Mythology of Orestes
Orestes was one of posterity of the house of Atreus. He also was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. The main character of The Libation Bearers, the second part of Aeschylus' great trilogy, the Oresteia, Orestes was able to go through with his father's murder because of the orders of Apollo and because the force of history propelled him forward. At the end of the play, he carried out the vengeance by killing Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. The reason why Orestes had to kill his mother was that, during the Trojan War, King Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia so that the Greek fleet could sail to Troy. When he returned, his wife, Clytemnestra, in revenge for his crime murdered him. So far, some questions came up, such as: Was the crime of Orestes more serious than that of Clytemnestra? Should Orestes be punished or was his crime one of justice?In The Libation Bearers, Orestes was conscious of the Curse on his house, and he hoped that in killing his mother he would put an end to the cycle of violence. However, when Orestes doubted if he could kill his own mother, Pylades who was a companion to Orestes told him that he should count all men hateful to him rather than the gods. Where the
Oedipus thought he could control his fate; he spent his whole life running from the terrible prophecy. He was running from his fate as he left the city and continued his travels, he came to a city called Thebes. (Sophocles lines 1069-1072) Not only Orestes but also Oedipus could have choice. The commands of Apollo drove Orestes toward his fate. When he declared that he would find the murderer he was the man that he pursues, he was told by Tiresias, I say you are the murderer you hunt. Orestes had objections about killing, and he did not wish to strike down his mother. Oedipus and Iocaste start a family and rule a prosperous city for many years. After solving the riddle of the Sphinx, Oedipus became the King of Thebes and married the current Queen, Iocoste. Originally, Oedipus had choices to choose leaving or not, as Sartre's motto, You can always make something out of what you've been made into. " (Eumenides lines 476-478) This showed that Orestes was fully aware of the act he was committing, he intentionally committed it, and he must suffer for it. Therefore, he decided to leave the city and never return as long as his parents who were Polybus and Merope, the King and Queen of Corinth, were still alive. In the other hand, Queen Iocaste knew that fate was uncontrollable but she just wanted to let life take its course and just let her fate come out as she went along in life. (43)Orestes had the freedom to choose and the choices he made should be made without the assistance of another person. He did not know what was coming for him, he just thought he had found a way to avoid it.
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