Andrew Balsz Seminar Lashaw Blood is Thicker Than Water Revenge is a dish best served cold is how the old saying goes. But what if the dish was hot and garnished with power? Well, that would make for a great story, and that is what Aeschylus gives us in his Oresteia, a trilogy of plays that follows a cycle of murders all in the name of revenge, or at least that is how it is originally presented. There are many factors that come into effect when analyzing the motives and consequences of each murder, and there(this)is where the story gets truly enticing. Although the blame could be placed on many different suspects, I (don’t use I) feel the final blow lands on Clytemnestra for various reasons. Revenge starts an ugly cycle, with no end in sight. The beginning of this chain of murders is the highly questionable death of Agamemnon’s daughter as a sacrifice to the gods in exchange for victory in war. This circumstance brings a lot into question about what is considered to be just. Agamemnon’s point of view can be considered as a (delete a) one for many types of situations. If he (I would say Agamemnon instead of he) sacrifices his one daughter, the lives of many other people would be saved. (Correspondingly, on the other side of the argument,…) Of course the other side of things how could justice cause a father to kill his own blood? The ties that kinship holds are considered to be sacred, and this is why Clytemnestra swears revenge on her husband. To make a long story short, she succeeds.
