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Essay Archive - Justice in Orestes
Justice in Orestes
Aeschylus is primarily concerned with the nature of justice. In the trilogy The
Oresteia, the Akhaians evolve from an older, more primitive autocratic form of
justice, to a new concept of civil justice devised by Athena. He confronts the
contrast between the old and new orders, the lives of the members of the House
of Atreus, and the serious moral questions that Orestes' crime presents.
The case against Orestes is strong. The son admits to striking down his mother,
in violation of the sacred tenant of kinship. "But I came back, my years of
exile weathered—killed the one who bore me, I won't deny it, killed her ....
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