The word hubris is Greek for exaggerated pride or arrogance. In Greece it was punished swiftly by the Greek gods, and was believed to be a horrible sin. In the first part of the trilogy, Oresteia: Agamemnon by Aeschylus, Agamemnon is the epitome of hubris. He exudes his pompous pride so much throughout the story that it might even be said that it intertwines with his eventual death.
             The danger that the hubris beholds is first foreshadowed during Agamemnon's arrival home to his wife after the ten years of war between Greece and Troy. Agamemnon is very swollen with pride from his victory. In his discussion with Clytemnestra, who claims to have been loyal throughout the war in Troy, Agamemnon shares of all his victory and accomplishment, failing to mention that his younger brother, Menelaus, shows up as missing after his ship did not survive the storm that Agamemnon's ship miraculously endures. The chorus mentions his death, perhaps insinuating that he died because his victory made him too successful and proud.
             Another major example Agamemnon's display of hubris would be when he walks on the purple carpet. At first, he rebukes his wife for placing such carpet for him to walk on, stating that he would seem too prideful to walk on such carpet. Agamemnon declares, "I count it dangerous, being mortal, to set foot on rich embroidered silks. I would be reverenced as man, not god" (364). Even with his observance of the danger walking on the purple carpet may cause, Clytemnestra persuades Agamemnon that he is worthy of walking on such carpet. She easily convinces him to complete this act of ultimate hubris, showing what a weak person Agamemnon really is. Before walking across, he says, "This deep-sea treasure, may no watchful envious god glance from afar. It offends modesty that I should dare with unwashed feet to soil these costly rugs" (365). This statement is ironic because it foreshadows the eventua...