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The Chorus of Aeschylus
A Chorus was defined as a music and drama by the Greeks. It was performed by two groups such as those who performed vocally and those who performed singly. Furthermore, the drama was performed by actors that used to comment on the main action using a song, recitation, and dances. One of the examples of the chorus was written by Aeschylus who used to write dramas in ancient Greece. Aeschylus wrote a drama called Agamemnon which was inspired by the life of a king of Argos. Agamemnon was the name of the king whereby his wife Clytemnestra killed him after coming from Trojan war. His wife was planning for the murder of Agamemnon with his lover Aegisthus as a revenge for their daughter Iphigenia that Agamemnon sacrificed to the gods. The chorus of Aeschylus’ Agamemnon famously summarizes the relationship between Greek tragedy and political wisdom “Zeus had led us on to know/the Helmsman lays it down as law/that we must suffer, suffer into truth” (177-1791) what does Aeschylus want us to think of these lines? Specifically, what kind of wisdom does suffering bring, and how does suffering bring it?
Notably, in the lines “Zeus had led us on to know/the Helmsman lays it down as law/that we must suffer, suffer into truth” (177-1791), Aeschylus wants his audience to know that in life hardship and difficulties that come to people’s lives makes them wiser whereby the past experiences make them learn on their mistakes giving a second chance to rectify them. The message comes as part of emergency social justice and democracy after a generation of violence. The main message that Aeschylus is trying to bring out is that no matter how bad the outcome is on the life of a people; they can still do better by being concerned with changing the outcomes of the present. Additionally, Aeschylus has a bigger view and an open mind for the dynamic view of the universe and human life. Moreover, he shows his audience that all bad things that have ever happened in the past life and continue to happen in the present, there is a higher possibility that life is going to be better. Despite the experience of the past having the power of changing the present, the decision that people make determines the success of the present and future moments. On the other hand, suffering brings wisdom because of the consequences that people face after doing something wrong. According to Aeschylus, the consequences can come positively or negatively and it can affect people differently depending on the decisions they make. Some people can suffer in different ways depending on the circumstances and choices made by them or by someone else. For instance, circumstance can be a situation where people are introduced to a situation that makes them have no choice but make a bad decision that later lures them to a life of suffering. As a result, according to Aeschylus it does matter if someone chose or other people made a decision for them, but suffering will engulf them to the point that they receive wisdom that will be like a lesson for them.
Additionally, Agamemnon is a performance intended for theater audiences. Given that theater was one of the few institutions dedicated to civic education in Athens. However, the major questions that Aeschylus want his audience to think about in this play Agamemnon are why humanity is important in society? Aeschylus tries to bring into perspective the importance of humanity in society by accounting the case of how the king was killed because of his actions of killing his daughter as a sacrifice to the gods. Furthermore, he shows how the characters committed different sins in the name of vengeance such as Atreus, who cooked his own brother’s children and served them to him. The second question that Aeschylus is asking the audience is: is vengeance the right way to solve problems? The Aeschylus’s major points are presented through the whole play whereby he tries to show how the choices and decisions that different families chose that affected their future generations. Additionally, the conflict is structured as a cycle order of acts of vengeance done at different times.
Additionally, Agamemnon is related to The Eumenides whereby one talks about revenge and the other talks about justice. According to Agamemnon and The Eumenides, when people pay back evil by evil was consider the right and moral thing to do to the society of Greek. The concept of revenge and justice may oppose each other, but they reached a point that they agree in one thing. Moreover, the two accounts are related whereby the two have the over-arching metaphor for a portion of the new Athenian democracy. The chorus in both plays shows how people felt disrespected and not appreciated well because of the changing value in society. For instance, Eumenides is very frustrated with the younger gods and breaches their powers “Each charge meets counter-charge. None can judge between them. Justice. The plunderer plundered, the killer pays the price. The truth still holds while Zeus still holds the throne: the one who acts must suffer – that is law. Who can tear from the veins the bad seed, the curse? The race is welded to its ruin,” 1587. Additionally, in the Agamemnon, the chorus is about the fear of more control of an operational woman in Clytemnestra rather than the leadership of unproductive Agamemnon. On the other hand, the chorus Agamemnon is concentrated on bringing back power to the Agamemnon king, and Eumenides traces the development of the struggle for power as the chorus of the Furies struggle to hold power. Basically, the relationship of both choruses has taken actions though to make sure that there are important.
Correspondingly, suffering is a sign that people are out of the way. The gods used suffering as a way of punishment and making people change their ways to choose the right and righteous way. According to Aeschylus, the human ability to make free choices and to act on those choices determines what kind of people they will be in society. As a result, if people make bad choices in life, the consequences are bound to affect even their children. Suffering is given to people so that their eyes can be opened to the truth around them so that they can have an understanding that there is a falsehood. According to Aeschylus, “Zeus has led us on to know, the Helmsman lays it down as the law that we must suffer, suffer into truth. We cannot sleep, and drop by drop at heart the pain of pain remembered comes again, and we resist, but ripeness comes as well. From the gods enthroned on the awesome rowing-bench there comes a violent love,” 177 people get to suffer when they are in the verge of meeting the reality, and they get stripped of the illusions that are making them not to see the truth. Therefore, humanity is doomed to suffer to become wise. However, according to Aeschylus, the alternative to the path of wisdom is to learn from other people’s mistakes and decide to follow the right path. Basically, the suffering is believed to be a good thing especially when it happens to change people’s lives.
Conclusively, the chorus of Aeschylus shows in Agamemnon a fight between the character of Agamemnon and his wife, Clytemnestra. Also, the chorus discusses which form the conflict that Agamemnon and Clytemnestra took how they portrayed understand to the audience. On the other hand, Aeschylus wants his audience to know that in life hardship and difficulties that come to people’s lives makes them wiser whereby the past experiences make them learn on their mistakes giving a second chance to rectify them. Generally, people pay back evil by evil was consider the right and moral thing to do to the society of Greek. Despite the experience of the past having the power of changing the present, the decision that people make determine the success of the present and future moments.