The Reproach of Commen Men
Breanna Poole
When reading this potion of Agamemnon, I was struck by a line spoken to Agamemnon by Clytemnestra -- "And you fear the reproach of common men?" (Pg.138), along with Agamemnon's reply ".....aye, [common men] have enormous power," (Pg.138).
Immedailty upon reading this, I could draw things about these two characters. One being that both were considered "higher class" -- they were not common men, so they had separate rules that applied to them. And the next thing I could take from this was the inherent differences this presented for Agamemnon and Clytemnestra -- while it seemed neither were pinnacles of kindness and morality, this line at least presented that between the two of them at least Agamemnon at least had a small shrivel of decency to admit that common people did in truth wield power, although different from their.
Clytemnestra, however, presents the thought that they are different from the common men, deriding Agamemnon for fearing the kind of impact the "simple" people have on him. This works twofold -- presenting that people in upper classes do care for the lower and also presents the woman as the wicked one, reaffirming that the government is good and woman need not be seen as a "equal" lest they turn to power-lust and arrogance.
By presenting those two ideas in this play, the structure of Greek life can remain the same, without question from the audiences to which this was shown too. In one simple exchange of dialogue, two very complex social structures was re-enforced in a subtle and almost unnoticeable way.
P.S. I commented on Kayla and Will's posts.
When reading this potion of Agamemnon, I was struck by a line spoken to Agamemnon by Clytemnestra -- "And you fear the reproach of common men?" (Pg.138), along with Agamemnon's reply ".....aye, [common men] have enormous power," (Pg.138).
Immedailty upon reading this, I could draw things about these two characters. One being that both were considered "higher class" -- they were not common men, so they had separate rules that applied to them. And the next thing I could take from this was the inherent differences this presented for Agamemnon and Clytemnestra -- while it seemed neither were pinnacles of kindness and morality, this line at least presented that between the two of them at least Agamemnon at least had a small shrivel of decency to admit that common people did in truth wield power, although different from their.
Clytemnestra, however, presents the thought that they are different from the common men, deriding Agamemnon for fearing the kind of impact the "simple" people have on him. This works twofold -- presenting that people in upper classes do care for the lower and also presents the woman as the wicked one, reaffirming that the government is good and woman need not be seen as a "equal" lest they turn to power-lust and arrogance.
By presenting those two ideas in this play, the structure of Greek life can remain the same, without question from the audiences to which this was shown too. In one simple exchange of dialogue, two very complex social structures was re-enforced in a subtle and almost unnoticeable way.
P.S. I commented on Kayla and Will's posts.
Both Agamemnon and Clytemnestra are both considered "higher class" because the are the King and Queen of their land. But what really go me thinking was the comment you made about the difference in how Agamemnon and Clytemnestra viewed the common people. You made the statement that Agamemnon had at least "a small shrivel of decency to admit the common people did in truth weird power," and gave me the assumption that Clytemnestra did not. I feel like she also recognizes the power these common people weird, but is trying to use it against Agamemnon. As we all already know, she is trying to get back at him for murdering their daughter and then leaving for ten years.
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