Paper outline

- So I must prove:

Overall theme of inherited guilt. List some examples of inherited guilt, such as stealing
Helen = destruction of troy. Cassandra, Clytemnestra.

Describe main thread of pollution - Atreus and Thyestes = Iphegenia at Aulis = murder
of Agamemnon = matricide = self-imposed exile and furies after Orestes.

Limited free will. They have two choices before them, both are terrible and will lead to
further pollution. Looking at passages, show how they had limited free will.

Are punished for their crimes even though the gods forced them to choose between two
crimes.

Look into the way Agamemnon and Orestes make their choices. Pay close attention to
passages.

And look into how they view their crime or act during/after the deed. Orestes realizes
that what he did was wrong and goes into self appointed exile. Clytemnestra's corrupted
sacrifices, but pollution overcomes her through dreams and matricide. Orestes suffers
through the furies, who demand revenge for matricide.

Orestes is also forgiven because Clytemnestra's crime is worse than his own, seems that a
male/father is more important than a mother/female.

That there is a difference because Iphegenia was an innocent person, while Clytemnestra
was not. She needed to pay for her crime. Mention allusions of pregnant hare =
Iphegenia

Joan Paez
Classics 220
Inherited Guilt:
Agamemnon and Orestes
It has been noted that a constant theme within the works of Aeschylus,
particularly embedded in the Oresteia, is that of inherited guilt.1 Aeschylus takes up such
a theme, which is pervasive throughout the Oresteia. As the tradition goes, Atreus,
Agamemnon's father, brought a pollution, (add greek word for pollution)2, upon the
future generations of his family by means of the human feast for his brother. Thus, as
Aeschylus relates, (lines from Agamemnon where it states that a punishment will be paid
by future generations)3, so, from this injustice, a pollution is inherited by the agent's
children and their children's children, until the guilt or crime is atoned for. And so,
Agamemnon and Orestes suffer due to the guilt inherited from Atreus, but this is does not
mean that neither man had free will. This guilt is manifested in the form of two choices
that lie before both men; it is necessary that Agamemnon and Orestes make a choice
between the two, and so, they do in fact have free will, but a somewhat limited form.
Nevertheless, they were bound to decide between two actions, both of which were
crimes; Agamemnon chooses to sacrifice his daughter at Aulis, while Orestes commits
the crime of matricide to avenge his father. And yet, these choices, which seem equally
deplorable, lead to two very different outcomes; Agamemnon pays with his life, while
Orestes is freed from the guilt. So, in this paper, I will attempt to prove: 1) Agamemnon
and Orestes have some degree of free will; 2) They had to choose between two evils and
so, they must suffer for their crimes, because the responsibility and culpability for
1

(Find who wrote about this theme in Aeschylus' works)

Agamemnon, ed. All translations in this paper are my own.
3
Ag.
2

committing those offenses are not removed by their limited free will; and lastly, 3) I will
examine the underlying differences between father and son that lead to the acquittal of
Orestes.

How to cite:
Book
Okuda, Michael, and Denise Okuda. Star Trek Chronology: The History
of the Future. New York: Pocket, 1993.
Journal Article
Wilcox, Rhonda V. "Shifting Roles and Synthetic Women in Star
Trek: The Next Generation." Studies in Popular Culture 13.2 (1991): 53-65.
Book Article or Chapter
James, Nancy E. "Two Sides of Paradise: The Eden Myth According to
Kirk and Spock." Spectrum of the Fantastic. Ed. Donald Palumbo. Westport:
Greenwood, 1988. 219-223.

Bibliography
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Edwards, Mark W. "Agamemnon's Decision: Freedom and Folly in Aeschylus."
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Ganz, Timothy. "Inherited Guilt in Aischylos." The Classical Journal 78.1 (1982): 1-23.
Helm, James. "Aeschylus Genealogy." Transactions of the American Philological
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