med. 3

In reading Agamemnon, the most prevalent theme is revenge. Revenge drives the plot, and eventually ends it. It is similar to much of Greek Theater in that respect. I think what it reminds me of most is Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Both plays are driven by scheming and plotting for the sole purpose of taking revenge on someone who wrongs them. In Agamemnon, it’s Clytemnestra on Agamemnon. In Hamlet, it’s Hamlet on Claudius. There is one major exception to this comparison though: the main characters. In Agamemnon, I found Clytemnestra to be a villain, plotting against a man who did not wish to harm anyone, but was forced to by the Gods and pressure from his army. She was by any definition (except literal), a horrible bitch. Her affair, her manor of taking revenge, and especially the act itself, paints Clytemnestra as the real antagonist of this play. Hamlet on the other hand is seen as the protagonist. He is not plotting to kill his uncle, but rather plotting to find out whether he should. The fact that he is going to murder his uncle eventually is justified in the minds of the audience, whereas the audience roots against Clytemnestra. Maybe the two aren’t so different after all, but in the way that the authors portray them, it is clear which character that people should root for, and which they shouldn’t.