Orestes.

                Today in class we discussed which of the three different murder scenarios is the worst (And yes, I’m counting the “sacrifice” of Agamemnon’s daughter as murder). I don’t necessarily think that any of them could be simplified that way. But what I did see in The Libation Bearers a lot of justifications that really were masking over guilt. Orestes tries to cover up his revenge as justice. First of all,  the way that justice is depicted doesn’t even sound just, Orestes says “ —it stabs deeps, the edge cuts through and through and Justice drives it—Outrage still lives on,”. This description doesn’t even sound remotely like justice, it is pure rage driven revenge. But I feel like that’s obvious and doesn’t interest me as much as his reaction to the killing of his mother. It’s this reaction that makes me think that he is feeling a lot guiltier than his justifications would allow him to admit. There’s a scene where he is talking about the blood and it’s very reminiscent of Lady Macbeth’s reaction to the murders in Macbeth. The leader talking to Orestes says, “The blood’s still wet on your hands. It puts a kind of frenzy in you…”. Orestes is going a little crazy because of his guilt.

commented on Skylars.