a ladys male strength of heart (10- 11). The relationship between the male and the female is anything but dynamic, making the perverse state of the relationship between Clytaemestra and Agamemnon unnatural; it simply cannot exist in Aeschylus society. The Oresteia, in effect, perpetuates traditional ideals; the values assigned to the "good" female characters, such as Elektra, embody the morals of the ruling men, while the real opinions and views of women are suppressed. Drama, for the Greeks, was a means of educating the citizens of the polis, not merely the male citizens, but the female ones as well. Aeschylus' treatment of women may be interpreted as an example of how not to act (for women) and what actions to take (for men). Furthermore, the Oresteia becomes a social commentary on the conflict between duty to the state and duty to the family. The final resolution, Oresetes trial in the Eumenides, restores the rightful order to the polis and suggests that the state or the male has power over the female and her domestic sphere, the family. The Oresteia can therefore be looked upon as a piece of propaganda meant to cement the traditional roles of men and women in Greek society. WORKS CITED 1. Aeschylus I. Agamemnon Oresteia. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1953 2. Gomme, A. W. The Position of Women in Athens in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BC Classical Philology 20 (1925): 1-25 3. Lebeck, Ann. The Oresteia: A Study in Language and Structure. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1971. 4. Peradotto, John J. "Some Patterns of Nature Imagery in the Oresteia." American Journal of Philology 85 (1964): 378-393. 5. Dodds, E.R. "Morals and Politics in the Oresteia." Chapter in The Ancient Concept of Progress and Other Essays in Greek Literature and Belief. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1973. 6. Goldhill, Simon. Language, Sexuality, Narrative: The Oresteia. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1984....
