Justice and Gender in the Oresteia
Justice and Gender in the Oresteia
Justice and gender are put into relation with each other in Aeschylus’ Oresteia. In this trilogy, Greek society is characterized as a patriarch, where the oldest male assumes the highest role of the oikos (household). The household consists of a twofold where the father is the head, and the wife and children are the extended family. The head of the oikos is the only one who possesses the authority to seek justice. This is because the father acquires the authority through the inheritance law or male lineage. On the contrary, Greek society seems to transform to a matriarch when Clytemnestra solely murders Agamemnon because she, like primitive males, exercises destructive justice and enters the cycle of violence. Conversely, Athena implements a new and productive structure of justice known as litigation. This suggests that Clytemnestra functions as a catalyst in the transformation from oikos (aristocratic) to polis (democratic) which reflects upon society’s progress towards cleansing. However, Athena replaces Clytemnestra as the dominant female figure because she employs a new and more productive justice referred to as the rational Athenian judgment, and therefore establishes a just society that will produce and not destruct.
In order to completely grasp Clytemnestra and Athena’s role in Oresteia, one must first acknowledge that a change in government is characterized by the societal change in justice from old to new. Then, the chorus outlines two forms of justice: destructive and productive. It is important to acknowledge that destructive justice was the prevalent type utilized by men since the earliest epochs of Greek culture. Aeschylus writes, “And Justice tilts the scales to ensure suffering is the only teacher. As for the Future, you will only learn it when it comes” (Agamemnon 53:287-290). In this passage, the chorus assists in defining that destructive justice insofar as it expounds on the notion that honesty is
Justice and gender are put into relation with each other in Aeschylus’ Oresteia. In this trilogy, Greek society is characterized as a patriarch, where the oldest male assumes the highest role of the oikos (household). The household consists of a twofold where the father is the head, and the wife and children are the extended family. The head of the oikos is the only one who possesses the authority to seek justice. This is because the father acquires the authority through the inheritance law or male lineage. On the contrary, Greek society seems to transform to a matriarch when Clytemnestra solely murders Agamemnon because she, like primitive males, exercises destructive justice and enters the cycle of violence. Conversely, Athena implements a new and productive structure of justice known as litigation. This suggests that Clytemnestra functions as a catalyst in the transformation from oikos (aristocratic) to polis (democratic) which reflects upon society’s progress towards cleansing. However, Athena replaces Clytemnestra as the dominant female figure because she employs a new and more productive justice referred to as the rational Athenian judgment, and therefore establishes a just society that will produce and not destruct.
In order to completely grasp Clytemnestra and Athena’s role in Oresteia, one must first acknowledge that a change in government is characterized by the societal change in justice from old to new. Then, the chorus outlines two forms of justice: destructive and productive. It is important to acknowledge that destructive justice was the prevalent type utilized by men since the earliest epochs of Greek culture. Aeschylus writes, “And Justice tilts the scales to ensure suffering is the only teacher. As for the Future, you will only learn it when it comes” (Agamemnon 53:287-290). In this passage, the chorus assists in defining that destructive justice insofar as it expounds on the notion that honesty is