Moral Injury in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 1 uses the concept of “moral injury,” the pain of committing or witnessing actions that betray what one considers right, to analyze Clytemnestra’s character in Aeschylus’ Oresteia trilogy, especially in Agamemnon. Scholars have applied the concept of moral injury to the stories of Greek heroes like Achilles and Ajax; this chapter argues that Clytemnestra’s actions, emotions, and speeches also follow this pattern. Clytemnestra’s language and use of stage space make the experience of moral injury felt through a sense of looming excess that spreads and engulfs other characters, including the Chorus. At the same time, the trilogy also demonstrates the limits of the moral injury theme and of moral recovery for female characters. The Chorus’ gender biases in Agamemnon, for instance, impede their understanding of Clytemnestra’s testimony about war’s excesses. This chapter also analyzes Cassandra’s trauma as a victim of war as distinct from Clytemnestra’s. She is the only character in Agamemnon who speaks openly about her own trauma as well as past wounds in the house of Atreus, but her trauma is recognized by none of the other characters onstage. The Oresteia, therefore, demonstrates how aspects of a character’s identity, including gender and status, shape how their emotional wounds and moral injuries are received and remembered by their community.