STUDY QUESTIONS FOR THE ORESTEIA:

1. It is easy enough to read the three plays of the trilogy together as one big story. However, how is each of these three plays also a tragedy complete in itself?

2. In particular, can the Eumenides (the last of the three plays) stand on its own, or does it only make sense with the previous two plays? (Note, we’re talking here about the actual plays in the triology, not the myth they embody.)

3. What is each of these plays about? What issue or issues does each raise? What will we talk about afterwards? Are the issues the same for all three plays, or are they different?

4. Is the family under a curse? If they are, what exactly does this mean?

5. Some people think the Agamemnon is the greatest Greek tragedy ever written (or at least the greatest of all that survive). What’s so great about it?