What Role Did Zeus Play In The Trojan War
The Trojan War is explained forty lines into the Oresteia. In the midst of its short opening monologue by the Watchmen, the Chorus is stirred to narrate the event to the audience: With the kidnapping/seduction of Helen by the prince of Troy, Paris, the two kings, Menelaus and Agamemnon enter Greece into a ten-year war. The events in Agamemnon are only a small part of a larger story, as the Chorus makes clear in its lengthy speech.
The first piece of the passage of the Chorus’ narrative confirms the power Menelaus and Agamemnon possess; they are sanctioned by Zeus to send a “rescue” party, which includes thousands of Greek ships, to Troy. The Trojan War has occurred through the will of Zeus; no power is greater than that of the father of the gods, and the two kings employ this power on Earth. …show more content…
Zeus supports Agamemnon not only as a king, but also as a father, and reprimands the deeds of both Clytemnestra and Helen; Zeus determines what is right and wrong. This can be seen in the vulture imagery; “Like vultures robbed of their young, / the agony sends them frenzied, / soaring high from the nest, round and / round they wheel, they row their wings / stroke upon churning thrashing stroke, / but all the labour, the bed of pain / the young are lost forever” (54-60). The function of this imagery is to diminish the mother role in the nuclear family, and emphasize the father as the significant parent. This piece of the passage reverses the roles of mother and father; Menelaus and Agamemnon are presented as the role of nurturer and concerned with the welfare of their children. By excluding the mother and placing the father as nurturer, the abhorrence of Agamemnon’s children towards their mother is justified, and so matricide is acceptable. Of course, the irony is that as a nurturer, Agamemnon killed his daughter to satisfy his need for
The first piece of the passage of the Chorus’ narrative confirms the power Menelaus and Agamemnon possess; they are sanctioned by Zeus to send a “rescue” party, which includes thousands of Greek ships, to Troy. The Trojan War has occurred through the will of Zeus; no power is greater than that of the father of the gods, and the two kings employ this power on Earth. …show more content…
Zeus supports Agamemnon not only as a king, but also as a father, and reprimands the deeds of both Clytemnestra and Helen; Zeus determines what is right and wrong. This can be seen in the vulture imagery; “Like vultures robbed of their young, / the agony sends them frenzied, / soaring high from the nest, round and / round they wheel, they row their wings / stroke upon churning thrashing stroke, / but all the labour, the bed of pain / the young are lost forever” (54-60). The function of this imagery is to diminish the mother role in the nuclear family, and emphasize the father as the significant parent. This piece of the passage reverses the roles of mother and father; Menelaus and Agamemnon are presented as the role of nurturer and concerned with the welfare of their children. By excluding the mother and placing the father as nurturer, the abhorrence of Agamemnon’s children towards their mother is justified, and so matricide is acceptable. Of course, the irony is that as a nurturer, Agamemnon killed his daughter to satisfy his need for