Aeschylus’ Agamemnon: Study Questions

• Compare the representation of Helen in this play with Homer’s presentation of her in Book 3 of The Iliad. Does she seem like the same woman?
• What does the view of Helen presented by the chorus have in common with the character of Clytaemnestra?
• Find out what you can about the practice of prophecy. Is Cassandra a typical seer?
• Do Helen, Clytaemnestra and Cassandra share any common characteristics?
• Bearing in mind the characters of the women in this play, what do you think Sophocles is saying about the nature of femininity?
• Does Clytaemnestra seem to you a good or a poor liar? What are her motives for revenge? How justifiable is her revenge? Is a feminist defence of her actions possible?
• Agamemnon does not appear until some time in to the play. When he appears, does he meet your expectations? What does his opening speech reveal about him?
• Is Aeschylus more sympathetic to Agamemnon or Clytaemnestra? How can you tell?
• Describe in detail the kind of justice that Aeschylus depicts in the Agamemnon. Would you say it is straightforward or problematic?
• What does Aechylus have to say about pride in this play?
• Are the gods just in the Agamemnon?
• Read the other two plays in The Oresteia
• (+ something on specific ode prolonging moment of suspense + something on dramatic irony + more qs. abt. Agamemnon + qs. on chorus )

 

Euripides’ Electra: Study Questions

• Enumerate the possible reasons for Electra’s anger towards her mother.
• What do Electra’s attitudes to clothes and social rank say about her?
• What do you make of her attitudes to marriage (her own and her mother’s) and her mother’s lasciviousness?
• How sympathetic/unsympathetic do you feel towards Electra and why? Does your view of her change at all during the play? If so, at which points (make a note of page numbers).
• Draw up a list of contrasts and comparisons between Electra and Orestes. Which character do you find more sympathetic and why?
• Why do you think Orestes chooses first not to reveal himself to his sister?
• What does Euripides have to say about justice and its problems in this play?
• In the second paragraph on p.118 Orestes expresses democratic sentiments (a man ought to be judged by his actions rather than social rank). Can you find other examples of democratic sentiments – or their opposite - in the play?
• Aegisthus never appears but is spoken of. What do you learn about him from others’ words? How does this compare with the views of Electra and Orestes?
• Clytemnestra does appear and engages in dialogue with her daughter. How does Clytemnestra’s self-presentation at the close of the play compare with the Peasant’s presentation of her at the opening and with Electra’s view of her?
• What do you think Euripides suggests about the nature of femininity? How does his view relate to the general view of Classical Greeks?
• What part does the chorus play in Electra? Look again at each of the choral odes and consider their tone and how they relate to play.
• Comment on the deii ex machina at the close of the play. What part do they play? Why are they important?
• Does Euripides have a moral purpose in this play? If so, what is it?
• How does the play leave you feeling? Explain why you feel this way.
• Read Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers and Sophocles’ Electra. Both are versions of the same story. Then note down the principal differences in the treatment of the story.
• Why do you think this story fascinated the Greeks and continues to fascinate us?
• Do you know what Freud meant by the ‘Electra complex’? Try to find out.

 

Sophocles’ Philoctetes: Study Questions

• Make notes on: Odysseus’ motives, his attitude to Philoctetes, his treatment of Neoptolemus. Make sure that you can ground each observation in the text (give page references).
• What is your attitude to Odysseus?
• Describe the nature of the moral dilemma Neoptolemus finds himself in on p.167. Specifically, what positions must he choose between? Why do you think he changes his mind here?
• What makes him betray and then aid Philoctetes? What does this transformation tell us about Neoptolemus?
• Contrast the character of Neoptolemus at the start and the close of the play. Account for any differences. What is Sophocles saying about growing up?
• Is Philoctetes at all noble? Compare him with Achilles and (if you have read the play) Euripides’ Electra.
• At the close, does Philoctetes change significantly?
• Philoctetes’ diseased leg is a punishment. Has he really done anything wrong? Is there any justice in his suffering? Does the play ever hint at why the gods allow him to suffer so much? Do you think Sophocles might be using disease as a metaphor? If so, to represent what?
• What is your attitude to Philoctetes and why?
• Considering each of the choral odes, say what part the chorus plays in Philoctetes.
• The play is set on a desert island. Consider what is said about the natural world. Is nature presented as beneficent or hostile? Does Philoctetes’ view of the island change at all? Does the play suggest that civilisation lacks or is inferior to a life led in nature - or is the opposite suggested?
• Unusually for a tragedy, there are no female characters in this play. How does this absence affect the play’s concerns? Is the exclusive masculinity of the cast significant?
• Consider the appearance of Hercules, deus ex machina, at the close. Why is he able to convince Philoctetes? What did the Greeks think of Hercules?
• Do you find the ending satisfactory?
• Make notes on what Philoctetes lost through exile and what he will gain through reintegration. Also, consider the meaning of exile for a 5th century Athenian.
• What can you discern of Sophocles’ moral purpose in writing this play? How does this play make you feel? Why?
• Does the play seem modern or archaic to you? Why? Does it remind you of anything else - books, films, any kinds of stories?
• Read Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus and compare it with Philoctetes.

Adrian Chapman