Works by Aeschylus
Oresteia
Oresteia is another work founded on the Orestes' quest to avenge his father Agamemnon's murder at the hands of his wife and her lover. Agamemnon, returning home from the Trojan War with his concubine, the Trojan prophetess Cassandra, is killed upon arrival and his throne is usurped by his wife Clytemnestra and her illicit lover Aegisthus. Clytemnestra, partly out of vengeance for the death of her daughter Iphigenia whom Agamemnon sacrificed in the war, partly because of her adultery, and partly due to the curse on Agamemnon's family caused by his father Atreus' transgressions, killed her husband. Orestes, the offspring of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, returns to avenge his father's death. He works in conjunction with his sister Electra to summon their father's help in their twisted plot. He has no qualms about killing Aegisthus, but when it comes to killing Clytemnestra, his own mother, he struggles with the ethics of matricide. Upon Apollo's command, Orestes reluctantly kills his mother. However, the cycle of vengeance continues. The Erinyes, more commonly known as the Furies, haunt and torment Orestes. He escapes and finds refuge at the Oracle at Delphi. Following the oracle's advice, he sets out on a journey to Athens where he will be put on trial for killing his mother. In Athens, Athena organizes the jury and Apollo defends Orestes, while the Erinyes prosecute him. When the time comes for the jury to decide his fate, the vote is evenly divided among the jury. Athena intervenes and her vote serves as the tie-breaker in deciding Orestes' fate. The Erinyes, furious that Orestes has been acquitted, proceed to terrorize the city of Athens, but Athena pacifies them with the promise of their own home and followers in Athens. They agree to dwell peacefully as the "King Goddesses", and the ongoing cycle of vengeance is finally put to an end. Throughout this play, the themes of theology, politics, and blood relationships are emphasized by the chorus.
Prometheus Bound
Whether Prometheus Bound was even written by Aeschylus is not agreed upon, but many scholars believe that its author was Aeschylus. This play is based on the myth of the titan Prometheus. When the gods created men, Prometheus gave mankind fire against the will of Zeus and was chained on a rock as punishment for his deflection. While he is imprisoned, Oceanus, a chorus of Oceanus' daughters, Io, and Hermes. Oceanus warns Prometheus to stop offending Zeus, but he says that he will talk to Zeus in order to have Prometheus freed. Prometheus, having the ability to prophesy the future, knows that this will be futile and urges Oceanus not to become involved or else he will be punished too. Oceanus then leaves. Io, who also suffered at the hands of Zeus, tells her story to Prometheus, who in turn tells her of her future. After hearing about Zeus' mistreatment of Io, Prometheus curses in anger, shouting out that Zeus' son would overcome him. Hearing this, Hermes arrives on the rock and demands to know who the mother of this son will be, but Prometheus refuses to reveal the answer. Because he does not divulge his knowledge, Prometheus is thrown into Tartarus where an eagle will eat his liver every day until the day that another god dies for him. The play features the conflicts that arise from the clashing of tyranny, exemplified by Zeus, and defiance, exemplified by Prometheus.
The Persians
The Persians , unlike most Greek works, served to detail the recent incidents of the Greco-Persian wars rather than to tell of ancient myths. This play centered around how the Greeks were able to drive back the Persian invasions, particularly at the Battle of Salamis. The setting of this play is in Persepolis, the capital of the Persian empire. The leaders and generals have all gone to Greece to fight, and Atossa, the mother of Xerxes, king of Persia, dreams of defeat. Frightened and worried that her dream may foretell the future, she prays to the gods for help. A messenger from Salamis departs to deliver the news of the defeat at Salamis to the queen of Persia, describing the bloody, gruesome details of the battle. Atossa then makes an offering to Darius' grave and summons him from the dead. She delivers the news of their crushing defeat. Xerxes then returns home to Persia, defeated and humiliated. The Persians' defeat is caused by the display of independence and bravery on the part of the Greeks as well as the Persians' punishment by the gods for expanding beyond the borders of Asia.
The Suppliants
In The Suppliants, the fifty Danaïds, who were born in Egypt but are of Greek lineage, escape with their father in order to avoid being married to their cousins, Aegyptus' sons. They arrive in Argos and ask Pelasgus, the king of Argos, for protection and refuge. He initially refuses out of the fear of displeasing Aegyptus, but the people of Argos offer their support and protection to the Danaïds. Soon, the Egyptians arrive in Argos to claim bring back the Danaïds. Pelasgus gathers an army and forces the encroaching Egyptians to retreat back to their homeland and asks the Danaïds to stay in Argos under his protection, and they do.The theme in this play emphasized domestic love against the purity and virginity of the Danaïds and the lust of their cousins.
The Seven Against Thebes
King Laius, the ruler of Thebes, has a son despite a warning prophecy from Apollo. Oedipus, the son of Laius, kills his father and curses his two sons, Eteocles and Polyneices. In The Seven Against Thebes, Eteocles defends Thebes from an attack by his brother Polyneices along six other chieftains who wish to make Polyneices the ruler of Thebes. In order to protect the city, Eteocles positions six men at six of the seven gates of Thebes and guards the last one himself, where he will fight Polyneices. At this last battle, the brothers kill each other, thus extinguishing the last line of the family. Because Laius initially defied the gods, his descendants also suffered from his mistakes and ended up exterminating their own family.
Sources
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/7413/Aeschylus
http://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~clas215/study_guides/aeschylus_persians.htm
http://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_aeschylus_suppliants.html
http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/prometheus/summary.html
http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/images/dariusghost.jpg
http://www.sewanee.edu/faculty/seiters/classdoc/images/J/35j.jpg
http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/philolog/Bougereau%20Orestes.jpg
http://www.hellenicaworld.com/Greece/Mythology/Paintings/DanaidesWaterhouse.jpg
http://www.chinaoilpaintinggallery.com/oilpainting/Jacob-Jordaens/Prometheus-Bound.jpg
http://bingweb.binghamton.edu/~clas215/study_guides/aeschylus_persians.htm
http://www.ancient-literature.com/greece_aeschylus_suppliants.html
http://www.sparknotes.com/drama/prometheus/summary.html
http://www.heritageinstitute.com/zoroastrianism/images/dariusghost.jpg
http://www.sewanee.edu/faculty/seiters/classdoc/images/J/35j.jpg
http://traumwerk.stanford.edu/philolog/Bougereau%20Orestes.jpg
http://www.hellenicaworld.com/Greece/Mythology/Paintings/DanaidesWaterhouse.jpg
http://www.chinaoilpaintinggallery.com/oilpainting/Jacob-Jordaens/Prometheus-Bound.jpg