A Mother's Love or Lack of It // Moriah Nelson
Once again, I fell in love with the poetry of
this story. It was such a compelling read filled with thought-provoking
statements and carried on Agamemnon’s story perfectly. What came to my
attention was the turmoil of Clytaemnestra’s logic regarding her children’s
lives. Only a couple of years prior to “The
Libation Bearers”, Clytaemnestra murders her husband, King Agamemnon, in
part because of him sacrificing their daughter, Iphigenia. Now we see she has
caused her daughter Electra to be tormented in her own home and Electra claims
to have not felt joy since her father’s death. Additionally, Clytaemnestra’s son,
Orestes, is exiled from his home and upon meeting him, she doesn’t even recognize
him at first. While plotting his revenge, Orestes prays,
“I and Electra, too, I tell you, children
robbed of our father, both of us bound
in exile from our house.” (page 190).
In a sense,
Clytaemnestra’s action of revenge for Iphigenia’s death caused her to lose all
of her children and her own life. It begs the question, “Was it worth it?”. Was
it worth it to lose Electra and Orestes when she’s already lost Iphigenia? Should
she have left the matter of revenge to work itself out? If she had left
Agamemnon alive, would Orestes and Electra love their mother more or would they
still side with their father? Did Clytaemnestra truly love her children at all,
or was that merely an excuse to release her anger on Agamemnon?
I believe if
Clytaemnestra had left the matter to settle itself, her household would be very
different, if not more peaceful. As a mother, if she truly loved her children
who still lived, she ought to have considered the pain she would make them
endure and been discouraged from murdering Agamemnon.
P.S. I commented on Eliza and Katie's blog posts.
P.S. I commented on Eliza and Katie's blog posts.
Looking back on what happened with what I know now I don't think that Clytemnestra`s main reason in killing Agamemnon was because he murdered her daughter. I think that a little bit of it was an excuse to get rid of a husband she had grown tired of. If she had truly killed Agamemnon because of killing her daughter why would she treat her own children so horribly?
ReplyDeleteClytemnestra, upon first meeting her, was a character that I expected would be a kind companion to Agamemnon. Boy was I wrong. She possessed a hatred driven by her sorrows and it manifested itself in the form of vengeance. This vengeance overflowed into other aspects of her life and even ruined her relationship with her other children. I really don't see how this series of causes and effects even takes place. Your questions really evoke a crucial point and character flaw in Clytemnestra. I doubt she even thought about what her actions were resulting in, allowing herself to be controlled by foolish desires and impulses.
ReplyDeleteI think that, had Clytemnestra left matters alone, her household would have been just as fragile. If she hadn't have murdered Agamemnon, they still would have had to deal with the fact that both of them were having affairs, one of which was with another member of the family. I think that the children lost their respect for her in the event of the affair, but ultimately made up their minds after the murder of their father. I don't think that Clytemnestra loved her children, because if she did, she wouldn't have left them fatherless only to have their uncle as their stepdad??? Overall, I'd say they wouldn't have been better off had Clytemnestra not murdered Agamemnon because she is still a vindictive, selfish human.
ReplyDeleteIt made me think about when they claimed to be orphans, while the knew their mother was living, they identified with their dead father and fell in to despair. Their mother abandoning them and leaving them for dead is a crime almost equivalent to killing her own husband, it the book highlights how family relations can be so darn complicated.
ReplyDeleteAmen, dude! What I don't understand is how she was so driven to murder Agamemnon that she completely overlooked the fact that the pain it would cause on her children who are still alive would lead to her own death! This whole tragedy thing simply makes no sense whatsoever. If Clytaemnestra had simply enough self control to keep herself focused on what she knows is right rather than a false sense of justice that really only causes guilt and pain, then not only would all be well but the curse would be lifted! Then there's the idea that perhpas Aegisthus persuaded Clytaemnestra to do this to Agamemnon and the family. So now my question becomes this: is Aegisthus the true root of the curse?
ReplyDeleteClytaemnestra could've had self control when the act of her relationship with her children came into play. The built up anger turned into a lead way for her children to not only hate her, but for her to lose a relationship with her children. I feel as if, if she would've of thought of her actions... then the relationship with her children would've been not only better, but the story plot would drastically change.
ReplyDelete