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For the record -- I have not abandoned this thread. I hope others haven't as well.
Here's my proof in the form of, imo, provocative passages from each of the three plays (Ted Hughes translation).
From _Agamemnon_. The Chorus confronts Clytemnestra after she murders her husband and wonders at her act:
quote:Where is the right and wrong In this nightmare? Each becomes the ghost of the other. Each is driven mad By the ghost of the other. Who can reason it out? Reason, fails, mind is a casualty Of this bloody succession.
From _Choephori_. The Chorus urges Orestes to seek revenge against his mother:
quote:Now let your will, like your grief, Be stronger than life. The past is stronger than life -- Nothing can alter it. Now let that terrible past, like a tempered weapon, Become your will. Be fearless, to rip open The future's secret. The justice you bring Is stronger than life. Assume that strength.
From _The Eumenides_. Athene to the Chorus of Furies, distraught over Orestes' acquittal:
quote:You call for justice. But God speaks through me. Only I, Pallas Athene, Possess the key That unlocks the thunderbolt of Zeus. But the time of brute force Is past. The day of reasoned persuasion, With its long vision, With its mercy, its forgiveness, Has arrived.
A quote frome Slate movie critic David Edelstein's review of "Troy":
quote:(The fate of King Agamemnon will make those who know The Oresteia —- merely the cornerstone of Western drama —- scratch their heads.)
I have no objections to changes in the story made for Petersen's film -- although I probably won't be seeing it anytime soon. Not because I'm against seeing it but because it's not high up on the list at the moment.
But here's the thing:
The story of Troy is all well and fine and epic. But if you want the whole story, you really need to read the three plays that form the Oresteia. Not only is the work a thrilling, bloody, tragic family drama, but it is an important bridge between the world of Troy and the world of Western Civilization as we know (and live) it. It hints at the move from the tribal to the civic.
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Athene commends the Chorus of Furies for agreeing to drop their blood vengeance claim against Orestes and integrate themselves into the life of Athens:
quote:The presence of God in persuasion Draws the poison fangs of evil, Undoes the knotted mesh of brooding hatred. In the gentle combat of persuasion Good wins over good with goodness And none lose.
The Chorus replies:
quote:There is no hope nor future For a land Whose mind is split Into two, and where each half Strives only to destroy the other. Give Athens a single mind, a whole mind, As a marriage Gives to two strangers One child.
posted
Zal, that's an awesome quote! <Edit: Both are awesome but I was referring to the second one.>
I abandoned the Orestia for the moment and not sure when I'll finish, but I am digging your commentary on it.
My friend Sasha who got me to actually read Kafka instead of keeping the wrong idea I had of him and so ignoring him forever, has started a story which I really like. If he writes more I may ask him for permission to show it to you and get your commentary on it. To me it seems as much above the routine aspiring writer stuff as Saudade's art is above the typical college art student productions. Which may mean that I'm biased but I don't think so.
[ August 09, 2004, 11:33 PM: Message edited by: ak ]
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I know what you mean. I mean, there are Tolstoy novels I haven't read yet. So it's hard to make myself read the works of aspiring writers. Posts: 2843 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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Oh, I don't mind reading the works of aspiring writers. It's just that my analysis is, well, you know, worth its weight in platinum (I'd say gold, but I much prefer the coolness and weight of platinum). .
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