58 pages • 1 hour read
Oresteia
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During Reading
Reading Questions & Paired Texts
Reading Check and Short Answer Questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.
AGAMEMNON
Reading Check
1. Where is the play set?
2. Who is Agamemnon’s wife?
3. Who is Menelaus?
4. What is the name of Agamemnon’s son?
5. Why did Apollo curse Cassandra?
6. Whom does Cassandra warn of Agamemnon’s impending death?
7. Whose screams does the Chorus hear coming from inside the palace?
8. Who helps Clytemnestra kill Agamemnon?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. What is the purpose of the beacon relays? What news do they bring to Argos?
2. Who is Iphigenia? Why did Agamemnon sacrifice her?
3. Why is Agamemnon initially reluctant to step on the red tapestries Clytemnestra lays out for him?
4. Who is Cassandra? What does Clytemnestra tell her to do?
5. Why does the Chorus call Aegisthus a coward?
Paired Resource
- This article from Khan Academy introduces the Greek polis, the basic social and political unit of the ancient Greek world.
- It connects to the theme of Justice and Vengeance.
- What is the polis? How does the polis embody order and justice?
THE LIBATION BEARERS
Reading Check
1. Who accompanies Orestes on his return to Argos?
2. Of whom is the Chorus comprised?
3. How does Orestes interpret Clytemnestra’s dream?
4. Who is Clissa?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Who is Electra? What does she pray for at the beginning of the play?
2. According to the Chorus, why has Clytemnestra sent them to offer libations to Agamemnon’s tomb?
3. Who are the Furies? Why do they attack Orestes?
Paired Resource
Greek Gods and Religious Practices
- This essay provides a short, helpful overview of ancient Greek religious practices.
- It connects to the themes of Pollution, Justice and Vengeance, and Oracles, Prophecies, and Fate.
- What role did the gods play in Greek life? How did the gods ensure order by punishing the guilty? Are the Greek gods always just?
THE EUMENIDES
Reading Check
1. Where does the play begin?
2. Who rouses the Furies to chase Orestes?
3. Who is the principal deity of Athens?
4. How does Orestes show his gratitude to the Athenians?
5. Who casts the tiebreaking vote in Orestes’s trial?
Short Answer
Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.
1. Why do the Furies blame Apollo for Orestes’s situation?
2. How does Orestes represent his case to Athena? Why does he think the Furies should stop pursuing him?
3. How does Athena decide to settle Orestes’s case?
4. According to Apollo, why is a father’s life more valuable than a mother’s?
5. Why are the Furies so angry at the younger gods?
Paired Resource
- This entry in Mythopedia introduces the Furies (Erinyes) and their role in Greek myth and religion.
- It connects to the themes of Pollution and Justice and Vengeance.
- Who are the Furies? How do they punish the guilty?
Recommended Next Reads
Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus
- Aeschylus’s tragic retelling of the myth of Oedipus’s descendants can be found in this collection entitled Aeschylus I.
- Shared themes include Pollution and Justice and Vengeance.
- Shared topics include drama, mythology, and ancient Greece.
- Seven Against Thebes on SuperSummary
Electra by Euripides
- This is a dramatization of the Orestes myth by the tragedian Euripides, who was born a generation after Aeschylus.
- Shared themes include Pollution, Justice and Vengeance, and Oracles, Prophecies, and Fate.
- Shared topics include drama, mythology, and ancient Greece.
- Electra on SuperSummary
Reading Questions Answer Key
AGAMEMNON
Reading Check
1. Agamemnon’s palace at Argos (Lines 1-492)
2. Clytemnestra (Lines 1-492)
3. Agamemnon’s brother and Helen’s husband (Lines 493-695)
4. Orestes (Lines 493-695)
5. Because she refused to have sex with him (Lines 976-1354)
6. The Chorus (Lines 976-1354)
7. Agamemnon (Lines 1355-1708)
8. Aegisthus (Lines 1355-1708)
Short Answer
1. The beacon relays that run across the mountain peaks from Troy to Argos were set up to convey the news of Agamemnon’s victory over Troy. (Lines 1-492)
2. Iphigenia is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Agamemnon sacrificed her to the goddess Artemis (Diana) in exchange for a wind to blow his ships to Troy. (Lines 1-492)
3. Agamemnon initially refuses to step on the red tapestries Clytemnestra lays out for his arrival because he believes that doing so would be hubristic and therefore offensive to the gods. (Lines 493-695)
4. Cassandra is a Trojan princess and a priestess of Apollo whom Agamemnon has brought to Argos to be his concubine. Clytemnestra orders Cassandra to enter the palace, but she ignores her. (Lines 976-1354)
5. The Chorus calls Aegisthus a coward because he used a woman, his lover Clytemnestra, to kill his enemy Agamemnon for him. (Lines 1355-1708)
THE LIBATION BEARERS
Reading Check
1. His close friend Pylades (Lines 1-633)
2. Enslaved women carrying libations for the dead (Lines 1-633)
3. As a sign that he will be successful in his mission (Lines 1-633)
4. Orestes’s old nurse (Lines 634-1077)
Short Answer
1. Electra is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. She prays for Orestes to come home and avenge her father’s murder. (Lines 1-633)
2. The Chorus says that Clytemnestra had a dream in which she gave birth to a snake. Taking this as a bad omen, she sent them to bring the offerings to her dead husband. (Lines 1-633)
3. The Furies are spirits of vengeance in Greek religion. They torment Orestes to punish him for killing his mother. (Lines 634-1077)
THE EUMENIDES
Reading Check
1. At Apollo’s temple at Delphi (Lines 1-232)
2. The ghost of Clytemnestra (Lines 1-232)
3. Athena (Lines 233-1057)
4. By swearing eternal allegiance between his city (Argos) and theirs (Athens) (Lines 233-1057)
5. Athena (Lines 233-1057)
Short Answer
1. The Furies tell Apollo he is to blame for Orestes’s situation because he was the one who ordered him to kill Clytemnestra. (Lines 1-232)
2. Orestes tells Athena that he should not be punished for killing his mother because Apollo ordered him to commit the crime, and because he has already undergone purification rites. (Lines 233-1057)
3. Athena sees both sides of Orestes’s case, so she sets up a homicide court to try Orestes and determine whether he should be acquitted. (Lines 233-1057)
4. Apollo argues that a father’s life is more valuable than a mother’s because it is only the father’s seed that produces offspring, while the mother is just a vessel to carry the father’s child until it is born. (Lines 233-1057)
5. The Furies are angry at the younger gods because they blame them for taking over their ancient right to punish wrongdoers. (Lines 233-1057)
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