The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides Quotes
"Zeus, as the old men of Argos tell us, 'lays it down as law/that we must suffer, suffer into truth.'"
"Reflect on the house of Atreus, what's more, on Pelop's regeneration from the cauldron, on the rise of the Olympic games from an act of murder."
"Aeschylus is optimistic, but he would agree with Hardy: 'if way to the Better there be, it exacts a full look at the Worst.'"
"How had we come so far? he asks. Through struggle, and through struggle we will advance."
"The Oresteia is our rite of passage from savagery to civilization."
"Tragedy is a challenge and a trap, a vehicle for our character and our fate."
"Empowered by a love that makes her hatred stronger."
"For all her resistance to solitude, her love for Agamemnon has yielded to infidelity."
"The chorus is speechless for a moment, but they are so revolted by Aegisthus' cowardice they quickly rise against him."
"Aeschylus is not simply a religious poet. He is a wilful, headstrong, visionary poet."
"Aeschylus creates a world of violent paradox."
"Through the eyes of Apollo, history is a chronic nightmare."
"Clytaemnestra is at last no more conciliatory than Oedipus or Lear."
"Tragedy, in Aeschylus' hands, might empower the young democracy."
"The Oresteia revolutionizes the archaic world."
"Present fears are less than horrible imaginings."
"I honour the male, in all things but marriage."
"Give joy in return for joy, one common will for love, and hate with one strong heart."
"The man is the source of life - the one who mounts."
"By rejecting civil strife and promoting brotherhood we can turn their love-in-hate into a national code of conduct."
"The gods justified human life by living it themselves."
"Zeus is the air, Zeus is the earth, Zeus is the heaven, Zeus is all in all, and all that lies beyond."
"In some sense it is always spring in the Oresteia, Orestes' agony is so crucial."
"But for many The Eumenides may predominate; it is the final vision, for better and for worse."
"For better, since it answers to a human need for respite after so much suffering."
"Our fall is fortunate, not because the Furies are agents provocateurs, forces of evil manipulated by a god."
"The Furies are our positive allies, 'the fortunes of our lives'."
"Yet as we journey from the dark to the light in Aeschylus, we cannot leave the dark behind - the darkness breeds the light."
"In Aeschylus' Eumenides we have a dream that turns to drama, a passionate encounter with reality."
"Struggle is salvation, as Nietzsche would say."
"Aeschylus the actor emulated Aeschylus the poet; he galvanized his words upon the stage."
"A public decree insured the reproduction of his work, and after he died his work won many victories."
"The ultimate pathos breeds the ultimate mathos, never losing sight of the labour and the danger still to come."
"Conflict remains the medium of our destiny in the Oresteia."
"Destiny waits us all, looking towards the tomb."
"I revere your father's death-mound like an altar."
"How can I ask the gods for that and keep my conscience clear?"
"Raise up your avenger, into the light, my father - kill the killers in return, with justice!"
"Bring up your blessings, up into the air, led by the gods and Earth and all the rights that bring us triumph."
"The heart goes dark to hear you - then the anguish ebbs, I see you stronger, hope and the light come on me."
"Dreams are easy, oh, but the double lash is striking home."
"Raise up the heart of Perseus in your breast!"
"The gods will give you power; the laws of god may veer from north to south."
"Never trample it underfoot, your eyes set on spoils."
"Make the seed of men live on, the more they worship you the more they thrive."
"I am the only god who knows the keys to the armoury where his lightning-bolt is sealed."
"All will praise her, victor city, pride of man."
"Athena, with all my strong techniques will rear your host and battlements to glory."
"You will learn to praise your Furies, you will praise the fortunes of your lives."
"Neither anarchy nor tyranny, my people. Worship the Mean, I urge you."
"Rejoice - the joy resounds - all those who dwell in Athens, spirits and mortals, come."