαμέμνων , Agamémnōn ) is the first of the three plays within the Oresteia trilogy. It details

7442-622: The curse of the House of Atreus was one forged from murder, incest and deceit, and continued in this way for generations through the family line. To put it simply, the curse demands blood for blood, a never ending cycle of murder within the family. Those who join the family seem to play a part in the curse as well, as seen in Clytemnestra when she murders her husband Agamemnon, in revenge for sacrificing their daughter, Iphigenia. Orestes, goaded by his sister Electra, murders Clytemnestra in order to exact revenge for her killing his father. Orestes

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7564-715: The democratic reformer Ephialtes had stripped the court of the Areopagus , hitherto one of the most powerful vehicles of upper-class political power, of all of its functions except some minor religious duties and the authority to try homicide cases; By having his story being resolved by a judgement of the Areopagus, Aeschylus may be expressing his approval of this reform. It may also be significant that Aeschylus makes Agamemnon lord of Argos, where Homer puts his house, instead of his nearby capitol, Mycenae, since about this time Athens had entered into an alliance with Argos. In 1981, Sir Peter Hall directed Tony Harrison 's adaptation of

7686-555: The earliest temples, especially in Crete , do not belong to any Greek order. It seems that the first peripteral temples were rectangular wooden structures. The different wooden elements were considered divine , and their forms were preserved in the marble or stone elements of the temples of Doric order . The Greeks used standard types because they believed that the world of objects was a series of typical forms which could be represented in several instances. The temples should be canonic , and

7808-574: The empire of the Hittites , and from there into Greece. Homer pictures Apollo on the side of the Trojans , fighting against the Achaeans , during the Trojan War . He is pictured as a terrible god, less trusted by the Greeks than other gods. The god seems to be related to Appaliunas , a tutelary god of Wilusa ( Troy ) in Asia Minor, but the word is not complete. The stones found in front of

7930-411: The exiled lover of Clytemnestra, Aegisthus, bursts into the palace to take his place next to her. Aegisthus proudly states that he devised the plan to murder Agamemnon and claim revenge for his father (the father of Aegisthus, Thyestes, was tricked into eating two of his sons by his brother Atreus, the father of Agamemnon). Clytemnestra claims that she and Aegisthus now have all the power, and they re-enter

8052-630: The fundamental moral quandary of vengeance and "justified" bloodshed in The Libation Bearers and The Eumenides . In The Libation Bearers ( Χοηφόροι , Choēphóroi )—the second play of Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy—many years after the murder of Agamemnon , his son Orestes returns to Argos with his cousin Pylades to exact vengeance on Clytemnestra , as an order from Apollo , for killing Agamemnon. Upon arriving, Orestes reunites with his sister Electra at Agamemnon's grave, while she

8174-486: The future he would punish a slanderous woman in Thebes ( Niobe ), so he did not want to be born there. Leto then went to Thessaly and sought the help of the river nymphs who were the daughters of the river Peneus. Though he was initially fearful and reluctant, Peneus later decided to let Leto give birth in his waters. He did not change his mind even when Ares produced a terrifying sound and threatened to hurl mountain peaks into

8296-499: The future of revenge-killings and the merciless hunting of the Furies would be eliminated from Greece. The trial sets the foundation for future litigation. Aeschylus, through his jury trial, was able to create and maintain a social commentary about the limitations of revenge crimes and reiterate the importance of trials. The Oresteia , as a whole, stands as a representation of the evolution of justice in Ancient Greece. Revenge

8418-477: The gates of Homeric Troy were the symbols of Apollo. A western Anatolian origin may also be bolstered by references to the parallel worship of Artimus ( Artemis ) and Qλdãns , whose name may be cognate with the Hittite and Doric forms, in surviving Lydian texts . However, recent scholars have cast doubt on the identification of Qλdãns with Apollo. The Greeks gave to him the name ἀγυιεύς agyieus as

8540-447: The grape vine, and a crown of ivy . He is often in the company of his thiasos , a group of attendants including satyrs , maenads , and his old tutor Silenus . The consort of Dionysus was Ariadne . It was once held that Dionysius was a later addition to the Greek pantheon, but the discovery of Linear B tablets confirm his status as a deity from an early period. Bacchus was another name for him in Greek, and came into common usage among

8662-436: The guilt of want. Their jouissance in her death arises from a pre-genital dichotomy of love and hatred from the son and the daughter towards the mother. Professor of philosophical and historical anthropology Elizabeth von Samsonow notes the intense debate over Electra's relevance in the murder of Clymenestra— Sophocles , for example, viewed her as a key component of the killing while Aeschylus sees her as incidental—but refutes

8784-497: The hands of Leto's offspring. However, on Zeus' orders, Boreas carried away Leto and entrusted her to Poseidon . To protect her, Poseidon took her to the island Ortygia and covered it with waves so that the sun would not shine on it. Leto gave birth clinging to an olive tree and henceforth the island was called Delos. Other variations of Apollo's birth include: Aelian states that it took Leto twelve days and twelve nights to travel from Hyperborea to Delos. Leto changed herself into

8906-446: The hasty return of his king, as the house has "wallowed" in his absence. Clytemnestra is introduced to the audience, and she declares that there will be celebrations and sacrifices throughout the city as Agamemnon and his army return. Upon the return of Agamemnon, his wife laments in full view of Argos how horrible the wait for her husband and King has been. After her soliloquy, Clytemnestra pleads with and persuades Agamemnon to walk on

9028-502: The homecoming of Agamemnon , King of Mycenae , from the Trojan War . After ten years of warfare, and Troy fallen, all of Greece could lay claim to the victory. Waiting at home for Agamemnon is his wife, Queen Clytemnestra , who has been plotting his murder. She desires his death to avenge the sacrifice of her daughter Iphigenia , to exterminate the only thing hindering her from taking the crown, and to finally be able to publicly embrace her good-time lover Aegisthus . The play opens with

9150-409: The island, she sat down against a palm tree and asked Apollo to be born. During the childbirth, swans circled the island seven times, a sign that later on Apollo would play the seven-stringed lyre. When Apollo finally "leapt forth" from his mother's womb, the nymphs of the island sang a hymn to Eileithyia that was heard to the heavens. The moment Apollo was born, the entire island, including the trees and

9272-407: The island. Delos then revealed to Leto that Apollo was rumoured to be the god who will "greatly lord it among gods and men all over the fruitful earth". For this reason, all the lands were fearful and Delos feared that Apollo would cast her aside once he is born. Hearing this, Leto swore on the river Styx that if she is allowed to give birth on the island, her son would honour Delos the most amongst all

9394-420: The island. Thus, clutching a palm tree, Leto finally gave birth after labouring for nine days and nine nights, with Apollo "leaping forth" from his mother's womb. The goddesses washed the newborn, covered him in a white garment and fastened golden bands around him. As Leto was unable to feed him, Themis , the goddess of divine law, fed him nectar and ambrosia . Upon tasting the divine food, the child broke free of

9516-520: The life of Iphigenia. Later on, in The Libation Bearers , Orestes and Electra (siblings and remaining children of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra) succeed in killing their mother to avenge their father's death. In The Eumenides , the Furies—goddesses of vengeance—seek to take revenge on Orestes for the murder of his mother. It is also discovered that the god Apollo played a part in the act of vengeance toward Clytemnestra through Orestes. The cycle of revenge

9638-501: The magical girdle, myrtle , roses, and the scallop shell. Her sacred animals include doves and sparrows. Her Roman counterpart is Venus . God of music, arts, knowledge, healing, plague, prophecy, poetry, manly beauty, and archery. He is the son of Zeus and Leto , and the twin brother of Artemis . Both Apollo and Artemis use a bow and arrow. Apollo is depicted as young, beardless, handsome and athletic. In myth, he can be cruel and destructive, and his love affairs are rarely happy. He

9760-533: The matricide in the Oresteia ultimately embodies a societal repulsion towards the female gender, as Athena's motherless status allows Zeus to argue that the father is more important than the mother and absolve Orestes of his crimes. Tor ultimately claims that the convergence of both Orestes' and Electra's motivations for revenge are two-fold: both a repayment for the debt of desire and a symbol of feminine jouissance . They must repay their Freudian or Jungian debts from

9882-438: The mind of Zeus and was willing to reveal this knowledge to humans. A divinity beyond human comprehension, he appears both as a beneficial and a wrathful god. Pregnant with the offsprings of Zeus, Leto wandered through many lands wanting to give birth to Apollo. However all the lands rejected her out of fear. Upon reaching Delos, Leto requested the island to shelter her, and that in return her son would bring fame and prosperity to

10004-497: The more popular Apollo. A non-Greek origin of Apollo has long been assumed in scholarship. The name of Apollo's mother Leto has Lydian origin, and she was worshipped on the coasts of Asia Minor . The inspiration oracular cult was probably introduced into Greece from Anatolia , which is the origin of Sibyl , and where some of the oldest oracular shrines originated. Omens, symbols, purifications, and exorcisms appear in old Assyro - Babylonian texts. These rituals were spread into

10126-400: The name Apollo with the Doric ἀπέλλα ( apella ), which means "assembly", so that Apollo would be the god of political life, and he also gives the explanation σηκός ( sekos ), "fold", in which case Apollo would be the god of flocks and herds. In the ancient Macedonian language πέλλα ( pella ) means "stone," and some toponyms may be derived from this word: Πέλλα ( Pella ,

10248-470: The next play, Libation Bearers . Through much pressure from Electra and his cousin Pylades , Orestes kills Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus. Consequently, Orestes is hunted down by the Furies in the third play The Eumenides . Even after he escapes, Clytemnestra's spirit comes back to rally them again so that they can kill Orestes and obtain vengeance for her. However, this cycle of retaliation comes to

10370-404: The north. The connection with the northern-dwelling Dorians and their initiation festival apellai is reinforced by the month Apellaios in northwest Greek calendars. The family-festival was dedicated to Apollo ( Doric : Ἀπέλλων ). Apellaios is the month of these rites, and Apellon is the "megistos kouros" (the great Kouros). However it can explain only the Doric type of the name, which

10492-481: The noun Paeon to designate both a god and that god's characteristic song of apotropaic thanksgiving and triumph. Such songs were originally addressed to Apollo and afterwards to other gods: to Dionysus , to Apollo Helios , to Apollo's son Asclepius the healer. About the 4th century BCE, the paean became merely a formula of adulation; its object was either to implore protection against disease and misfortune or to offer thanks after such protection had been rendered. It

10614-418: The other lands. Assured by this, Delos agreed to assist Leto. All goddesses except Hera also came to aid Leto. However, Hera had tricked Eileithyia , the goddess of childbirth, to stay on Olympus, due to which Leto was unable to give birth. The goddesses then convinced Iris to go bring Eileithyia by offering her a necklace of amber 9 yards (8.2 m) long. Iris did accordingly and persuaded Eileithyia to step onto

10736-535: The palace with the doors closing behind them. Like most Greek tragedies, Agamemnon is a morally complex play. Agamemnon may be an admired veteran of the Trojan War but it is made clear that many do not approve of the way he sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia. Many citizens resent Agamemnon because they lost their sons and husbands in the war he initiated. Similarly, Clytemnestra is both her husband's murderer and her daughter's avenger; Aeschylus continues to explore

10858-460: The palace. The Chorus in The Libation Bearers is distinctly different than the one in Agamemnon. From Agamemnon to The Libation Bearers , the Chorus switches from a collection of old, Argive men, to foreign slave women. Furthermore, the Chorus in Agamemnon possessed a fearful voice, characterized by their critical commentary on the events and characters of the play. Despite this, they play

10980-446: The pre-Lydian sound change *y > d. Note the labiovelar in place of the labial /p/ found in pre-Doric Ἀπέλjων and Hittite Apaliunas . A Luwian etymology suggested for Apaliunas makes Apollo "The One of Entrapment", perhaps in the sense of "Hunter". Apollo's chief epithet was Phoebus ( / ˈ f iː b ə s / FEE -bəs ; Φοῖβος , Phoibos Greek pronunciation: [pʰó͜i.bos] ), literally "bright". It

11102-452: The prehistory of Apollo worship, which he termed "a Dorian-northwest Greek component, a Cretan-Minoan component, and a Syro-Hittite component." In classical times, his major function in popular religion was to keep away evil, and he was therefore called "apotropaios" ( ἀποτρόπαιος , "averting evil") and "alexikakos" ( ἀλεξίκακος "keeping off ill"; from v. ἀλέξω + n. κακόν ). Apollo also had many epithets relating to his function as

11224-561: The primitive god Paean ( Παιών-Παιήων ), who did not have a cult of his own. Paean serves as the healer of the gods in the Iliad , and seems to have originated in a pre-Greek religion. It is suggested, though unconfirmed, that he is connected to the Mycenaean figure pa-ja-wo-ne (Linear B: 𐀞𐀊𐀺𐀚 ). Paean was the personification of holy songs sung by "seer-doctors" ( ἰατρομάντεις ), which were supposed to cure disease. Homer uses

11346-426: The protector god of public places and houses who wards off evil and his symbol was a tapered stone or column. However, while usually Greek festivals were celebrated at the full moon , all the feasts of Apollo were celebrated on the seventh day of the month, and the emphasis given to that day ( sibutu ) indicates a Babylonian origin. The Vedic Rudra has some functions similar to those of Apollo. The terrible god

11468-511: The rites seemed to center around Demeter's search for and reunion with her daughter, which symbolized both the rebirth of crops in spring and the rebirth of the initiates after death. She is depicted as a mature woman, often crowned and holding sheafs of wheat and a torch. Her symbols are the cornucopia , wheat-ears, the winged serpent, and the lotus staff. Her sacred animals include pigs and snakes. God of wine, fruitfulness, parties, festivals, madness, chaos, drunkenness, vegetation, ecstasy, and

11590-420: The river. But Leto herself declined his help and departed, as she did not want him to suffer for her sake. After being turned away from various lands, Apollo spoke again from the womb, asking his mother to take look at the floating island in front of her and expressing his wish to be born there. When Leto approached Asteria, all the other islands fled. But Asteria welcomed Leto without any fear of Hera. Walking on

11712-408: The robes laid out for him. This is a very ominous moment in the play, as loyalties and motives are questioned. The King's new concubine, Cassandra , is now introduced, and this immediately spawns hatred from the queen, Clytemnestra. Cassandra is ordered out of her chariot and to the altar, where, once she is alone, she begins predicting the death of Agamemnon and her own shared fate. Inside the house,

11834-485: The same locality. Lycia was sacred to the god, for this Apollo was also called Lycian. Apollo's cult was already fully established when written sources commenced, about 650 BCE. Apollo became extremely important to the Greek world as an oracular deity in the archaic period , and the frequency of theophoric names such as Apollodorus or Apollonios and cities named Apollonia testify to his popularity. Oracular sanctuaries to Apollo were established in other sites. In

11956-401: The sky, weather, thunder, lightning, law, order, and justice. He is the youngest son of Cronus and Rhea . He overthrew Cronus and gained the sovereignty of heaven for himself. In art he is depicted as a regal, mature man with a sturdy figure and dark beard. His usual attributes are the royal scepter and the lightning bolt. His sacred animals include the eagle and the bull. His Roman counterpart

12078-442: The son of Zeus and Hera or Hera alone, he is the smith of the gods and the husband of the adulterous Aphrodite . He was usually depicted as a bearded, crippled man with hammer, tongs, and anvil, and sometimes riding a donkey. His sacred animals include the donkey, the guard dog, and the crane. Among his creations was the armor of Achilles . Hephaestus used the fire of the forge as a creative force, but his Roman counterpart Vulcan

12200-451: The tendency to shoehorn her motivations into Freud's model. She asks for scholars to reconsider Electra as undergoing vagina-envy, resulting from the woman's powerful and sexually-active position in pre-Hellenic society. By liberating Electra from the male-centric complexes and histories that restrict her motivations, study of mother-daughter relations can evolve into an "outline of a future world." In another of her works, Jacobs, too, writes on

12322-401: The theater. He is the twice-born son of Zeus and Semele , in that Zeus snatched him from his mother's womb and stitched Dionysus into his own thigh and carried him until he was ready to be born. In art he is depicted as either an older bearded god (particularly before 430 BC) or an effeminate , long-haired youth (particularly after 430 BC). His attributes include the thyrsus , a drinking cup,

12444-449: The three Moirai . Scorning the advances of Zeus, Asteria transformed herself into a bird and jumped into a sea. From her, an island rose which was called Ortygia. When Hera discovered that Leto was pregnant with Zeus' child, she decreed that Leto can give birth only in a place where sun does not shine. During this time, the monster Python also started hounding Leto with an intent of killing her, because he had foreseen his death coming at

12566-598: The three realms of the universe, the underworld. As a chthonic god, however, his place among the Olympians is ambiguous. In the mystery religions and Athenian literature, Plouton ("the Rich one") was his preferred name, because of the idea that all riches came from the earth. The term Hades was used in this literature to refer to the underworld itself. The Romans translated Plouton as Dis Pater ("the Rich Father") or Pluto. God of fire, metalworking, and crafts. Either

12688-551: The tribunal saw Orestes as son of Agamemnon before being son of Clytemnestra. In The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (1884), Marxist Friedrich Engels praises Bachofen's "correct interpretation". Nonetheless, he sees it as "pure mysticism" by Bachofen to see the change in divine perspectives as the cause of the change in Greek society. Instead, Engels considers economic factors—the creation of private property —and

12810-594: The trilogy in masks in London's Royal National Theatre , with music by Harrison Birtwistle and stage design by Jocelyn Herbert . In 1999, Katie Mitchell followed him at the same venue (though in the Cottesloe Theatre, where Hall had directed in the Olivier Theatre) with a production which used Ted Hughes ' translation. In 2015, Robert Icke 's production of his own adaptation was a sold out hit at

12932-490: The untheorized state of matricide in literature and asks for an expansion of symbolism beyond the classic Oedipean model. The House of Atreus began with Tantalus , son of Zeus, who murdered his son, Pelops , and attempted to feed him to the gods. The gods, however, were not tricked and banished Tantalus to the Underworld and brought his son back to life. Later in life Pelops and his family line were cursed by Myrtilus ,

13054-404: The waters, became gold. Asteria bathed the newborn, swaddled him and fed him with her breast milk. The island had become rooted and was later called Delos. Hera was no longer angry, as Zeus had managed to calm her down; and she held no grudge against Asteria, since Asteria had rejected Zeus in the past. Pindar is the earliest source who explicitly calls Apollo and Artemis as twins. Here, Asteria

13176-424: The young is one of the best attested facets of his panhellenic cult persona. As a kourotrophos , Apollo is concerned with the health and education of children, and he presided over their passage into adulthood. Long hair, which was the prerogative of boys, was cut at the coming of age ( ephebeia ) and dedicated to Apollo. The god himself is depicted with long, uncut hair to symbolise his eternal youth. Apollo

13298-549: Was a major deity of the Roman state. Goddess of spring, Queen of the Underworld , wife of Hades and daughter of Demeter and Zeus . Her symbols include the pomegranate , grain, torches, wheat and the asphodelus . After her abduction by Hades, she was forced to split the year between the world of the dead with her husband and the world of the living with her mother. She was worshipped in conjunction with Demeter, especially in

13420-399: Was a sea-god worshipped especially in Crete and in the islands. Apollo's sister Artemis , who was the Greek goddess of hunting, is identified with Britomartis (Diktynna), the Minoan "Mistress of the animals". In her earliest depictions she was accompanied by the "Master of the animals", a bow-wielding god of hunting whose name has been lost; aspects of this figure may have been absorbed into

13542-499: Was born from sea-foam and the severed genitals of Uranus ; in Homer 's Iliad (5.370–417), she is daughter of Zeus and Dione . She was married to Hephaestus , but bore him no children. She had many lovers, most notably Ares , to whom she bore Harmonia , Phobos , and Deimos . She was also a lover to Adonis and Anchises , to whom she bore Aeneas . She is usually depicted as a naked or semi-nude beautiful woman. Her symbols include

13664-549: Was depicted as a beardless youth, either nude with a helmet and spear or sword, or as an armed warrior. Homer portrays him as moody and unreliable, and as being the most unpopular god on earth and Olympus ( Iliad 5.890–1). He generally represents the chaos of war in contrast to Athena , a goddess of military strategy and skill. Ares is known for cuckolding his brother Hephaestus , conducting an affair with his wife Aphrodite . His sacred animals include vultures, venomous snakes, dogs, and boars. His Roman counterpart Mars by contrast

13786-431: Was feared for his destructive potential and associated with the volcanic power of the earth. Queen of the gods, and goddess of women, marriage, childbirth, heirs, kings, and empires. She is the goddess of the sky, the wife and sister of Zeus , and the daughter of Cronus and Rhea . She was usually depicted as a regal woman in the prime of her life, wearing a diadem and veil and holding a lotus-tipped staff. Although she

13908-412: Was in general seen as the god who affords help and wards off evil, and is referred to as Alexicacus , the "averter of evil". Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo, whether through the god himself or mediated through his son Asclepius . Apollo delivered people from epidemics, yet he is also a god who could bring ill health and deadly plague with his arrows. The invention of archery itself

14030-563: Was in this way that Apollo had become recognized as the god of music. Apollo's role as the slayer of the Python led to his association with battle and victory; hence it became the Roman custom for a paean to be sung by an army on the march and before entering into battle, when a fleet left the harbour, and also after a victory had been won. In the Iliad , Apollo is the healer under the gods, but he

14152-559: Was regarded as the dignified ancestor of the Roman people. Virgin goddess of the hunt, wilderness, animals, the Moon and young girls. Both she and Apollo are archery gods. She is the daughter of Zeus and Leto , and twin sister of Apollo . In art she is often depicted as a young woman dressed in a short knee-length chiton and equipped with a silver hunting bow and a quiver of arrows. Her attributes include hunting knives and spears, animal pelts, deer and other wild animals. Her sacred animal

14274-447: Was there bringing libations to Agamemnon in an attempt to stop Clytemnestra's bad dreams. Shortly after the reunion, both Orestes and Electra, influenced by the Chorus, come up with a plan to kill both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus . Orestes then goes to the palace door, where he is greeted by Clytemnestra. He pretends he is a stranger and tells Clytemnestra that he (Orestes) is dead, causing her to send for Aegisthus. Unrecognized, Orestes

14396-400: Was told that Leto's son would become more dear to Zeus than Ares. Enraged by this, Hera watched over the heavens and sent out Ares and Iris to prevent Leto from giving birth on the earth. Ares, stationed over the mainland, and Iris, over the islands, threatened all the lands and prevented them from helping Leto. When Leto arrived at Thebes, fetal Apollo prophesied from his mother's womb that in

14518-501: Was translated by Herbert Weir Smyth : A wretched piteous dove, in quest of food, dashed amid the winnowing-fans, its breast broken in twain. In 2002, Theatre Kingston mounted a production of The Oresteia and included a new reconstruction of Proteus based on the episode in The Odyssey and loosely arranged according to the structure of extant satyr plays. Retaliation is seen in the Oresteia to cascade. In Agamemnon , it

14640-464: Was venerated as the slayer of the monstrous serpent Python . For the Greeks, Apollo was the most Greek of all the gods, and through the centuries he acquired different functions. In Archaic Greece he was the prophet , the oracular god who in older times was connected with "healing". In Classical Greece he was the god of light and of music, but in popular religion he had a strong function to keep away evil. Walter Burkert discerned three components in

14762-535: Was very commonly used by both the Greeks and Romans for Apollo's role as the god of light. Like other Greek deities, he had a number of others applied to him, reflecting the variety of roles, duties, and aspects ascribed to the god. However, while Apollo has a great number of appellations in Greek myth, only a few occur in Latin literature . Apollo's birthplace was Mount Cynthus on the island of Delos . Delphi and Actium were his primary places of worship. Apollo

14884-521: Was worshipped throughout the Roman Empire . In the traditionally Celtic lands, he was most often seen as a healing and sun god. He was often equated with Celtic gods of similar character. Apollo is considered the most Hellenic (Greek) of the Olympian gods . The cult centers of Apollo in Greece, Delphi and Delos , date from the 8th century BCE. The Delos sanctuary was primarily dedicated to Artemis , Apollo's twin sister. At Delphi, Apollo

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