In the Oresteia trilogy, the characters believe the dead can influence the living and have conversations with them. When Orestes and Electra pray to their dead father Agamemnon, they want him to help seek revenge for his death. The ghost of Clytemnestra also appears seeking retaliation against Orestes for killing her. Greeks believed the dead retained their identities and personalities from life and could interact with the living through dreams or rituals but remained in the underworld after death.

1. Families and politics in ancient drama
The Athenian audience for the Oresteia believed that the dead retained their identities from
life and after death could influence the situation of the living. You have encountered two
ghosts in this trilogy. (1) Orestes, Electra, and the chorus pray to the dead Agamemnon and
to the gods of the dead in Choephoroi/ Libation Bearers pp. 62-64. In what ways do they
think the dead Agamemnon still resembles his living self? What do his children want him to
do? (2) The ghost of Clytemnestra appears early in Eumenides (pp. 87-88). In what ways
does the dead Clytemnestra resemble her living self? What does she want done on earth?
(3) Summarize briefly what Greeks believed the dead could—and could not—do. Make
specific reference to the words the characters speak or to their actions to illustrate the
points you want to make about the dead in ancient Athens, supplying enough detail to
identify each scene or incident you mention. Approximately 300 words..Acces to the literary
pieces required to write the essay can be found on the web.#Families #politics #ancient
#drama