Trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus

<i>Oresteia</i>

Oresteia

<p>The <i><b>Oresteia</b></i> (<a href="/en/Ancient_Greek_language" title="Ancient Greek language" class="mw-redirect wl">Ancient Greek</a><span>: </span><span>Ὀρέστεια</span>) is a <a href="/en/Trilogy" title="Trilogy" class="wl">trilogy</a> of <a href="/en/Greek_tragedy" title="Greek tragedy" class="wl">Greek tragedies</a> written by <a href="/en/Aeschylus" title="Aeschylus" class="wl">Aeschylus</a> in the 5th century BCE, concerning the murder of <a href="/en/Agamemnon" title="Agamemnon" class="wl">Agamemnon</a> by <a href="/en/Clytemnestra" title="Clytemnestra" class="wl">Clytemnestra</a>, the murder of Clytemnestra by <a href="/en/Orestes" title="Orestes" class="wl">Orestes</a>, the trial of Orestes, the end of the curse on the <a href="/en/House_of_Atreus" title="House of Atreus" class="mw-redirect wl">House of Atreus</a> and the pacification of the <a href="/en/Furies" title="Furies" class="mw-redirect wl">Furies</a> (also called Erinyes or Eumenides).</p>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus</div>
<style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1066479718" typeof="mw:Extension/templatestyles mw:Transclusion">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-header,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-subheader,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-above,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-title,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-image,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data,body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox-below{text-align:center}</style><div class='mobile-collapse'><header class="mobile-collapse-header mobile-collapse-btn"><b>Quick facts: Oresteia, Written by, Original language, Genr...</b> <span class='arrow'>▼</span></header> <table class="infobox vevent mobile-collapse-element"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above summary" style="font-style: italic">Oresteia</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" class="infobox-image"><span class="mw-default-size"><a href="/en/File:Ajshil,_Oresteia,_Drama_SNG_v_Ljubljani_(4).jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Ajshil,_Oresteia,_Drama_SNG_v_Ljubljani_(4).jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Ajshil%2C_Oresteia%2C_Drama_SNG_v_Ljubljani_%284%29.jpg/220px-Ajshil%2C_Oresteia%2C_Drama_SNG_v_Ljubljani_%284%29.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="940" data-file-height="1024" data-file-type="bitmap" height="240" width="220" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Ajshil%2C_Oresteia%2C_Drama_SNG_v_Ljubljani_%284%29.jpg/330px-Ajshil%2C_Oresteia%2C_Drama_SNG_v_Ljubljani_%284%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3a/Ajshil%2C_Oresteia%2C_Drama_SNG_v_Ljubljani_%284%29.jpg/440px-Ajshil%2C_Oresteia%2C_Drama_SNG_v_Ljubljani_%284%29.jpg 2x" alt="Ajshil%2C_Oresteia%2C_Drama_SNG_v_Ljubljani_%284%29.jpg"></a></span><div class="infobox-caption">SNG Drama Ljubljana  performs an adaptation of <i>The Oresteia</i>, in 1968</div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap">Written by</th><td class="infobox-data description"><a href="/en/Aeschylus" title="Aeschylus" class="wl">Aeschylus</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap">Original language</th><td class="infobox-data">Greek</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label" style="white-space: nowrap">Genre</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="/en/Tragedy" title="Tragedy" class="wl">tragedy</a></td></tr></tbody></table> <footer class='mobile-collapse-footer mobile-collapse-btn'><b>Close</b> <span class='arrow'>▲</span></footer></div>

<p>The trilogy—consisting of <i><a href="#Agamemnon" title="Oresteia" target="_blank">Agamemnon</a></i> (<span><span>Ἀγαμέμνων</span></span>), <i><a href="#The_Libation_Bearers" title="Oresteia" target="_blank">The Libation Bearers</a></i> (<span><span>Χοηφόροι</span></span>), and <i><a href="#The_Eumenides" title="Oresteia" target="_blank">The Eumenides</a></i> (<span><span>Εὐμενίδες</span></span>)—also shows how the <a href="/en/Greek_gods" title="Greek gods" class="mw-redirect wl">Greek gods</a> interacted with the characters and influenced their decisions pertaining to events and disputes.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-:1_1-0"><a href="#cite_note-:1-1" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 1;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[1]</span></a></span> The only extant example of an <a href="/en/Ancient_Greece" title="Ancient Greece" class="wl">ancient Greek</a> theatre trilogy, the <i>Oresteia</i> won first prize at the <a href="/en/Dionysia" title="Dionysia" class="wl">Dionysia</a> festival in 458 BCE. The principal themes of the trilogy include the contrast between <a href="/en/Revenge" title="Revenge" class="wl">revenge</a> and <a href="/en/Justice" title="Justice" class="wl">justice</a>, as well as the transition from personal <a href="/en/Feud" title="Feud" class="wl">vendetta</a> to organized <a href="/en/Litigation" title="Litigation" class="mw-redirect wl">litigation</a>.<span class="mw-ref reference" id="cite_ref-J1960439_2-0"><a href="#cite_note-J1960439-2" style="counter-reset: mw-Ref 2;"><span class="mw-reflink-text">[2]</span></a></span>  <i>Oresteia</i> originally included a <a href="/en/Satyr_play" title="Satyr play" class="wl">satyr play</a>, <i><a href="#Proteus" title="Oresteia" target="_blank">Proteus</a></i> (<span><span>Πρωτεύς</span></span>), following the tragic trilogy, but all except a single line of <i>Proteus</i> has been lost.<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/en/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" class="wl"><span>citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup></p>



The Oresteia is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BCE, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of the curse on the House of Atreus and the pacification of the Furies . The trilogy—consisting of Agamemnon , The Libation Bearers , and The Eumenides —also shows how the Greek gods interacted with the characters and influenced their decisions pertaining to events and disputes. 