Justice in Agamemnon essay
Justice is a key word in the drama Agamemnon by Aeschylus. However, there is no an absolute justice in the drama. Justice is only in the eye of the beholder. Aeschylus criticizes his time through the evolution of the nature of justice.
Clytaemnestra believes she must exact revenge against her husband for killing their daughter Iphigenia. She has taken Agamemnon’s brother as a lover and king in order to revenge the sacrifice of their daughter. However, Agamemnon believes that the honor of his family demanded the sacrifice that he made unwillingly, and that he was forced to give up his daughter. He sacrificed his daughter to the god Artemis in order to get favorable winds to reach Troy. Agamemnon’s sacrifice led to the conflict with his wife. Who is correct? There is a debate regarding Clytaemnestra’s actions and Agamemnon’s actions. Clytaemnestra gets justice in the play as she managed to kill her husband and place herself and her lover on the throne. She states that justice has been done in the name of her daughter Iphigeneia. Clytaemnestra explains her actions in the following way:
You try me out as if I were a woman and vain;
but my heart is not fluttered as I speak before you.
You know it. You can praise or blame me as you wish;
it is all one to me. That man is Agamemnon,
my husband; he is dead; the work of this right hand
that sturck in strength of righteousness. And that is that
In other words, her revenge can be justified. At the same time, Clytaemnestra’s killing of her husband is considered to be an injustice against him.
Thus, it is necessary to conclude that justice can be interpreted in different ways. Different conceptions of justice depend on the initial choices and situations. The notion of justice in Agamemnon by Aeschylus is revenge.
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