Abstract This paper explains that the plays "Libation Bearers" and "Eumenides" are part of a trilogy of ancient Greek plays written by Aeschylus telling the story of King Agamemnon, his wife Clytaemnestra and their children. The author points out that, appearing in these plays, the Furies, who are the three daughters of Mother Earth, represent man's evil and hold him accountable for his evil actions thereby moving from justice to social change and merciful reform. The paper relates that the Furies, creatures of the underworld who become creatures of Athens, show that change and growth is good for society and good for individuals, like Orestes.
From the Paper "The Furies are not evil, they avenge evil deeds, but they certainly are frightening and cause tumult around them. As they pursue Orestes throughout this play, they do indeed seem evil and vengeful. They can smell the blood of Orestes murdered mother, and that is how they track him all the way to Athens. Ultimately, the Furies could destroy Orestes, but Queen Athena intervenes, and changes the entire aspect of Orestes torment when she takes him to trial before a judge and jury. The Furies represent an old, archaic form of justice based on revenge, and that is another reason makes them ugly. Revenge and its' motives are often just as ugly as the Furies, and so, they represent a form of justice that may be quick, but is not always fair or even just. The Furies are living in the past, and Orestes, with his crime, will pull them into the future, where they can change the way they view the world and are viewed by the world."
Abstract This paper briefly discusses how studying Egyptian art proves the need for more use of all the senses in art. It uses the famous picture of the offering bearing to the court official Tjeti. The writer looks at all aspects of the picture to assist in enhancing the reader's senses.
From the Paper "Egyptian art and language are intimately and intricately linked. Egyptian writing is very pictorial --- all the alphabets are really pictures. Each letter is a representation of a sound, like in English. But unlike English, the very shape of a letter or word has meaning. In English, the word "love", for example, can have meaning only in the auditory medium. It's only when it is read and heard that it has meaning. The shape of "love" itself has no meaning. Nor do the shapes of any English alphabet. So, Egyptian alphabets are symbols of both sound and sight. This interplay between the auditory and the visual can make very interesting effects such as multilayered puns with multiple meanings (1)."
Abstract The hero of the revenge tragedy is known for having certain characteristics. These include that the hero is compelled to act by certain forces, that the existing authorities are unwilling or incapable of satisfying the hero's craving for justice, that the hero has a detailed and devious plan they are determined to carry out and that there is a moment of declaration where the avenger tells the victim why they are going to be killed. "Hamlet" (William Shakespeare) and "The Libation Bearers" (Aeschylus) are two revenge tragedies, with the heroes of each Hamlet and Orestes. Since Hamlet and Orestes are both revenge heroes, it would be suggested that they are similar characters and they would each meet the criteria of the revenge hero. However, a close look at the two plays in this paper show that Hamlet and Orestes are very different characters. Orestes meets the fours criteria of the classic revenge hero, while Hamlet pushes all the boundaries of what would be expected and either only partially meets, or does not meet, the four criteria at all. To illustrate the differences, Hamlet and Orestes are compared, based on the four characteristics identified.
From the Paper "The second characteristic of the classic revenge tragedy hero is that the existing authorities are unwilling or incapable of satisfying the hero's craving for justice. In both plays, the authorities are unwilling to right the situation, meaning that it is left to the hero to right it. Hamlet's and Orestes's circumstances are the same on this point. However, the two heroes differ in that Orestes has a craving to right the situation and Hamlet does not. The circumstances in both plays are very similar. In Hamlet, Claudius has killed the king and assumed the role of king. This puts Claudius in the role of power and since Claudius is at the highest level, the authorities cannot right the situation. This creates a need for someone to right the situation and Hamlet is assigned to this task. Seeking revenge is then a way to avenge Claudius's murder, as well as to restore harmony. In The Libation Bearers Orestes's mother Clytaemnestra has murdered her husband and Orestes's father, King Agamemnon. Clytaemnestra has obtained the highest seat of power, just as Claudius did. With Clytaemnestra at the highest level, the authorities cannot right the situation. The task of righting the situations falls to Orestes, with this necessary both to revenge his father's murder and to restore harmony."
Abstract This paper examines Euripides? "Electra" as a variation of the Electra myth and its relation to Aeschylus? interpretation of the same story in the "Libation Bearers", with particular emphasis on Euripides? "realistic" approach to concepts of character and issues of intertextuality, such as in the 'recognition scene'. Amongst others, it includes in-depth analyses and comparisons of the character of Electra herself and that of Orestes, the role of the Gods and the chorus and the depiction of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra in both plays.
From the Paper "Euripides? Electra starts with a shock: Agamemnon's daughter has been forced to marry a peasant and now lives in squalor, far away from the palace she used to inhibit. In line with his overall more "realistic" approach to the story, Euripides? focus is less on solemn atmosphere and heroic characters as presented in Aeschylus, but instead characterised by an emphasis on a more human depiction of its characters. In his treatment of the Electra myth, Euripides poses fundamental questions about the relationship between class and moral values, which is manifested in the character of the peasant, Electra's husband, a unique Euripidean invention which is not featured in the Aeschylean version of the myth."
Abstract This paper explores the spreading of AIDS in Africa. It shows various studies headed by international organizations that have tried to both analyze and prevent the rapid spread of AIDS on the African continent. It points to various factors such as lack of education, absence of contraceptives, and poverty as reasons for the fast spread of HIV. It also focuses on why women are much more likely to be infected and spread the disease.
From the paper:
"AIDS is a demographic disease. The most prone to the disease are women, children and the poor. The testimony to this statement is the fact that in a country like Africa the most effected by AIDS is the women and the children. This is mainly because they have to deal with the fact that society considers them a second-class citizen, they are basically the child bearers and have many stigmas attached to their actions within the society."
Analysis of the classic Greek tragedy The Oresteia. The Oresteia is a trilogy, composed of Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers and The Eumendzes. The first two concern revenge, the final concerns the primacy of law over personal revenge.
1,125 words (approx. 4.5 pages), 1 source, 1990, $ 39.95
From the Paper "In the three plays of the Oresteia by Aeschylus, legal issues are discussed and used as important motivations for much of the action. Different legal metaphors are utilized in the first two plays, culminating in the courtroom references and structure of the third play, The Eumenides. The first two plays in the trilogy present an image of private vengeance as something that goes against the grain of the law, while the third play emphasizes the need to replace this private vengeance with the rule of law, embodied here in the courtroom. Throughout, the actions of the leaders of Athens determine the fate of the society of that city, whether the people prosper or not, because the gods--her represented by the Eumenides, will punish the entire region for the transgressions of the House of Atreus.
In the first two plays, Agamemnon and The Libation Bearers, the..."
Abstract Examines the relevance of gender-specific themes in the three plays of the ORESTEIA trilogy by Aeschylus. AGAMEMNON, THE LIBATION BEARERS (CHOEPHORIA) & EUMENIDIS (FURIES). Discusses curse of the House of Atreus & the Trojan War. Plots. Characters; their motivations, actions & relationships. The important role Agamemnon plays in sacrificing his daughter Iphigenia, which sets the tragedy of the triology into motion.
From the Paper "This research analyzes gender issues in Aeschylus's Oresteia trilogy, comprising the plays Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers (Choephoroi), and Eumenides. The relevance of gender-specific themes that emerge in the plays will be discussed.
The Oresteia cannot be understood without reference to the curse of the house of Atreus of Argos, which is bound up with the legend of the Trojan war. The curse began when Atreus killed sons of his brother Thyestes, who had seduced Atreus's wife. After a banquet in which Atreus fed Thyestes's children to him, Thyestes laid a curse on Atreus's descendants. Atreus's two sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, married two sisters, Clytemnestra and Helen, respectively, and when Helen either eloped with or was abducted by Paris to Troy, Agamemnon, like Menelaus, assembled an army of Greeks and prepared to sail for Troy. But that..."
Abstract This research analyzes topics related to gender in ancient Greek playwright, Aeschylus' "Oresteia" trilogy, comprising the plays "Agamemnon", "The Libation Bearers" (Choephoroi), and "Eumenides". The relevance of gender-specific themes that emerge in the plays are discussed.
From the Paper "The importance of engendered social roles is important to the action of the Agamemnon, although as Kitto points out, the play by no means makes clear that Aeschylus shares any particular social values articulated by the characters in the play. In any case, Clytemnestra literally plays the homebody, offering Agamemnon fulsome and public praise upon his appearance, fussing at her women to facilitate his grand entry into the palace. In words that drip with irony, she calls for justice to "lead him to a home unlooked for. The rest my care that never sleeps will order justly" (Ag. 21). Olson says that despite her wickedness, "it is impossible not to respect her, not to admire her.""
Abstract Using the art of the Parthenon and the play "The Oresteia", written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, this paper determines a number of morals and ideals that the Ancient Greeks held in high esteem. In the first few paragraphs, the paper describes the various metopes in the Parthenon. It examines which gods and important Greek characters are depicted, what it is they are doing and how this represents a given Greek ideal. The paper then explores "The Oresteia" and uses important lines to either determine other Greek ideals or uses them to underscore the importance of an ideal already talked about in the segment on the Parthenon. Through comparing the Parthenon and "The Oresteia" the paper determines that the Greeks were a highly civilized people that believed highly in bravery, pride, civic duty, civility, order and justice.
From the Paper "Greeks were the most civilized peoples in the fifth century BCE as well as the best fighters. This was, of course, according to their standards. Their success as warriors and the importance of the Apollonian way of life is inscribed on the walls of the Parthenon and within the pages of The Oresteia. The Parthenon's gracefully sculpted friezes unite with "schylus" trilogy and both are founded on pride and bravery. There is an obvious mindset, almost a moral code among the Athenians. They believed moderation and civility were the keys to success and it was up to them to impose this onto other races. An Athenian who didn?t abide by this code was a pariah of sorts, to say the least, and was portrayed as such through the Parthenon and The Oresteia."
This paper discusses Virginia Woolf's "Shakespeare's Sister" and Maxine Hong Kingston's "No Name Woman", which describe the silencing of women's voices and the resurrection of these "disappeared" voices by the female author.
Abstract This paper explains that the lives of Hong Kingston and Woolf provide a dramatic contrast to the suppression of women as depicted in their works and that the success of Hong Kingston and other women writers represents the fulfillment of Woolf's dream for Shakespeare's "sister". The author points out that, in both "No Name Woman" and "Shakespeare's Sister", women are silenced not by society as a whole, but by the actions of their family and loved ones. The paper states that Judith in "Shakespeare's Sister" is resoundingly stifled by the Elizabethan society of Shakespeare's time; she is held firmly within her roles of a woman as child bearer, wife, and property; any attempt at creative talent is stifled.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Woolf's Essay "Shakespeare's Sister"
"No Name Woman" by Maxine Hong Kingston
Resurrection by the Female Author
Hong Kingston, Woolf, and Women in Literature
Conclusion
From the Paper "Within "No Name Woman", Maxine Hong Kingston also depicts the resurrection of the "disappeared" woman. The narrator, a young Chinese-American woman, tells the story of her aunt, who was ostracized by her family for the crime of giving birth to an illegitimate child. Ling notes, "The author . . . breaks the family silence by writing about this rebel whom she calls 'my forebear'". In Kingston's story, the narrator has participated in the silencing of her aunt, causing her aunt to "disappear". Kingston writes, "there is more to this silence: they want me to participate in her punishment. And I have. In the twenty years since I heard this story I have not asked for details nor said my aunt's name; 1 do not know it." Yet the narrator breaks this silence, and causes the story of the "disappeared" aunt to once again be told. Writes Hong Kingston, "My aunt haunts me-her ghost drawn to me because now, after fifty years of neglect, I alone devote pages of paper to her"."
Abstract This paper explains that Confucian funeral tradition in Korea is complex and requires many stages as well as the participation of several degrees of the extended family. The author points out that the deceased, who becomes an ancestor-god at the moment of death, is honored for the next several years with several 'chesa' ceremonies or family ceremonies used to honor ancestor-gods. The paper relates that, often today, Koreans live in large cities where a truck is used to transport the body instead of a hand-carried platform or bier accompanied by chanting bearers.
From the Paper "Burial usually takes place on the third day. The family mourners dress in special tan clothes made of hemp. The oldest son is the chief mourner, and he demonstrates his grief openly, crying out. Other family members join in the open displays of grief. Friends of the family express their sympathies and offer money to help pay for the funeral. They join the family for meals and to help make all the funeral arrangements. So, while the family has great responsibilities toward the new ancestral god, the funeral is a community affair."
Abstract This paper examines the nature of American literature. The paper explains that American literature, like many other nationalistic literary bodies has had an evolution that marks changing attitudes with regard to what is to be included in the voice of literature. The paper then looks at how the representation of both women and African-American writers is not the only body of inclusion, as contemporary movements have made significant strides toward the inclusion of almost every immigrant group into the canon of American literature and into the body of publishing in general in history and contemporary works. The paper also points out that the defining characteristics of what qualifies as American Literature is simply that it is a written form, poetry, prose or drama that conveys any point of view of the American experience of growth and change. The writer states that frequently some of the most fundamentally expressive forms of American literature are immigrant literature that explores the real and fictional development of the self, from an immigrant outsider to someone who feels as if they are an American, regardless of the outside view of themselves as a foreigner. The paper concludes that American literature should continue to be inclusive and representative of personal nationalistic growth, as a standard bearer for other forms of nationalistic literature.
From the Paper "In all representations of immigrant literature there is a clear sense that at almost any given time in America there was a dominant or subjugated immigrant group that was struggling to be accepted by those who had immigrated one, two or three generations before them. America is a nation of immigrants and American literature is finally beginning to express this, without as much of the exclusionary literary academic influences. The transition of an immigrant into and "American" in the self is frequently one of the most important and influential expression of literature, from Latino American literature, to Asian American immigrant expressions."
Abstract This paper explores the differences and similarities between "The Epic of Gilgamesh", one of the oldest recorded writings from Sumerian or Babylonian mythology, with "Genesis" from the Judeo-Christian Bible. The paper argues that one of the main differences between the epic and "Genesis", is the Babylonian view that the gods are dangerous for mortals, and that their laws are irrational and cannot be predicted by the human mind. For Judaism and Christianity, on the other hand, God is the bearer of righteousness and a symbol of justice and everything that is morally virtuous. Nonetheless, the paper holds that there is a striking resemblance between the two accounts. The paper attempts to provide evidence sustaining the claim that the Mesopotamian account of the great flood is highly relevant to Christianity. It concludes that the myth of the flood is valid and incorporated in Judaism and Christianity and also in the collective conscience of the peoples who did not follow Yahweh.
From the Paper "The Judaic-Christian and the Mesopotamian systems of belief are in clear opposition. Christianity and Judaism praise respect and obedience for the divinity as evidence of God's greatness and moral righteousness. God is the central figure of the faith system because He represents all that is good and right thus humanity must obey Him; here obedience is understood as a definite obligation. On the other hand, for Mesopotamians, respect and piety are the result of humanity's acknowledgement that it is both mortal and weaker than the gods. In this sense, the two virtues are not moral obligations, but a practical attitude which serves as an acknowledgement of the superiority of nature in terms of its power over humans."
