Agamemnon Politics

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.

Sure, you hear a lot of talk about how Congress is deadlocked and can't get anything done. But even ancient Athens, the birthplace of modern democracy, experienced its share of "Democracy Inaction." Here, we see the initial enthusiasm of the Chorus members fade away as they descend into confused arguing. When they finally come to a majority decision, the decision is to take no action: they will wait until they have a clearer knowledge of the facts. Of course, it's always good to know the facts before acting. Overall, do you think Aeschylus's picture here supports democracy, criticizes it, or is his portrayal a mixture of both attitudes?

These words from Aegisthus seem to bear out the Chorus's fear from the previous quotation: that the murder of Agamemnon is only a prelude to a new reign of tyranny in Argos. This can be seen in the fact that Aegisthus insists on rigid political and social hierarchy (as symbolized in the image of the oarsmen and the helmsmen of a ship), and promises to inflict physical pain on those who try to destabilize it.

The gendered language of the Chorus reveals that they are not entirely opposed to having somebody rule over them – they just don't want to be ruled by someone they consider less than a man – i.e., a woman. This is consistent with their negative attitude towards Clytemnestra, expressed elsewhere in the play. What do you think the Chorus finds most objectionable about being ruled by a woman, or a man who reminds them of a woman?

Yup, Aegisthus definitely has a tyrannical streak in him. He makes no bones about his intention to inflict pain on anyone who disobeys him.

These lines show that the Chorus is not totally passive; when push comes to shove, they are willing to stand up to tyrants. Of course, they do not actually end up fighting Aegisthus, because Clytemnestra is able to defuse the situation. What does this contradictory image of the Chorus – ready to fight, but easily appeased – suggest about Aeschylus's views on democracy?

Aww, poor baby: Aegisthus doesn't like it when the people insult him. If he's thinking about embarking on a political career, he's definitely going to have to learn to deal with "empty talk." That said, tyrants do have notoriously thin skin…

Here is the Chorus's comeback to Aegisthus: they say that they wouldn't flatter somebody who didn't deserve it. ("Argives" just means people from "Argos.") Even though the Chorus intends this as a sign of pride, is it really something to be proud of? If all you do is pick and choose who you are going to "fawn" on, that's a long way from taking control of your own destiny, right? This clearly shows that, for all their complaints about some of their leaders, the people of Argos in Aeschylus's play aren't very good at managing their own affairs either.