Aeschylus Trivia

1. O is for the "Oresteia"! The trilogy was written by the Athenian playwright Aeschylus. By what sobriquet is he known?

From Quiz "O" is for the "Oresteia"!

Answer: Father of Greek Tragedy

Aeschylus was born c.525 BC near Athens to a wealthy family. The story is that he worked at a vineyard until Dionysus visited him in a dream and told him to begin writing tragedies. He is credited with being the first to write plays in trilogies; the "Oresteia" is the only surviving example, even though he wrote an estimated 70-90 plays. Aristotle wrote that before Aeschylus the characters only interacted with the chorus on stage. His plays featured more characters who interacted with each other. It's difficult to not be a fan of Aeschylus. Even though he is still renowned today as the Father of Greek Tragedy, he was more than just a writer. He also fought with Athens during the Persian Wars - along with his brothers. In 490 BC he fought at the Battle of Marathon, an accomplishment that was placed on his epitaph rather than his success as a playwright. When the Persians returned in 480 BC, Aeschylus fought at the Battle of Salamis.

From Quiz Coming Home

Answer: Argos

Agamemnon was king of Argos (according to Homer), a city which is still located on the Peloponnesian Peninsula in Greece today. The area has been continuously inhabited since the late Neolithic Age; it is known to have been a Mycenaean stronghold during the late Bronze Age from approximately 1600-1100 BC. Since modern historians date the Trojan War to the 1200s BC, this would have meant that Agamemnon was a powerful king of a power polis. Some sources say that the area called Argos was also called Mycenae; if that is the case, Agamemnon ruled the city with the world famous lion gate! At the beginning of the play, a watchman is watching for a sign that the Greeks have won the war: "Fire of the night, that brings my spirit day, Shedding on Argos light, and dance, and song, Greetings to fortune, hail!"

From Quiz The Oresteia

Answer: Atreus

Thyestes cursed Atreus after he was tricked by him into eating his sons. The only son who survived was Aegisthus, who later helped plot Agamemnon's murder.

From Quiz Prometheus Bound

Answer: He was chained to a cliff

Not fun. He was chained to the cliff by his arms and lege, as well as a large metal thing through his chest.

From Quiz Prometheus Bound

Answer: Aeschylus

All three have written plays, but Aeschylus just happened to write this one.

From Quiz "O" is for the "Oresteia"!

Answer: Tantalus

This is a very tangled web, but let's try to unravel it. The curse began with Tantalus - yes, the one who was exiled to Tartarus and never was able to eat or drink! He supposedly stole the gods' food, nectar and ambrosia, from his father, Zeus, and gave it to the people. Then, as a test, he cut up his son, Pelops, boiled him, and served him to the gods. Of course, they knew what Tantalus had done, hence his punishment in Tartarus. With their power, the gods brought Pelops back to life. He, however, continued the family's treachery when he cheated in the chariot race for his wife's hand in marriage. He was cursed by the charioteer, Myrtilus, who was involved in the plot, but killed for his trouble. Pelop's son, Atreus, the father of both Agamemnon and Menelaus, plotted with his brother, Thyestes, to murder their half-brother in order to take the throne of Olympia. After learning of an adulterous relationship between Thyestes and his wife, Atreus murdered Thyestes' sons and fed them to their father. Those Greeks really knew how to weave a story plot, didn't they? This is not quite the end of the story, as there is more to come!

From Quiz Coming Home

Answer: Ten years

Homer made it very clear that the Trojan War lasted for ten years ("Iliad"), and Aeschylus does as well. After the beacon light is spotted, there is a Chorus of elderly citizens, men who were too old to fight, who recount the story leading up to the Trojan War. "Ten live long years have rolled away, Since the twin lords of sceptred sway, By Zeus endowed with pride of place, The doughty chiefs of Atreus' race, Went forth of yore, To plead with Priam, face to face, Before the judgment-seat of War!" If you have never heard of Agamemnon, you may, at least, know about his more famous brother, Menelaus, King of Sparta. He was the husband of the beautiful Helen, the other "twin lord". Remember - there were many Greeks who wanted to marry Helen, and her father made all her suitors take an oath that they would help her husband if ever necessary. The Greeks (really Mycenaeans in this period) were duty-bound to go and fight - for however long it took to end the war.

From Quiz The Oresteia

Answer: Fall

The play opens during the tenth year of the Trojan War. A watchman is struggling to stay awake from the roof of Agamemnon's palace.

From Quiz Prometheus Bound

Answer: the king of the gods

He's the king, that's why it's not a good thing to have him mad at you. Zeus also controls thunder and various other things.

From Quiz Prometheus Bound

Answer: Zeus

Of course Prometheus appears in the play, it's about him after all. Zeus doesn't actually appear in the play. He is merely represented by the storm in the end, and his two lackies, Might and Violence.

From Quiz "O" is for the "Oresteia"!

Answer: Sacrifice his daughter

Agamemnon and Menelaus grew up under the protection of the King of Sparta, and each married one of his daughters - Agamemnon married Clytemnestra and Menelaus won the beautiful Helen. When Helen was taken to Troy, Agamemnon became the leader of the Greek army who ultimately fought there for ten years to try and rescue her. But as the Greeks gathered to sail to Troy, they could not catch a favorable wind. Apparently, Agamemnon had angered Artemis by killing one of her sacred deer and bragging that he was as good a hunter as she. She was also opposed to the war, because so many people would lose their lives. A prophet told Agamemnon that in order to catch a wind, he would have to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia - which he did. His wife, Clytemnestra, was furious, and planned her revenge for ten years while the war was fought in Troy. She also took a lover, Aegisthus, who was the son of Thyestes and his own daughter, so he was a close relation of her husband. Together they plotted to kill Agamemnon when he returned home from the war. Upon his return, Agamemnon didn't help stem the tide of her rage any, as he brought his lover home with him.

From Quiz Coming Home

Answer: He sacrificed their daughter.

The Chorus of elderly men also tells this story in "Agamemnon". "She craves, alas! to see a second life Shed forth, a curst unhallowed sacrifice- 'Twixt wedded souls, artificer of strife, And hate that knows not fear, and fell device." A thousand ships had left Argos to join in the fight to retrieve Helen from Paris, the Prince of Troy. After they had sailed toward Troy, the winds became unfavorable and Agamemnon and his men were trapped in Aulius. After learning that Artemis, having been offended by Agamemnon's arrogance, had caused the winds to still, his only recourse was to order the sacrifice of his own daughter, Iphigenia, after which the winds began to blow again. Even the Chorus in the play is unsure if the sacrifice was justified considering that the long war was fought to recover just one woman.

From Quiz The Oresteia

Answer: Apollo

Cassandra was Agamemnon's prize from his victory at Troy. She predicted and did nothing to stop her demise at the hands of Clytaemnestra.

From Quiz Ten Times Aeschylus

Answer: The Danaids

The Danaids, daughters of king Danaos, run away from unwanted marriages with their cousins, the sons of Aegyptos. In Aeschylus' play we see them seeking refuge in Argos. They did not succeed and soon, forced to marry, all but one murdered their husbands on the wedding night. The Nymphs are lesser deities of nature; the Heliades are unhappy sisters of Phaeton; and the Amazons would rather fight than be suppliant and seek help!

From Quiz Prometheus Bound

Answer: Hephaestos

Hephaestos was the god of craftsmanship and therefore was good at iron working and such. He didn't want to do it because Prometheus was kin, but Zeus was the king of the gods and commanded it.

From Quiz "O" is for the "Oresteia"!

Answer: Orestes

It must be said here that Aeschylus was not the only playwright who wrote about the House of Atreus, so more than one version of the story exists. Orestes was Agamemnon's heir. Some sources say that Clytemnestra also wished to kill him, but he was saved by his nurse or sister. Others say that he was simply not at home, and was exiled after his father's death, during which time he was protected by King Strophius of Phanote. After waiting seven or eight years, he returned to Argos with Pylades, the son of Strophius. Upon his return to Argos, Orestes found his sister, Electra, pouring libations on the grave of Agamemnon. Clytemnestra thought that doing this would end the bad dreams she had been experiencing. Orestes was also there to perform rites for his father. Together they made a plan to seek revenge for their father's death.

From Quiz The Oresteia

Answer: Artemis

Iphigenia was Agamemnon's daughter. She was "sacrificed" to Artemis, to placate the "savage winds of Thrace" which would then ease, so Agamemnon's fleet could set sail for Troy.

From Quiz Ten Times Aeschylus

Answer: Xerxes

Darius is the character that actually appears on stage, but it is his son Xerxes who leads the doomed expedition. Cambyses was a Persian king and successor to Cyrus the Great. Sosthanes is one of the Persian commanders mentioned in the prologue.

From Quiz Prometheus Bound

Answer: fire

He stole it from Hephaestos. I don't know why he decided to be nice to people, but before they had the things he gave them, all they did was suffer.

From Quiz Prometheus Bound

Answer: The daughters of Ocean

The daughters of Ocean, one of the Titan sons of Gaea and Uranus, make up the chorus. They are sympathetic the Prometheus's plight.

From Quiz "O" is for the "Oresteia"!

Answer: He must kill his mother.

According to the code of justice, murder cried for revenge, and that created a vicious cycle of blood feuding. In order to avenge his father's murder, Orestes must murder his own mother. When he visited the Oracle at Delphi, the god Apollo told him that there was no other course of action. So Orestes obeyed the Oracle, and not only killed his mother, Clytemnestra, but also her lover, Aegisthus, who some sources say had dealt the death blow to Agamemnon.

From Quiz Coming Home

Answer: She has made a purple carpet to welcome his return.

Actually they have quite a discussion as to whether or not it is a good idea for Agamemnon to walk on the purple carpet that Clytemnestra had prepared. "An arrogance; such pomp beseems the gods, Not me. A moral man to set his foot On these rich dyes? I hold such pride in fear..." Agamemnon feared that it was a display that was just too ostentatious - "a display of hubris". Such a display of pride might make the gods angry again. Clytemnestra, however, would not be dissuaded. She goaded him into walking on the carpet, saying that she was sure that King Priam wouldn't have any such reservation. Agamemnon acquiesced and entered the palace.

From Quiz The Oresteia

Answer: The Nightingale

Her tale is related to that of Procne and Philomela. Philomela had her tongue cut out by Tereus. Like the Nightingale, which Procne was turned into to escape Tereus' wrath, Cassandra speaks a story that no one can understand.

From Quiz Ten Times Aeschylus

Answer: sons of Oedipus

Eteocles and Polynices, the sons of Oedipus, killed each other over the right to reign in Thebes. The conflict about Polynices' burial is well-known from Sophocles' "Antigone"; Antigone, as far as the myth goes, had no sons; Creon had only one son, Haemon; Danaos had 50 daughters, the Danaids.

From Quiz Prometheus Bound

Answer: memory and math

I think he also gave them speech and poetry.

From Quiz Prometheus Bound

Answer: Forethought

Prometheus means forethought. Prometheus has a brother, Epimetheus, whose name means hindsight. He however did not appear in this play.

From Quiz Coming Home

Answer: Agamemnon's cousin

He was actually the lover that Clytemnestra had taken after Agamemnon left for Troy and she returned home from Aulius. He was also Agamemnon's first cousin. Interestingly, Homer's story about Agamemnon's death took place at Aegisthus' home, and he was the one who killed the hero. Not so with Aeschylus, who gave Aegisthus just a very small role in his play. Aeschylus does tell that after Clytemnestra kills her husband, Aegisthus claims that he is the one who planned the entire debacle. "But Justice brought me home once more, grown now To manhood's years; and stranger tho' I was, My right hand reached unto the chieftain's life, Plotting and planning all that malice bade. And death itself were honour now to me, Beholding him in Justice' ambush ta'en."

From Quiz The Oresteia

Answer: Cilissa

Orestes was like a son to her. Cilissa unknowingly helps Orestes kill Aegisthus by telling him to come alone to hear the terrible news concerning Orestes' "death."

From Quiz Ten Times Aeschylus

Answer: Together with her lover Aegisthus she murders him

Clytemnestra, even though she's furious because of Iphigenia and even though Cassandra is hysterically scared of her, keeps a straight face - at least until her husband goes to take a bath... It is in the bathroom that he is brutally murdered by his "loving" wife and her lover and his own cousin, Aegisthus.

From Quiz Prometheus Bound

Answer: eats his liver

Being immortal, Prometheus doesn't die from this but heals each night. However, I'm sure it hurts. I think the liver was symbolic to the Greeks, because it's also mentioned in "The Odyssey". (Odysseus was going to cut out Polyphemus' liver.)

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Last Updated Nov 16 2024 5:47 AM

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