Who is the hero in The Libation Bearers?

Orestes
The protagonist of The Libation Bearers, Orestes spends the course of the play preparing to avenge his father’s murder. At the end of the play, he carries out this vengeance by killing Aigisthos and Clytamnestra. Orestes is intelligent and determined, just like his mother.

What is the theme of The Libation Bearers?

Fate, the Gods, and Piety Although no gods appear within The Libation Bearers, Aeschylus makes clear that ideas of piety and the power of the gods are in the forefront of his characters’ minds.

Who did Orestes see at the end of Libation Bearers?

Orestes cuts off two locks of his hair to make as offerings: he gives one as an offering to a river in Argos, and the other to the spirit of his father. After he makes these offerings, Orestes sees his sister Electra coming up to the tomb of Agamemnon, along with a group of slave-women.

How did the Libation Bearers end?

By Aeschylus This time, it’s Clytemnestra who has been killed, and the murderer is… Orestes, who ends the play by going insane and running away to Delphi, convinced he is pursued by the Furies (spirits of vengeance).

Is The Libation Bearers a tragedy?

Introduction. “The Libation Bearers” (Gr: “Choephoroi” ) is the second of the three linked tragedies which make up “The Oresteia” trilogy by the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, preceded by “Agamemnon” and followed by “The Eumenides” .

Is there a hero in the Oresteia?

The titular character of the first play of the trilogy, Agamemnon is a great Greek hero, one of the key figures in their decisive victory in the Trojan War. To please the goddess Artemis and have the winds shift in his favor before the battle, he sacrificed the life of his daughter Iphigenia.

What happens in Libation Bearers?

Many years after king Agamemnon’s murder at the hands of his wife Clytamnestra and her lover Aigisthos, his son Orestes returns home with Pylades to mourn at his grave. His mission is to exact vengeance for Agamemnon’s death upon his murderers. …

What are the main themes of the Oresteia?

The only extant example of an ancient Greek theatre trilogy, the Oresteia won first prize at the Dionysia festival in 458 BC. The principal themes of the trilogy include the contrast between revenge and justice, as well as the transition from personal vendetta to organized litigation.

What happened in the Libation Bearers?

Who dies in Libation Bearers?

Agamemnon
In the first play of the Oresteia trilogy, Agamemnon returns to Argos after ten years away at the Trojan War. His wife Clytemnestra, who has been ruling the kingdom in his absence, murders him and his concubine Cassandra.

Why is it called Libation Bearers?

The second play, Choephoroi (Libation Bearers), takes its title from the chorus of women servants who come to pour propitiatory offerings at the tomb of the murdered Agamemnon. Orestes then slays Aegisthus, but Orestes’ subsequent murder of Clytemnestra is committed reluctantly, at the god Apollo’s bidding.

Who is the tragic hero in Oresteia?

Orestes’s Saga in the Oresteia: The Tragic Hero. Eumenides is the final play in Aeschylus’s Oresteia cycle, three plays telling the story of a cursed Greek royal family, the House of Atreus. The cycle is named after Orestes, a young man from Argos, Greece, who plays a pivotal role in the family’s unraveling.

What was the plot of the Libation Bearers?

Together, Orestes and Electra plot to avenge Agamemnon’s death. With the eager support of the chorus, Orestes concocts a plan wherein he will gain admittance to the palace and kill Aigisthos on the throne. Electra and the chorus are complicit, and disappear back into the palace.

Who is the oracle of Apollo in the Libation Bearers?

Many years after king Agamemnon’s murder at the hands of his wife Clytamnestra and her lover Aigisthos, his son Orestes returns home with Pylades to mourn at his grave. Orestes has been living in exile and has come back to Argos in secret, sent by an oracle of Apollo. His mission is to exact vengeance for Agamemnon’s death upon his murderers.

Who is Orestes sister in the Libation Bearers?

While standing at Agamemnon’s grave, Orestes meets up with his sister Electra, whom he has not seen since he was a child. There is a protracted recognition scene and then a subsequent joyful reunion.

How does the chorus intervene in the Libation Bearers?

The chorus intervenes, intercepting Clytamnestra’s message, and tells Cilissa to compel Aigisthos to come alone, without his guard. Although she does not understand why the chorus seems so gleeful, since she assumes that Orestes is dead, Cilissa does as she is told.