Aeschylus's The Oresteia

Aeschylus's The Oresteia

Maintaining the rule of law is central to most societies ability to remain orderly. Initially, derived from the family, a transition occurred driving the origins of the rule of law to occur within society as a whole. Aeschylus's The Oresteia provides an excellent illustration of this change from the instinctual law within the family to the positive law of society. Aeschylus shows this transition through the example of the aristocratic family of Argo's, which culminates in a murder trial in the city of Athens. The Oresteia provides an excellent starting point for understanding the evolution of the rule of law from natural law to societal law through the breakdown of the family roles, the obligations of fate and duty, and the calming of the furies. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...The action in this court scene is set up by the opening scene which happened in the temple of Apollo. This instance helps to show the usurpation of one set of gods over another, in that the Furies were lulled to sleep by Apollo to protect Orestes from their torment. The Furies are used to represent instinctual justice because the ghost of Clytaemnestra awakes them by charging them to fulfill their duty to torment Orestes for committing matricide. A requirement to complete the evolution of justice to be based in society is that the Furies current capacity is in need of elimination, which is what takes place during the trial in Athens. In the trial, the Furies' case hinges on the concept that Clytaemnestra the same blood as Orestes, but Apollo counters that, "The man is the source of life – the one who mounts. She, like a stranger for a stranger, keeps the shoot alive unless god hurts the roots" (Lines 669–671). Apollo is saying that the Furies claim that Orestes and Clytaemnestra share the same blood is meaningless because the man is the source of life, while the woman is merely a vehicle. To contrast, this Orestes builds the case for his innocence on the premise that he was commanded by the seer of Apollo to avenge his father's death since he had just returned a hero in the Trojan War. Both parties were able to make sound cases, which ultimately led to the jury splitting evenly down the middle, which shows the complexity of the situation. Given a vote, in this case, I would have voted for Orestes, because the implications of changing the role of the Furies to occur more peacefully in society will help for all to flourish. In the end, Athena voted for Orestes because "she killed her husband, guardian of their house." While Orestes freed of his guilt, however, it was not a defeat for the Furies as they received a new role

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