¹ See, however, n. 136 below.

² (11): seen. 9 below. Stanford, W. B., in CQ XXXI 92 f.Google Scholar, argues successfully that in ἀνδρόβουλος the second half of the compound is based upon βουλεύομαι and signifies ‘deliberation, planning,’ the rational process of decision proper to man. The notion of will or determination in the pursuit of a clearly envisaged end is, however, not far away.

³ e.g. Jaeger, , Paideia I, 327Google Scholar. ‘Der Mensch ist im aischyleischen Drama noch nicht selbst Problem, er ist der Schicksalträger, das Schicksal ist das Problem.’ Broadly true, this may need some qualification in the case of Clytemnestra. The more austere, however, is the view taken of Aeschylean characterisation, the more is it incumbent on the critic to give proper weight to this characteristic of Clytemnestra (largely irrelevant to the traditional story) in considering the general themes of the trilogy.

⁴ See also p. 131. On the technique by which Clytemnestra's name is at first withheld, see Thomson, G. (Aeschylus, The Prometheus Bound) on P.V. 5Google Scholar.

⁵ Since γυνή means both ‘woman’ and ‘wife,’ ἀνήρ both ‘man’ and ‘husband,’ the sexual antithesis may be stressed even where the words are used in the latter meanings.

⁶ Thomson's arguments (Oresteia II, ad 59) for her presence at 83 are convincing. I find it difficult, however, to believe that she enters on Ἐρινύν (59). I do not see that 60–71 demand her presence and prefer to think that she enters on ὄναρ ἡμερόφαντον, which suits her silence and corresponds to her entry, as a dream, in the Eumenides (see p. 141).

⁷ The relationship of Helen and Clytemnestra as women will be further developed (see p. 136).

⁸ κρατεῖ is a natural word for a house-slave to use, but obtains a broader significance as the play develops (see Daube, , Zu den Rechtsproblemen in Aischylos' Agamemnon, 39 ffGoogle Scholar.); it is closely associated with νικᾶν, etc. (see n. 39 below).

⁹ Headlam's ἐλπίʒειν is not acceptable: it weakens κρατεῖ (a key-word), unduly stresses the notion of ἐλπίς and thus throws ἀνδρόβουλον out of gear. Since ἐλπίς is by convention a characteristic of women, the succession κρατεῖ, duplicates the paradox (male–female–male–female). Stanford (loc. cit.) and others argue that Clytemnestra is in very truth characterised by feminine ἐλπίς, in combination with masculine deliberation. The evidence for this is slight. She is indeed a victim of the tragic ἐλπίς (Headlam, , Cambridge Praelections, 1906, 115Google Scholar) but in the same way as any male sinner. See also n. 15 below.

¹⁰ As punctuated by Prien.

¹¹ Cf. εὐπιθῆ (274), following ἀπιστίας (268), πιστόν (272).

¹² See also n. 53.

¹³ Cf. also 352 () with 272.

¹⁴ Headlam, , Praelections, 110Google Scholar. This does not mean that the ode is intended to express a sequence of emotions in the Chorus. But their train of thought is such that they end in a greatly changed mood. (I say this to avoid a possible misunderstanding.)

¹⁵ Thus it is the male Chorus, not Clytemnestra, whose beliefs and disbeliefs are conditioned by their hopes and fears. (This characteristic of the Chorus is put to brilliant use at 1346 ff. in order to ease the difficulties of the dramatic situation: note especially 1366 f., which gives them their excuse for not entering the palace.)

¹⁶ (484) precisely describes the mental process of the Chorus at 352 ff. (repeated at 583 under the influence of the Herald's speech). αἰχμᾷ (483) is obscure; but, if ἄτολμον αἰχμάν at Cho. 630 is an oxymoron (Thomson ad loc), then the word (‘ spirit, mettle’) can be applied to Clytemnestra more appropriately that the Chorus realise. See n. 76.

¹⁷ Note πεισθεῖσα (591). She speaks as though she had heard 475 ff. This is something more than a dramatic convention: it conveys the impression that nothing can be hidden from her (cf. n. 19, n. 27).

¹⁸ 600, 602, 603, 604, 606 ff., 612.

¹⁹ ἐρόσμιον πόλει (605) is spoken as though she had heard 540, 544.

²⁰ On the double meaning of χαλκοῦ βαφάς see Thomson ad loc. (his 616–17).

²¹ The intervening stasimon bears on Clytemnestra through the theme of Helen, though their relationship is not yet fully brought out, and on Iphigeneia through the theme of heredity. I find it har d to believe (with Sheppard and Thomson) that Clytemnestra enters at 749 on νυμφόκλαυτος Ἐρινύς and remains silent, without reference from Chorus or Agamemnon, until she speaks at 855. Attention would be distracted thereby from the important generalisations of 750 ff. It seems, moreover, dramatically desirable that we should first see Agamemnon in isolation from his wife.

²² Note his fondness for the letter π (e.g., 820, 957), perhaps parodied by Clytemnestra at 959 f.

²³ βουλευσόμεσθα (846), βουλευτέον (847): the male function which Clytemnestra has usurped (11).

²⁴ See Thomson on 877 (his 868). κύριος (fem.) is found at Aesch. Suppl. 732. Note that this is Clytemnestra's firs direct address to her husband. Not only may 886 refer to the trick which was played on her at the time of Iphigeneia' death, but the πῆμα of 865 includes this first and worst news from the Trojan expedition; the tears of 887 which are now dry were tears for Iphigeneia (cf. 1525), who is fore-most among τὰ πρὶν κακά of 904.

²⁵ See Thomson on 889–94 (his 880–5).

²⁶ 258–60 (see p. 131).

²⁷ φροντίς (912): cf. 1377. In fact, . answers (844 ff.)— again, as though Clytemnestra had actually heard the words. may recall 854 (νίκη), as it looks forward to 941 f. (see p. 133).

²⁸ Cornford, (Thucydides Mythistoricus, 160)Google Scholar speaks of ‘the proud and masterful princess, at the death-grip now with the principle of Agamemnon's lordship,’ and presents the issue in terms of a historical transition from matriarchy to patriarchy. Snell (Philologus, Supplementband XX. 1. 122 f.): ‘Die Ermordung des Agamemnon ist also eine Befreiungstat der Klytemnestra. ‘But subsequent writers have not done justice to this aspect of the subject.

₂₉ See p. 137.

³⁰ ‘An open act of pride which will symbolise the sin he is about to expiate’ (Thomson, , Oresteia I 25Google Scholar). The φθόνος theme: 904, 921, 939, 947.

³¹ e.g. Daube, op. cit., 127, n. 11. But if the behaviour of Agamemnon is not psychologically interpreted here, the critic is liable to misinterpret the scene at Aulis also, since the two scenes are parallel and in both the same Agamemnon acts out of the same weakness (see Méautis, , Eschyle et la trilogie, 178 f.Google Scholar).

³² The tone of Agamemnon's speech (914 ff.) ? He is at once worried and gratified by her fulsome praises; at once cautious and unsuspecting. One can hardly agree with Méautis (op. cit., 180) that 914 f. is ‘une bonne plaisanterie’ spoken with a broad smile.

³³ Compare the tone of 832 ff.

³⁴ Cf. Headlam, , Praelections, 129Google Scholar. ὀλβίσαι (928) looks backward to 837 (where he implies that he is ὄλβιος and forward to 941.

³⁵ Thomson, , Oresteia I 26Google Scholar.

³⁶ ‘In the use of ἐγώ, ἐμοί, ἐμέ at the end of three successive lines we hear an undertone of strife between the two wills’ (Headlam ap. Thomson—his 922). Add ἐμοί in 943.

³⁷ Agamemnon accepts, by implication: (i) that—despite 923 ff.—he is on an equality with the gods (933); (ii) that—despite 919—the behaviour of an oriental monarch—is a valid precedent (935 f.); (iii) that φθόνος—despite 921—is a symbol of greatness; (iv) despite 928—the title of ὄλβιος. The only point which he contests is in 937, when Clytemnestra bids him rise above his fear of public opinion (κληδών 927, φήμ 938). But since his arrogance is associated with conventionality, he fails to do so, until in 939 she presents the matter in a fresh, and acceptable, light.

³⁸ ‘The business of men is war, and women are for their recreation. Sure of their own superiority, they find pleasure in condescending to humour feminine caprice’ (Thomson, , Oresteia I 26)Google Scholar.

³⁹ (Weil): see Thomson (his 934) for parallels. κρατεῖς, heavily ironical, recalls 10 and 258 (see p. 131 above). The κράτος and νίκη themes are closely associated.

⁴⁰ Enslaved at Argos, as at Aulis (, 218). At 945 πρόδουλον is, therefore, no superfluous ornament, but puts the idea of slavery into circulation. At 951 the masculine τὸν κρατοῦντα has a shade of irony.

⁴¹ The parallel between the two scenes is perhaps brought out by the repetition of (906, 1039). Persuasion: (1052) is reinforced by the πιθοῦ (1054) of the Chorus, whose 1049 has already called attention to this theme and hinted at the outcome of the encounter (ἀπειθοίης). Enslavement: 1038, 1041, 1042, 1045, 1066, 1071.

⁴² Hence the irony of 1084 ().

⁴³ Cf. Pohlenz, , Die griechische Tragödie I 100Google Scholar, Fraenkel, E., Die Kassandraszene der Orestie, 9Google Scholar. The key-note is (1289), which is followed by εὐτόλμως (1298) (1302). εὐτόλμως: because this is the right kind of τόλμα—a hint of the ambivalence of qualities, etc., which is a pervading theme of the close of the Eumenides.

⁴⁴ Similarly 1393 () may recall 855.

⁴⁵ As the inspired Cassandra knew: 1102 (μήδεται), 1107 (τελεῖς). For Clytemnestra is τέλειος, like a man (cf. 972). For this, among other reasons, Wilamowitz's νίκη τέλειος at 1378 is most attractive (it is accepted by Thomson with in the preceding line). If there are two themes which we should expect to find somewhere in this speech, they are νικᾶν and τελεῑν.

⁴⁶ It is perhaps characteristic of them that, after what she has done, they are still so shocked by what she says ( in two lines). In 1407 ff. they are still preoccupied with the fact that a woman (ὦ γύναι) has done it—a phenomenon which they can only ascribe to drugs.

⁴⁷ (1401): cf. 1377, 351, 11.

⁴⁸ See also n. 56 below.

⁴⁹ She speaks (351), prepared to teach her male opponents a lesson in σωφροσκευασμένηςσωφροσύνη (1425). ἄρχειν (1424) is a variant on the κράτος theme. παρεσκευασμένης (1422) is stressed: see Thomson, who interprets the sentence convincingly.

⁵⁰ Further, it is δίκη τέλειος which really destroys her ground of confidence, for the same principle which operated through her to kill Agamemnon will operate through Orestes to kill her (and Aegisthus cannot save her in the end). It is partly for this reason that the conception of δίκη is amplified in 1433 by Ate and Erinys to show the type of justice which is involved. Note that the very powers by which she swears will in fact be the ground of her fear (revealed in the Choephori).

⁵¹ The mention of Aegisthus is also prepared by στερομένανφίλων (1429).

⁵² Daube points out (op. cit., 182) that, unlike Aegisthus, Agamemnon is not culpable in Attic law. But the Chorus do not attempt to defend him on this score, any more than in his treatment of Iphigeneia. For Aeschylus he was guilty on both counts of an offence against marriage (v. infra).

⁵³ The two spheres over which her imagination had ranged commandingly in her first great speeches to the Chorus (see p. 131). It is of the second of these speeches that Wilamowitz could say: ‘dass Klytaimestra; die Frau, die zu Hause sass, die eroberte Stadt schildert … ist wirklich ungehörig. Nirgend sonst gibt es so naive Dramaturgic, denn nur weil die Königin zur Stelle ist, bekommt sie das zu sagen, was wir hören sollen’ (Aischylos Interpretationen, 167 f.). When Wilamowitz erred, his errors were upon the same lordly scale as his successes!

⁵⁴ When the fountains of her tears had dried up (887 f., cf. 1525).

⁵⁵ And are, therefore, relevant to the argument about parentage in the Eumenides (see p. 143).

⁵⁶ In 1417 the possessive αὑτοῦ expresses primarily the horror of killing one's own child. It is, therefore, perhaps far-fetched to see in it the notion of possessiveness and (in contrast with ἐμοί) the implication that, while Clytemnestra had the birth-pangs, Agamemnon owned the child. At 1524 ff., however, if Thomson is right to translate ‘whom he consented to rear for me’ (referring to the husband's option of acknowledging or exposing the child), the phrase is even more expressive of the marriage-relationship: later, by an equally arbitrary act, Agamemnon revokes his first decision.

⁵⁷ Since Apollo stands forth as the champion of marriage (Eum. 211 ff.), it is interesting to note a parallel between his argument there and Clytemnestra's here (1412 ff.). Where Apollo says to the Furies, in effect: ‘You pursue an offence by a child, but not an offence by a wife against her husband,’ Clytemnestra says to the Chorus: ‘You pursue an offence by a wife against her husband, but not an offence against a child.’ Since ἀνδρηλατεῑν occurs in both passages, I am inclined to think the first part of the compound significant (see also n. 67 on 1586). Apollo says (221): ‘You do not ἀνδρηλατεῑνἀνδρηλατεῑν (pursue your man) with justice’; Clytemnestra says (1419): ‘You did not ἀνδρηλατεῑνἀνδρηλατεῑν, as in justice you should have done.’ The offence of Agamemnon against Iphigeneia, and so against Clytemnestra, is by no means forgotten in the Eumenides (see pp. 142 f.), and it would not be surprising if, when Aeschylus wrote πιστώματα at Eum. 214, he had Agam. 878 () in mind. Yet Apollo can appeal to the sanctity of marriage in upholding Agamemnon's cause.

⁵⁸ On the interpretation of ἰσόψυχον see Daube, op. cit., 25. The whole phrase is in Aeschylus' oracular vein.

⁵⁹ Note that the δαίμων is the only winner in the end, just as in the Choephori the victory lies neither with Clytemnestra nor with Orestes, but with Apollo (Cho. 890, 903—see p. 140).

⁶⁰ It is partly for the sake of this contrast that the femininity of Helen is so eloquently evoked at 737 ff. διφυίοισι (1468) may, of course, simply mean ‘two’; since, however, a distinction between the two brothers has already been implied at 115, the word may rather mean ‘of two natures,’ the uxorious defeatist Menelaus (410 ff.) being the proper victim of Helen, the ambitious warrior Agamemnon of Clytemnestra.

⁶¹ N.B. γυναικός (1453), γυναικός (1454), ἀνδρός (1461), ἀνδρολέτειρα (1464), ἀνδρῶν (1465). Why is Clytemnestra's retort (1462 ff.) so vehement? ‘Do not blame Helen, blame Agamemnon for the deaths of many men (and of Iphigeneia).’ Clytemnestra herself is not responsible for destroying . But she is ἀνδρολέτειρα in a special sense, and it may be (cf. Méautis, op. cit., 203) that she is still anxious to claim for herself the full responsibility for this death (contr. 1497 ff).

⁶² If the δαίμων represents, as in a sense it does, an evil heredity, Clytemnestra does not share in this heredity. It is hardly to the point to suggest (Daube, op. cit., 192) that she had acquired the family curse by marriage. Helen and Clytemnestra (whose own heredity is ) are both extraneous circumstances used by the δαίμων to effect its purposes.

⁶³ See p. 136.

⁶⁴ ὡς χρή (1556) may be intended to recall ὡς χρῆν (879).

⁶⁵ Note the specious lucidity (τορῶς, 1584) of 1583–6, which omit the one point damaging to his case (yet already known to the audience from 1193).

⁶⁶ Note especially 1623. This characteristic reappears in the Choephori (see n. 83).

⁶⁷ Note the male words in 1580–5: ; even ήνδρηλάτησεν (1586) may contribute to the effect (see n. 57). Aegisthus is, in one aspect, the ἀλάστωρ embodied (and truly ἀλάστωρπατρόθεν), taking vengeance as a son on the son of Atreus . In another aspect, he is an ambitious prince, a candidate for power, renewing with Agamemnon the rivalry of their fathers: cf. 1583–5 (), 1618 (κρατούντων), 1632 (κρατηθίς), 1639 (ἄρχειν), Thus he, like Clytemnestra, has a motive (and essentially the same motive) beyond the desire and duty of vengeance.

⁶⁸ Cf. 1609 (δυσβουλίας), picked up by the Chorus at 1614, 1627, 1634. There are two points; (i) Aegisthus is guilty as instigator to wilful murder (see Mazon's edition, p. 69, n. 1) and will pay the penalty; (ii) his claims are exaggerated (πᾶσαν, 1609, picked up by μόνος, 1614). For, to the audience, βουλεύειν must (as at 846 f. and at Cho. 672) recall the ἀνδρόβουλον κέαρ of Clytemnestra. The Chorus, invincibly reluctant to face the true nature of the queen, may accept his claim to be the arch-plotter: what they hold against him (1635, 1644) is that he allowed a woman to do the killing; but the reversal of roles goes farther than they know.

⁶⁹ 1625–7 are, without doubt, addressed to Aegisthus (see Fraenkel, , Aeschylus: New Texts and Old Problems, 21 f.Google Scholar). The sexual theme is further emphasised at 1639 (where πειθάνορα is a carefully selected word), at 1643 f., and at 1671 (the conventional view).

⁷⁰ E. Harrison's suggestion (Proc. Cambr. Phil. Soc. 1941, 6) that we should read seems to disregard the evidence of the scholia in favour of καλῶς, which rounds off the whole play, more aeschyleo, by a reminiscence of 19 (). Moreover, it is unlikely that Aeschylus would have used here, in this commonplace significance, a word which has gathered so many associations as τελός. Harrison objects that elsewhere in Aeschylus προτιμᾶν governs the accusative, but in such instances as Agam. 1415, Eum. 640, 739 the notion of comparison is strongly present (v. L.S.I.2); here the sense is merely ‘pay regard to’ (see L.S. II) and προτιμᾶν follows the analogy of other words of similar meaning. For intransitive τιθέναι, compare Eur. Med. 926 ().

⁷¹ Despite the argument in the Frogs, the only possible doubt is whether πατρῷα means ‘my father's’ or ‘a father's.’ The distinction is not very material in the context, but, since Hermes is not himself πατρῷος (though in alliance with Apollo πατρῷος; see Thomson, ad loc.), but χθόνιος and Agamemnon is now in the earth, the former is no doubt the primary sense.

⁷² Cf. 499 ().

⁷³ e.g., 117, 142, 144, 273, 367, 377.

⁷⁴ 421 f.: a wolf, like Aegisthus (Agam. 1259).

⁷⁵ Why these speculations? Not, certainly, because it interested Aeschylus to introduce, by a side-wind, other versions of the legend. Whether we should explain the retreat from Clytemnestra in terms of the mental state of Orestes is more doubtful. He is to falter in face of his mother, but at this stage he appears full of confidence (unless we suppose a hesitation in 550 before , followed by an avoidance of any specific reference to Clytemnestra). In any case it is effective as preparation for her entry.

⁷⁶ The ode demands a fuller analysis than it can receive here. Briefly, however, Str. 1 (585–93) is full of vague suggestions and echoes. The monsters which infest land and sea may recall Agam. 1231 ff., which is related to the general theme of this ode by τόλμα (1231), παντότολμος (1237), (1231). Sinister lights (λαμπάδες) are a constant feature from Agam. 8 onward.

Ant. 1 (594–601). The passage from these frightful phenomena of nature to the of women is through ; and the succeeding examples illustrate, by implication, the crimes of men as well as those of women (v. infra). : for this Chorus, like that of the Agamemnon and like Orestes, accounts for Clytemnestra's conduct in terms of Aegisthus. But is perhaps ambiguous, and ‘female love of mastery’ touches her true motive (θηλυκτόνῳ in P. V. 860 is a parallel for subjective θηλυ-). παρανικᾷ recalls the battle between Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, now resumed between mother and son.

Str. 2, Ant. 2 (602–22): Althaea and Scylla. Note the following points, (i) In neither case (nor really in that of Clytemnestra) is the motive ἔρως in the ordinary sense. (ii) The case of a mother killing a son (Althaea) suggests a father who killed a daughter and, no less, a son who will kill a mother (cf. ). (iii) The case of a daughter killing a father (Scylla) suggests a son who will kill a mother and a father who killed a daughter, (iv) Thus both stanzas hint at both the male crimes of the trilogy, while applying primarily to Clytemnestra (cf. , ). In 620 we should read, with Porson, : she deliberately chose the time when he was sleeping—ἁ κυνόφρων. The tone is that of Eum. 625 ff.

Str. 3 (623–30). The text and the precise connexion of thought are uncertain. In any case, however, the stanza refers to Clytemnestra and probably hints (ἀθέρμαντον, 629) at the erotic motive absent from the preceding stanzas. The man–woman contrast is strongly marked, and the is recalled by , followed by is probably, like , an oxymoron (see Thomson ad loc. and n. 16 above): but Clytemnestra displays both τόλμα and αἰχμά (if that means a keen, restless spirit).

Ant. 3 (631–8). The strictly parallel crime of the Lemnian women. What was their motive ? Sexual jealousy of the foreign women imported by their husbands, according to one version of the story: then compare Cassandra? But the effect of their crime was to leave the island under the control of women (see Apollodorus, i. 9. 17).

(638); Indeed they all have their appropriateness.

⁷⁷ See Tucker ad loc.; Stanford, loc. cit., 93.

⁷⁹ The circumstances of his death were mentioned as recently as 491 ff.

⁸⁰ On the ascription of 691–9 to Electra see CR LX, 58 ff.

⁸¹ βουλευσόμεσθα (718), after τοῖς κρατοῦσι (716), hints at the reality.

⁸² Cf. 749 f. See Méautis op. cit., 233 f.

⁸³ N.B. βλέποντα (844), ἰδεῖν (851), ὠμματωμένην (854): see n. 66.

⁸⁴ 845 f. θνᾑσκοντος (Portus) is supported by the schol., by a number of parallels (see Thomson, ad loc.), and perhaps by 852. It may be right, but I feel that something is needed to describe the sinking of the flame, corresponding to καμεῖν and ὄλλυται in the Agamemnon passage (482, 487).

⁸⁵ It matters little whether, or in what version of the story, she killed her husband with an axe. The stress is on the epithet and on the first half of it.

⁸⁶ βία is significant and the periphrasis should not be emended away (as by Thomson, , CR LVI, 71Google Scholar).

⁸⁷ See n. 59 above.

⁸⁸ Is there in μάτας (918) a side-reference to Iphigeneia ? The word could doubtless include the crime of murder (cf. Eum. 336); the cases of Iphigeneia and Orestes were linked at Agam. 877 ff., which is recalled by 914; the present passage recalls Agam. 1438 ff., which was preceded by the theme of Iphigeneia. I am doubtful, however, whether Aeschylus wished to modify the crudities of the argument at this point.

⁸⁹ Thus 924 f. return to 912; 927 to 910 f.; 928 to 908—leaving the discussion of motive and the man—woman theme in the centre of the design.

⁹⁰ See p. 132.

⁹¹ And by expressing those conditions in economic terms offers a fundamental generalisation about men and women. For while πονοῦντα and μόχθος might relate to the man as warrior (cf. Agam. 330, 555, 567), τρέφει implies his function as breadwinner.

⁹² See p. 134. The remainder of the play is mainly concerned with other things. The oblique reference to Helen at 935 f. (recalling Agam. 1468 ff.) arises naturally out of the preceding dialogue. 957 contains the κράτος theme, but is seriously corrupted: with (Thomson) compare 903 and the comment on it above, 991 f. at once hint at ἀνδρόβουλον and insist upon the physical connexion of mother and child (cf. p. 135).

⁹³ This is perhaps brought out by the repetition πέμψαι (203), προπομπούς (206). Both Orestes and the Furies were performing their proper functions in accordance with codes which placed the onus of avenging homicide upon the blood-relations of the victim. I have already dealt with this point in CR XLVII, 97 ff. There are a number of things in that article which I should now correct or express differently, but on the main points: (i) that Apollo is criticised for inconsistency, and (ii) that Apollo is as wrong to disparage one human relationship as the Furies to disparage another, I have seen no reason to change my views, which are indeed confirmed by further study of the two earlier plays. The argument on (ii) is repeated and expanded below, (i) depends mainly upon the passages in the Choephori (269–96, 924 f., 1032; cf. Eum. 465 ff.) which state or imply that, if Orestes had failed to avenge his father, he would have suffered a persecution by Furies. Dindorf deleted Cho. 275–96, but 924 f. he could not delete. Nor, in view of the dramatic tension at 924 f. and 1032, is it easy to dismiss this implied function of Furies in association with the Delphic code as a mere passing inconsistency on the part of the poet. The inconsistency is, rather, rooted in the Delphic system itself (and goes even deeper than the inconsistency pointed out by Thomson, , Oresteia I, 54Google Scholar).

⁹⁴ See n. 57.

⁹⁵ Entering on δίκη (573), he interrupts Athena, whose account of her θεσμοί is postponed till 681 ff. When it comes, it picks up many of the ideas thrown out in the preceding chorus and shows how her new order preserves such merits as the Furies could claim. Meantime, we have a scene which displays the inadequacies of Apollo's compromise.

⁹⁶ ἀνδροκτονοῦσα (602) is virtually itself a double charge (see n. 5).

⁹⁷ Which is φίλτατον— ‘nearest and dearest.’ Compare and contrast, therefore, Apollo's commentary on marriage (216): . But has either of these bonds the priority over the other? If 605 f. insist on the horror of matricide, perhaps they also imply the question: is the bond between mother and son any closer that that between husband and wife ?

⁹⁸ But (612 f.) already suggests a personal opinion (cf. 640, ). Nor is it for Apollo to decide (κρῑνον), but for the human jurors, whose votes will be divided.

⁹⁹ Cf. (Cho. 559), but perhaps the days of his infallibility are over.

¹⁰⁰ Thomson, , Orestia I, 62Google Scholar.

¹⁰¹ Moreover, as Thomson points out (Aeschylus and Athens, 278), the more advanced democrats, at least, would not willingly admit the infallibility in political matters of an oracle which had such close connexions with the Dorian aristocracies.

¹⁰² Note that he does not this time invoke the sanctity of marriage. That point against the Furies has already been made, so that we can compare with μητρὸς τιμάς (624) the ἄτιμα and ἄτιμος of 213 ff. Apollo now deals with the relative standing, not of blood-tie and marriage-tie, but of man and woman (N.B. τιμαλφούμενον, 626).

¹⁰³ Which his own agents employed in the Choephori (q.v.: 557, 726, 888).

¹⁰⁴ See p. 144 below.

¹⁰⁵ See Thomson ad loc.

¹⁰⁶ Agam. 918 (see p. 134).

¹⁰⁷ He loses his temper because the charge of inconsistency which they make, and to which the attention of the jury is specially called (642 f.), is true. His abusive language (644) recalls 68 ff. and 185 ff., and it is this abuse of the beings with whom he is really so closely involved that gives the clue to his inconsistency (cf. CR XLVII, 97 f.)

¹⁰⁸ A constant theme: Cho. 71 ff., 520 f., Eum. 261 ff. Note particularly Agam. 1019 ff. (with ἀνδρόςἐπαείδων corresponding to ἐπωδάς here). There, despite ἀνδρός, the Chorus probably have Iphigeneia in mind (see Mazon's edition, p. 46, n. 2); here, the use of ἀνδρός by Apollo (647) prompts the question: is not this equally true of a woman?

¹⁰⁹ 659 (τροφός): cf. 607 (ἔθρεψεν).

¹¹⁰ The mother (ξένη) cherishes the embryo for the father (ξένῳ). This certainly suggests a relationship between husband and wife very different from that implied at 213 ff. But is this really the sense required: that husband and wife are strangers ? Is it not possible that we should read ξένον (Pearson) for ἔθρεψεν? Mother and child are strangers; and this has an ironical application to the scene in which Orestes—apparent ξένος, real kinsman—confronts his mother.

¹¹¹ Thomson, ad loc.; Aly, , Philologus, Supplementband XXI, 40Google Scholar (who argues that Aeschylus introduced the doctrine from Sicily).

¹¹² We are made to feel that the matricide is not just another crime, but the very climax of horror, which is particularly associated with the word τένον (e.g. 829, 896, 922).

¹¹³ Agam. 1525 (see p. 135).

¹¹⁴ As unnecessary, and therefore as significant, as the reference to the ‘unfortunate incidents’ at 632 (see p. 142).

¹¹⁵ ‘The young hare in the womb on which they feast … is the child of Clytemnestra’ (Sheppard, J. T., CR XXXVI, 8Google Scholar).

¹¹⁶ 676. On the ascription of 676 f. to Apollo see CR XLIX 7 f. Apollo adds a piece of testimony in favour of his contention (662–6: see below), and an appeal to the self-interest of the jurors (667–73).

¹¹⁷ Thomson, , Aeschylus and Athens, 289Google Scholar.

¹¹⁸ It is unnecessary, for the purposes of this article, to go into the question whether Athena casts a vote in addition to laying down the principle of ‘acquittal if the votes are equally divided.’

¹¹⁹ 739 f.: γυναικός is woman-wife, ἄνδρα is man-husband (see n. 5).

¹²⁰ ταγοῦχος ἀνήρ go together in syntax, but ὡς ἀνἡρ makes its effect separately.

¹²¹ ἐπίσκοπον (740): cf. 296 (ἐπισκοπεῖ).

¹²² Not in terms of the psychology of Orestes, which is of comparatively little importance in the Choephori, and of less in the Eumenides (see p. 141 above). At the most we can say that he is given some personal motives, over and above the duty of vengeance, i.e., the desire to recover his father's throne and wealth, and to terminate his own exile. What is more relevant, perhaps, is the absence of personal relationship between him and Clytemnestra. The bond between mother and son is here as tenuous and abstract as it could very well be. This, of course, has the effect of emphasising the general sociological issue, but it also helps to make the acquittal of Orestes morally tolerable.

¹²³ Orestes, in his speech of thanks, joins ‘the third Saviour’ (758 ff.) with Pallas and Loxias. The motives which he ascribes to Zeus are those which he has found in his patron Apollo, including a violent detestation of the Furies (). But this is not the spirit of the succeeding scene.

¹²⁴ Cf. esp. 573, 580 f., 609–15.

¹²⁵ This may be the point of the repeated αὐτός (798). Cf. 200 (παναίτιος), 579 f. (see Aly, loc. cit., 36).

¹²⁶ The reference to Phlegra at 295 prepares this hint of force.

¹²⁷ Cf. 850 (). The relationship between Zeus and the Furies, which is the basic metaphysical problem of the trilogy, cannot be discussed here.

¹²⁸ Such advance as the Delphic code may have made upon the justice of the Furies need not be discussed here: something is said upon the subject in CR XLVII, 101. On Apollo's part in the new order, through the ἐξηγηταί and the practice of purification, see Thomson, , Aeschylus and Athens, 291 f.Google Scholar To speculate upon the validity which Aeschylus attached to the formal purificatory process would take us too far afield.

¹²⁹ op. cit. 288: cf. 289 (‘the principle of male precedence now formally ratified as the basis of democracy …’); 291 (‘the matricide is acquitted by an appeal to historical expediency’). Professor Thomson's treatment of the whole subject raises many questions upon which anthropologists are far from agreed. For the purposes of the present argument, it can be granted that Aeschylus was consciously envisaging the change from a tribal to a democratic society, in the former of which women enjoyed a greater freedom than in the latter. The actual setting of the story is, of course, the aristocratic half-way stage, in which the institution of marriage is firmly established and male supremacy strongly marked, and in which the blood-feud is seen operating within the family and not the clan. Nor is it necessary to examine the hypothesis that the Erinyes were— and were thought by Aeschylus to be—originally associated with matrilineal descent. In the trilogy they have, in theory, an equal interest in both parents (cf. Eum. 512, as well as the passages from the Choephori quoted in n. 93 above). The dramatic situation forces them, however, to be bitter partisans of the mother (cf. Eum. 210), though they do not —and could not logically—disparage the man-father in the way that Apollo disparages the woman-mother.

¹³⁰ op. cit., 306 (in discussing the Supplices, on which see n. 136 below).

¹³¹ See p. 134.

¹³² And the Watchman, the Herald, and the Elders—all dominated by the queen's superior personality. The Elders, in particular, play the feminine role to her, as is pointed out in n. 15.

¹³³ See pp. 142 f.

¹³⁴ See Gomme, , Essays in Greek History and Literature, 89 ff.Google Scholar

¹³⁵ Zimmern, , Greek Commonwealth, 329 ffGoogle Scholar. gives a well-balanced account.

¹³⁶ Cf. Robertson, D. S. in CR XXXVIII, 51 ff.Google Scholar and Thomson, op. cit., 308. It is clearly impossible to discuss the problems of this trilogy adequately in a footnote. Perhaps the evidence does not permit a final verdict on the crucial question whether the objection of the Danaids was to marriage with their kin or to marriage as such. In either case, however, the sons of Aegyptus, in attempting to force themselves upon the Danaids, were committing an act of ὔβρις (see Robertson, H. G. in CR L, 104 ffGoogle Scholar., with references in his p. 107, n. 2), for which they—all but one—suffered an appropriate punishment. The clearest evidence for this (and it is also impartial) is in P. V., 856 ff. ().’ If that was the crime of the sons of Aigyptos, it was a crime enjoined in democratic Athens by an express provision of the law and committed regularly by the dramatist's contemporaries in the happy belief that by so doing they were serving simultaneously the gods, the state and their own interests’ (Thomson, op. cit., 306). But perhaps this happy belief was not fully shared by the dramatist (see n. 137 below).

¹³⁷ For the sensibility of the artist is bound to detect and likely to reveal the flaws that inevitably mar the harmony of any social or political system. It is this, in part, which gives him his social importance. Thomson assumes, on rather inadequate evidence, that Aeschylus regarded the wealth of the community as now equitably distributed (op. cit., 289). I see no reason why he should not have praised the just achievements of Athenian democracy without being blind to its actual or potential defects.

¹³⁸ 970 (Πειθοῦς). It is Zeus only who, for Aeschylus, represents absolute wisdom and justice, and he is inscrutable. All other deities—Artemis, Apollo, Hermes, the Furies, even Athena—represent aspects, approximations, partial and imperfect harmonies.