Sparta and Euripides’ Electra

From early on the myths of Agamemnon and Orestes had political overtones. In the Iliad it is Agamemnon as king of Mycenae who leads the Argive forces against Troy but, just as early, Agamemnon and Orestes seem to have been closely associated with Laconia.  This article provides a political interpret...

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Veröffentlicht in:Eranos 2024-08, Vol.114 (2)
1. Verfasser: Beer, David George
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:From early on the myths of Agamemnon and Orestes had political overtones. In the Iliad it is Agamemnon as king of Mycenae who leads the Argive forces against Troy but, just as early, Agamemnon and Orestes seem to have been closely associated with Laconia.  This article provides a political interpretation of Euripides’ Electra in which I argue that Electra is an anti-Spartan tragedy arising from Sparta’s desire to control Argos. Although the mythological background is the Trojan War, the tragedy reflects the deleterious effects of the Peloponnesian War.  Unlike in Aeschylus’ Oresteia and Sophocles’ Electra where the curse on the royal house forms the central background, the larger focus in Euripides’ tragedy is on the territory of Argos. This point is clearly suggested by having the skene depict a farmer’s hut which, situated somewhere in the mountains, is emblematic of Argive territory. Argos is a polis divided between two hostile parties: Orestes and Electra, the legitimate successors of the former Argive king, Agamemnon, and pro-Spartan usurpers, the Tyndarids, represented in the play by Clytemnestra and supported in the epilogue by her Tyndarid brothers, the Dioscuri.  Castor, their spokesman, provides a completely unsatisfactory moral solution to the revenge of Orestes and Electra, a solution that is simply designed to serve Spartan interests. By imposing a life-long exile on Agamemnon’s children, his legal heirs, Castor leaves Argos open for the Spartans to take control.  The tragedy contrasts a heroic past with a sordid present which accounts for the so called ‘Low Style’ of Electra.  I shall suggest a date between 421–417 BC for the play’s production, when there was an insecure peace between Athens and Sparta and the politics of Argos assumed much importance.    
ISSN:0013-9947
2004-6332
DOI:10.33063/er.v114i2.338