Mercy or Guilt? - Zelda Peach
On page 201, the leader tells us this story as follows...
“She dreamed she bore snake, said so herself ...
... she swaddled it like a baby, laid it to rest.
She gave it her breast to suck- she was dreaming.
Blood curdled milk with each sharp tug ...
... and she woke with a scream, appalled
and rows of torches burning out of the blind dark,
flared across the halls to sooth the queen,
and then she sent the liberate shins for the dead,
and easy cure she hopes will cut the pain.”
This is the violent nightmare Clytaemnestra has of her son before his return home to the cursed house. This vision of course triggers the imagery of Adam and Eve in the garden with the serpent. It amazes me that in multiple cultures all across time without knowing anything about each other, the same animals, actions, and stories arise with the same meaning. In this example, the snake is seen as something dangerous, untrustworthy, and evil. Clytaemnestra feels as if her son who she bore of her own flesh and blood is going to hurt her. (Which he of course is). But what interests me the most, is towards the very last minute right before Orestes kills Clytaemestra, he almost doesn't. For a split second Orestes considers not killing his mother and this is the closest thing to mercy or guilt I can find in both of the two plays combined. Orestes then obviously decided to turn his back on this feeling and kill his mother regardless of it, but the fact that he even considers sparing her life to me is interesting and doesn't fit the overall theme of the plays. What do ya’ll think? How does this idea of Orestes feeling mercy or guilt (I'm not sure which one it is yet) fit in with the rest of the plot?
P.S I commented on Annakate and Kayla's post. :)
“She dreamed she bore snake, said so herself ...
... she swaddled it like a baby, laid it to rest.
She gave it her breast to suck- she was dreaming.
Blood curdled milk with each sharp tug ...
... and she woke with a scream, appalled
and rows of torches burning out of the blind dark,
flared across the halls to sooth the queen,
and then she sent the liberate shins for the dead,
and easy cure she hopes will cut the pain.”
This is the violent nightmare Clytaemnestra has of her son before his return home to the cursed house. This vision of course triggers the imagery of Adam and Eve in the garden with the serpent. It amazes me that in multiple cultures all across time without knowing anything about each other, the same animals, actions, and stories arise with the same meaning. In this example, the snake is seen as something dangerous, untrustworthy, and evil. Clytaemnestra feels as if her son who she bore of her own flesh and blood is going to hurt her. (Which he of course is). But what interests me the most, is towards the very last minute right before Orestes kills Clytaemestra, he almost doesn't. For a split second Orestes considers not killing his mother and this is the closest thing to mercy or guilt I can find in both of the two plays combined. Orestes then obviously decided to turn his back on this feeling and kill his mother regardless of it, but the fact that he even considers sparing her life to me is interesting and doesn't fit the overall theme of the plays. What do ya’ll think? How does this idea of Orestes feeling mercy or guilt (I'm not sure which one it is yet) fit in with the rest of the plot?
P.S I commented on Annakate and Kayla's post. :)
This is what I referred to back in one of my first blog posts. However, it was when we were reading the Epic of Gilgamesh. It is crazy to see how the same stories travel across different cultures. Each one tends to have a different meaning based on where they are from. Maybe they alter the stories to focus on things their country in particular is afraid of. Maybe they shaped these stories and these events to help prove or make sense of the legends and myths they had heard their entire life. Like Dr. Downs said in class, these people had no explanation for the terrible things that ould happen during their times. Therefore, they tried to make sense of it with odd stories. Maybe they did the same thing with familiar stories tha were passed around during this time period.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Orestes, maybe someone in this play actually has a soul, and can manage to not kill someone and be completely fine with it.. But obviously he remembers who he is and was like "ehh I'm going to kill her anyways."
I love finding Biblical parallels in other religions or cultures. To me, it solidifies the fact that we all came from the same place. The truth of the Garden of Eden or the story of Noah's Arc may be distorted and shifted around by different cultures, but that means they heard the stories that were true, and I find that to be really reassuring.
ReplyDeleteAs for Orestes, I tend to think guilt is what causes him to pause. He clearly hates his mother and would never spare her out of mercy. However, he still has those terrifying visions or terrors at the very end, which to me is very reflective of a guilty conscience.
I'll go the other direction from AnnaKate and say that it was mercy. Clytemnestra was the one who gave birth to him. Because she was his mother, he considered sparing her life even though she killed his father. I don't think he hated his mother, I think he was just confused and angry at her. That moment where she asks for mercy, he nearly grants it. The only reason he doesn't is to appease Apollo. Even if he did hate her, can you blame him? She was the one who banished him.
ReplyDelete