Agamemnon is the first play in a trilogy of tragedies by
Aeschylus entitled the
Oresteia. (The second two parts are called
Libation Bearers and
Eumenides.) When we say it is part of a trilogy, we don't mean like nowadays, when some blockbuster movie makes a ton of money, prompting studio executives to crank out a couple of sequels. In the heyday of Greek tragedy, all three parts of a trilogy were performed back-to-back…to-back, on a single day. Sometimes, these would be followed by a fourth play, called a satyr play, which would provide a goofy contrast. Each series of plays would usually be linked by some overarching story and set of themes; the
Oresteia, which talks about a cycle of revenge within three generations of a single family, is no exception.
The
Oresteia was first performed in Athens at the Festival of the god
Dionysus in 458 B.C. At this festival, tragedies were always performed as part of a contest pitting poet against poet; you'll be pleased to know that, with the
Oresteia, Aeschylus took home first-place.
So, that trophy must have meant Aeschylus was set for life, right? Well, yes, but Aeschylus was already a very established playwright, and an old man, by the time he won this victory. Aeschylus was born around 525 B.C. in Eleusis, a small town not far from Athens. Eleusis was considered part of Athenian territory, and so Aeschylus was born an Athenian citizen; his family came from the nobility. According to legend, when Aeschylus was a young man, he worked in a vineyard. One day, when he dosed off, the god Dionysus appeared to him in a dream and said, "Hey, Aeschylus! You should become a writer of tragedies." Then Aeschylus supposedly woke up and said, "Word." We at Shmoop can't vouch for this story, but we do know that Aeschylus began writing plays in the 490s B.C.
The guy was no shrinking violet, however, and when the Persians made war on the Greeks, Aeschylus fought alongside his fellow Athenians at the battle of Marathon. When the Persians invaded Greece a second time ten years later, Aeschylus fought again, this time participating in the sea battle at Salamis, a decisive victory for the Greeks. According to one ancient source, Aeschylus was so proud of defending his country that his epitaph (which he wrote himself, of course) made no mention of his career as a playwright, instead boasting of his courage in battle against the Persians.
Aeschylus's epitaph makes a great story, but, at the time of his death, the guy's prowess as a writer of tragedies probably went without saying. In between those two battles against the Persians, Aeschylus won the annual tragedy contest for the first time in 484 B.C. He was top of the heap for a good time after that, in part because he completely revolutionized his art form. According to
Aristotle, before Aeschylus came along, tragedies only featured one actor and a chorus; Aeschylus was the first person to add a second actor. Thus, you could say that Aeschylus invented dramatic dialogue, making him the originator of all subsequent theater, movies, and TV. Not too shabby.
But then, in 468, Aeschylus was given a run for his money by a young upstart named
Sophocles, who actually won first prize in his first year competing. Two millennia before the epic battle between the Gillette Mach 3, Schick Quattro, and Gillette Fusion lines of safety razors, Sophocles soon unveiled his new secret weapon: a THIRD ACTOR. (Whoa!) Aeschylus knew a good thing when he saw it, though, and in no time he was working three-actor scenes into his own tragedies, including those of the
Oresteia. Aeschylus's trick was that he would keep the third actor silent for long periods of time, making him (all Greek actors were male) speak only at climactic moments. The character of Cassandra in
Agamemnon fits this pattern.
Written near the end of his life, and incorporating his own innovations and those of Sophocles,
Agamemnon and the rest of the
Oresteia make up Aeschylus's greatest achievement. It is no coincidence that these plays were revived and re-performed after Aeschylus's death, a rare honor in ancient Athens. Fortunately for us, they continue to be read and performed today.