Agamemnon Politics Quotes Page 1

This quotation is thematically the inverse of the last quotation from the theme of "Family." There, Clytemnestra told the Chorus to butt out of the funeral arrangements for Agamemnon: that was a private matter best left up to her own family. Here, the Chorus describes how they grumbled about the Trojan War, because they considered it an inappropriate intrusion of Agamemnon and Menelaus's own family life into the political life of the city. Why should their sons and relatives have to die to bring back some other guy's wife? What do these lines suggest about the relationship between private life and politics?

Here, the Chorus portrays their social and political status as determined by the gods. It's easy to imagine that kings such as Agamemnon would promote such beliefs among their people. After all, if the lower classes think that the gods want them to stay that way, they're much less likely to revolt, right? The thing is, these specific lines show that plan backfiring. Because the Chorus members are so concerned about their low social status, they don't speak out of turn to warn Agamemnon about the impending danger from Clytemnestra. Whoops.

After the Chorus hears the death-cries of Agamemnon, they immediately launch into a scene that would have been familiar to all members of the play's original audience – at least all of them who were male citizens, that is. What do they do? They debate! The democratic nature of this debate is driven home by the Chorus's biggest fear: that whoever assassinated Agamemnon will use this to impose tyrannical, dictatorial rule over the city.