Morals and Politics in the ‘Oresteia’

When Aeschylus wrote, no distinction between morals and politics had yet been drawn. But in our day the moral and the political element in the Oresteia have usually been examined separately. Thus, for example, Professor Dover, in his thoughtful paper on ‘The Political Aspect of the Eumenides’ , makes no attempt to connect this aspect with the moral issues raised in the earlier part of the trilogy. And Sir Richard Livingstone, in his paper on ‘The Problem of the Eumenides ’, denied, if I understand him correctly, that any real link exists: ‘The last 350 lines of the Eumenides ’, he says bluntly, ‘are not an integral part of the trilogy. They are a loosely connected episode, stitched on its outside.’ If he is right, we may properly ask what motive was so strong, what need so urgent, as to induce the poet thus to botch the conclusion of his masterpiece. And if he is wrong, we should try to prove him wrong by making clear the nature of the link. To explore these alternatives is the chief purpose of the present paper.