Part 1:Students will perform the following assignment:
(1)read
and learn about
part III of Aeschylus'OrestiaTrilogy, called "Eumenides"; (2) gain an understanding of the single-composite character of "The Furies" and also this character's role in the execution of civic (public) justice with regard to Orestes' so-called crime -- the crime is that a son, Orestes, murders his own mother, Clytemnestra; and then (3) cite two examples in which Aeschylus characterizes"The Furies" and also explain to me: (a)what is their fundamental motivation, what final "end," what form of justice, do "The Furies" wish to bring to fulfillment?; and (b) what sort of experience do they leave you personally with? For example, you may want to think about these questions: Are you on their side of the plot? Are you ambivalent about being on their side? Are you not on their side?Are they in your opinion on the side of "good" and "justice" or "raw revenge" or "bloodlust"?
Part 2:Students will perform the following assignment:
Nearing the close of
"Eumenides" -- the final part ofOrsestia Trilogy --the goddess Athena negotiates a deal, a compromise with The Furies. She negotiates a deal with The Furies who, to Athena's way of thinking, lack something in their motivations towards justice in the case of Orestes, a son who is on trial, a son who is "being brought to justice" for murdering his mother, Clytemnestra.
For this part of the discussion form, first
(1) find two examples of Athena's way of thinking about the ways and motivations behind The Furies' fundamental action of executing justice; and then...
(2) tell me what sort of experience does Athena's way of thinking about Justice leave you personally with? For example, you might want to think about these questions: Are you on the side Athena's way of negotiating with a reality of Justice? Are you ambivalent about Athena's way of negotiating with a reality Justice? Are you not on the side of Athena's way? Is Athena's way in your opinion on the side of a form of "good" and "justice" that couldn't be possible in The Furies' ways of executing social balance and "justice" in the world?