4016 Fall07 Questions and Discussion 6
From Studyplace
This week's class question:
(To be readin in class, session 4, 9/26)
'This week's respondent: Tabina Lyte
Last week we read about the curse on the House of Atreus, this week we meet Orestes plagued and haunted by the Furies for the murder of his mother Clytemnestra. The curse at this point is in full effect. We begin in chaos. Heraclitus’ insights into the workings of nature and the human soul provide a framework from which to analyze Euripides’ Orestes.
The main themes in Orestes include:
• Fire's Role
• God‘s Role in a Lawful Society
• Conscience
• Women’s Role
Fire's Role
In Electra’s opening soliloquy, in which she details important background information, she references fire describing it as “cleansing” in its role of cremating Clytemnestra. This is the first glimpse into the theme of fire, later in the play we see how the role changes from being a cleansing to a destructive agent, the latter of which is generally accepted. This destructive role of fire is evident towards the end of the play when Orestes along with Electra and Pylades set the palace ablaze.
Q;'I think the question thus becomes, Is Orestes’setting fire to the palace an act of destruction, cleansing or both? Is setting the palace on fire a symbol for the lifting of the curse?
The idea that fire can be viewed interchangeably with water, its opposite element, is worth noting. This not only provides some insight into the nature of Electra, but also may be an indication of the Greek’s view of the world at that time. Is destruction in ways of wars (of which fire can be a symbol) a cleansing agent? Heraclitus gives us a guide for understanding the role of fire; he holds “There is exchange of all things for fire and of fire for all things…” (28) In the lines that follow, he continues his belief of the unceasing control that fire has on all things.
God‘s Role in a Lawful Society
In Electra and Oresteia we see the role of the gods, Zeus in particular, as omnipotent and ultimately as my classmate David puts it “responsible for all things.” However, I would argue that in Orestes this role as all-powerful is in conflict with man’s strengthening of a legal system. The consequence of this conflict is the lessening of the gods' monopoly on man’s trust and reliance.
Orestes represents the midpoint between custom and change. He is the experiment used to determine which force is stronger and thus will dominate. Is it the rule of the gods or the rule of man? Heraclitus gives some guidance. He states “Men should speak with rational mind and thereby hold strongly to that which is shared in common ---- as a city holds on to its law, and even more strongly. For all human laws are nourished by the one divine law, which prevails as far as it wishes, suffices for all things, and yet is something more than they are (81). He further asserts, “Law involves obeying the counsel of one.”(83) Orestes we see does not choose but submits to both forces. This is evident in his first committing the crime designed by Apollo and then seeking out Menelaus for deliverance from man’s law.
Q:Apollo restores harmony in the end, what implication does this have on man’s system of law?
Conscience
From the very beginning of the play, the reader wonders why Orestes is punished by the Furies when Apollo in fact influenced his committing matricide. The suggestion here is that Orestes is not being punished by the Furies but by his own conscience, which could be a direct consequence of man’s collective ruling against such acts of violence, man’s condemnation of it. Support for this argument is found in the dialogue between Orestes and Menelaus as he describes what ails him, he declares to Menelaus “…my deeds torture me.” He attributes his suffering directly to his conscience, he says” My conscience; I know that I am guilty of an awful crime.” He presents himself this way to Menelaus only, the one who has the power to save him and Electra from death. To Electra and others he surrenders the idea that his punishment is from the Furies.
Q:Is this then really how he feels or is his claim of a guilty conscience solely a tactic to humanize himself and therefore gain compassion and forgiveness of man?
Women’s Role
The treatment of women in this play, specifically Helen and Clytemnestra even in her death, is negative. They are viewed as dispensable and unwelcomed by society because of their desire for power. Clytemnestra for example sought the power to control her house and her future by killing her husband and thus avenging the murder of her daughter, as a result she was punished through death. Helen on the other hand seeks power through her beauty; an example of which Electra details after she deliberates with Helen about the libations “Did ye mark how she cut off her hair only at the ends, careful to preserve its beauty?” Implicit in this action is her lack of humility, her over dependence on the external. Helen was taken from the mortal world and placed among the gods, this serves as her punishment. Electra’s character represents, like her brother Orestes, the midpoint between these two extremes. She is presented as compassionate, evident in the nursing of her brother; loyal in any circumstance even when it calls for her to act against her will/desire, illustrated in her participation in burning the palace. I would argue that her character speaks directly to the role of women in the Greek society at that time.
I close with Heraclitus words on Universal Flux, he says” Everything flows and nothing abides; everything gives way and nothing stays fixed.”(20)
Here he is talking about the inevitability of change. So far in our readings we see how this society undergoes change, is it slow but the smallest change has innumerable consequences...
