Aeschylus, The Libation Bearers; A Son Returns for Vengeance

As I write this I have just finished the first week of my new job in a call centre. I will be training for 8 weeks and boy is there a lot to learn. I am enjoying so far though but i'm glad there is so much training.

The Libation Bearers is the second play in the the Oresteia, or story of Orestes. The first was Agamemnon and the third is Eumenides and apparently there used to be one more but it did not survive to our time.
The Furies are mentioned at the end of the text with little explanation. Basically, the furies are three goddesses, from the underworld, that punish crimes: especially of children against parents.

The Story
Orestes, the son of Agamemnon, returns, with his cousin, to Argos to take revenge on his mother who killed his father. He returns because the cousin came to convince him to return home and he got good omens from the oracle of Apollo. He meets up with his sister at their father's grave and hatches a plot to kill their mother and her lover. Orestes heads to the palace and pretends to bring news of his own death. Orestes then proceeds to carry out their plan and first kills her mother's new husband. Then, when discovered by his mother, he, after a little hesitation, kills her. Hence committing matricide, after which he flees from the palace being chased by the Furies.

Reflections
It is interesting to see how the chorus is used to both move along the plot but also pad out the story. They are used to convey information to the named character, as well as to provide a foil for the named character's thinking. They also represent the masses of people that would have been around a petty king and his family.
Orestes hesitation in killing his mother shows that he has a firm grasp on just what a crime that would be. But, his decision is that the retaliation for his father's murder is more important to his honour and to Apollo who has sent him.

Comparisons
As the Libation Bearers is a continuation of Agamemnon, about 10-15 years later, it shares some characters in common, but it is the first time we see Orestes and his sister as adults. We see them rekindle a bond as siblings and as people who mourn their father's loss.
At this point in the Oresteia, there is no longer a comparison to be made with the Iliad, as the cross over character of Agamemnon is dead. But in a lot of ways, the story of the Libation Bearers is still a result of the Trojan war.

Have you read The Libation Bearers? If so what did you think of it?

Want to read The Libation Bearers but haven't? Hopefully this inspires you to take the time to do so.
Get a copy of The Libation Bearers.