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Essay / Feminine Power: The Study of Clytemnestra's Role as a Powerful Female Character in Agamemnon's Greek Patriarchal Society
In ancient Greek society, women were not considered equal to men, they were considered inferior and incapable of doing what a man could. They had to act submissively and under the control of a man and often could neither act nor speak of their own will. However, in Agamemnon, Clytemnestra plays various roles and can be examined through various lenses. She has done things that can be called great or stupid, but one thing that is indisputable is that she is a powerful character who challenges the role of a typical woman in this patriarchal Greek society. This can be seen through an analysis of his dialogues and the interactions between the chorus and Agamemnon. Clytemnestra regularly faces skepticism from the chorus who view her as a stupid woman who is not capable of doing a man's job. However, she proves them wrong every time, destroying the idea of what a typical woman should be. She is also capable of outwitting and manipulating Agamemnon numerous times in mental and physical combat. She proves that she is not like any other woman in this society and that she was not going to conform to their ideals of what a woman should be. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay As the play begins, Clytemnestra sees that the beacon is lit and deduces that the only reason it would be lit is if the Greeks had defeated the Trojans. When she tells this to the choir, she is met with skepticism. They accuse her of having a "dream" or "vision" that she so "easily believed in", simply because she is a woman who, in their eyes, cannot be trusted with this kind. information. (274) However, Clytemnestra stands her ground by clinging to her belief that the Greeks have conquered Troy and refusing to bow to the skepticism of the chorus, which shows how defiant she is. The choir is made up of the wisest and oldest men in the village, so naturally most women will be completely submissive to them. That's why it's a very bold and unusual move to disagree with them, and it ends up being the right decision. After the Herald arrives and says that Troy has fallen, the chorus undoubtedly believes him, but Clytemnestra had already "raised her cry of joy" and that was "long ago." (587) The fact that Clytemnestra proved this group, comprised of some of the wisest and most capable men, wrong is a huge accomplishment. They doubted and "mocked" her and said it was "like a woman to lift up her heart so lightly", essentially saying that all women believed things without proof or reasoning. (592) Clytemnestra destroys this stereotypical notion because she was able to use her own reasoning to know that Troy had fallen and she, a "wandering-minded" woman as the chorus would describe, was able to prove them wrong. Clytemnestra carries a deep hatred. for Agamemnon who sacrificed their daughter and so she is determined to take revenge on her daughter. When Agamemnon arrives from the war, she calls on her “dearest husband” to “get down” from his “chariot” and “not put his feet on the ground” but to walk on the “tapestries” she had arranged. (905 – 908) Clytemnestra does this because walking on tapestries is considered a very disrespectful act to the gods and therefore if they were angry with Agamemnon, they would aid him in his murder. The women wereoften seen as clueless and incapable of doing things that required a lot of planning and execution, but Clytemnestra proves that she can. This shows how carefully Clytemnestra planned the murder. She wants to make sure her plan doesn't fail and takes every step necessary to make it happen. It also shows how manipulative she can be when she refers to Agamemnon as her "husband dearest" to give him a false sense of comfort and relief. Agamemnon does not agree and does not want to walk on the tapestries but Clytemnestra uses his strong will against him, she asks him to "not thwart" her will and he responds that "he will not make her will sweet for her ". (931 – 932) Clytemnestra knows that Agamemnon will continue to act as if he is above her and so she appeals to this feeling of virility and pride. She continues to feed Agamemnon the idea that he is more powerful than him by saying things like “oh! The power is yours.” (944) She feeds Agamemnon lies because he is a sacrificial beast whom she will murder in order to satisfy her own need for revenge. She forces Agamemnon to bend to her will while he is so caught up in his pride that he forgets his worries and walks on the tapestries as Clytemnestra had planned. Her ability to manipulate and outwit Agamemnon shows that she is not a typical submissive woman, she has the ability to plan ahead and use her wit and charm to achieve her goals. The act of killing Agamemnon shows a plethora of ways in which Clytemnestra exercises her physical and mental abilities. mental domination over his male counterpart. After the murder, Clytemnestra begins by explaining how she, unlike a typical Greek woman, "felt no shame" in this act, but rather felt that it fulfilled a "necessity." (1374) She truly felt that Agamemnon deserved to die, she acted accordingly and made sure she would not fail. She assured that Agamemnon would not be able to "escape nor avoid his death, while the fishermen cast their enormous encircling nets". (1382) This imagery is used by Aeschylus to show how Clytemnestra had trapped Agamemnon in a net from which he could not escape as a fisherman would catch a fish. This not only shows a lot of power and intelligence that she has, but also that she is able to use it against a king like Agamemnon. The murder not only proves his intellectual prowess in manipulating Agamemnon, but also demonstrates his dominance and power in his death. When the doors to the place open, they reveal "the bodies of Agamemnon/and Cassandra, with Clytemestra standing over them." (1370-1371) This dramatic entry highlights her greatness as she rises above her enemies, like that of a fury. She is able to play the role of a fury as she takes revenge by killing Agamemnon, thus completing the cycle of retributive justice. She further displays her dominance in the way she describes how she killed Agamemnon: she "struck him twice with two great cries of agony / he bent to his knees and fell." When he was down / I gave him a third blow. (1384 – 1386) This shows how ruthless Clytemnestra is and how much power she truly possesses. She dealt two blows to Agamemnon and essentially killed him and brought him to his knees, but in pure vengeance and anger, she dealt a third blow as a symbol to show her strength and power. Aeschylus also chooses to say that she struck Agamemnon twice and that he uttered "two great cries of agony" to show how much pain and suffering he was in and how helpless he was to escape from it..