Agamemnon

Paper Summary:

The paper is written in the form of a legal argument by the prosecuting counsel. The writer argues that, when her trial began, there was no question that Clytemnestra was guilty of the murder of her husband Agamemnon and the slave Cassandra. The paper discusses how not only was she seen holding the murder weapon by the Chorus, but the prophet Cassandra indicated that Clytemnestra was killing Agamemnon and would be the instrument of Cassandra's death. In addition, Clytemnestra freely admitted that she committed both murders. The paper shows how Clytemnestra deserves the highest penalty possible: the death penalty.

From the Paper:

"On the surface, Clytemnestra's argument that she murdered Agamemnon for the good of Argos has some appeal; it is unquestioned that he led Argos in war against Troy. However, a deeper investigation of the argument reveals its weaknesses. The first weakness is that the Argonauts supported the war. They believed that Paris had abused Menelaus' hospitality by seducing Helen. In addition, they believed that Paris abused their state hospitality by doing so. The argument's second weakness is that, even if the Argonauts had not supported the war, Clytemnestra's actions did nothing to reduce either the duration or the severity of the war."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Aeschylus. (458 B.C.E.), E.D.A. Morshead, translator. "Agamemnon." MIT Classics. 2000. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 24 Apr. 2006 <http://classics.mit.edu/Aeschylus/agamemnon.html>.

More papers on Agamemnon:

• Book Review # 74929 : "Aeschylus' "Agamemnon" and Homer's "Odyssey"
• Analytical Essay # 123312 : "Chorus in 'Oedipus' & 'Agamemnon'"
• Analytical Essay # 34720 : "Agamemnon"
• Book Review # 128321 : "Oedipus and Agamemnon: Free Will"

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