Throughout history, the roles of women and men have always varied to some degree. However, in ancient Greece, the traditional gender roles were clear and distinct. In Grecian society, the ideal Athenian women is submissive to the man, her primary role is within the household and she is ultimately silenced by those of authority. In the Oresteia trilogy which includes, the plays Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and The Eumenides. A central theme throughout all three plays was justice. However, through the relative importance of justice in Greek society it permitted the institutionalization of male dominance. The women attempt disrupt the male-ordered society and deconstruct the idea of the “typical” Athenian women when they engage in both their feminine and masculine roles. To most readers, the women of The Oresteia are sinful and vindictive, and a disgrace to all innocent and virtuous women of Athens. This paper will examine the masculine roles taken on by women and how the Greek’s idea of justice enabled the inferiority and …show more content…
It is Agamemnon’s allegiance to the state/nation in the man-made patriarchal system that will ultimately cost him his life. Throughout Agamemnon, Clytemnestra is the depiction of the wicked woman. Clytemnestra swaps feminine for masculine, and hereby gains power, by her cunning manipulation of language which allows her to take revenge on Agamemnon clearly shown through the murder at the end of the play. In the first scene of the play, the watchman comments on Clytemnestra’s masculine role. He describes as “having a fiery heart and the resolution of a man” (Agamemnon 11-12). This statement provides a clear distinction between gender roles but also presents Clytemnestra has having ‘masculine’ qualities. This idea is later enforced when the chorus that Clytemnestra “speaks as wisely as a prudent man” (Agamemnon