rst for vengeance for Electra, Oreste’s sister declares that there is “a common hatred in this house” (8). She is referring to the dishonorable death of her father and she like her brother wishes retribution. Nonetheless, it is human fate that Orestes must eventually kill his mother because Orestes himself questions how he can “escape [his] father’s curse” (38) and his mother admits to the same by saying “your mother’s curse, like dogs, will drag you down” (38). After killing his mother Orestes admits in the last of the trilogy in The Eumenides that Apollo shares in the blame for he “counterspurred my heart and told me of pains to come if I should fail to act” (21). It is quite a paradox that humanity as seen in the Oresteia, seeks the assistance of the gods to act out their violent inclinations, yet it is a god who saves them from those same inclinations. The answer may lie in Oreste’s statement to Apollo concerning how he understands “what it means to do no wrong” (7). Even though Aeschylus gives the gods a human personification, even Apollo admits to Orestes that no man cannot escape the chorus of the Eumenides or the furies, thus saying “they will track you down” (7). So even though Apollo aids Orestes in his endeavor, he is flawless and perfect because he admits that man can’t escape his condition, a condition of vengeance and retribution. Apollo then is simply assisting Orestes to fulfill his already ill-fated nature. The basic idea of a god is perfection and in Aeschylus the god is seen as not so perfect, as seen in Apollo for Apollo says to Orestes it was “I who made you strike your mother down” (7). However, Aeschylus strongly points to the human condition because Orestes himself pleads guilty for his “father was dear and this was vengeance for his blood” (21). Orestes is eventually found inno...
