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Cynthia Chung's avatar

Note: I realised afterwards that I mispoke about Orestes killing Agamemnon (his father), and that it was Clytemnestra (his mother) that killed Agamemnon and Cassandra ( in the Aeschylus version) for Agamemnon's sacrifice of Iphigenia (Orestes' sister) for good weather on his way to Troy. And that Orestes in turn killed Clytemnestra (his mother). However, everything else I was recounting about this story in the interview is accurate in reference to the Aeschylus version, except for the muddle already mentioned above, which does not change the lesson that was being conveyed. The Furies were associated with the Temple of Apollo and Athena was brought in as representative of the Areopagus court of law to stop the eye for an eye endless cycle of violence that the Furies represented. The Trojan War had gone on for many many years - started by Menelaus, Agamemnon's brother, over Paris "stealing" his wife and the play begins with Agamemnon's return from Troy after many years. The injustice of the Trojan War which is the major backdrop to this entire storyline (in all its versions) is at the core of why the eye for an eye system of brutal "justice" must end.

Helen W's avatar

James Dellingpole - really? 🤔

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