Agamêmnon

by Seneca, José Eduardo S. Lohner (Translator)

Seneca's tragedy Agamemnon is a brilliantly rhetorical piece, written for the study rather than the stage. In this edition Professor Tarrant provides a much needed critical text. In his introduction he discusses the sources, dating, structure and mode of production of Agamemnon and Senecan drama in general, and includes a detailed survey of the manuscript tradition. His commentary is the fullest yet published on a Senecan play and attempts both to interpret the text and to define the originality of Senecan drama by placing it in its proper literary context; it contains material illustrating Seneca's relationship to earlier Greek and Roman drama, Augustan poetry (Ovid's in particular), and the rhetoric of declamation. This edition will be welcomed by classical scholars and students of Latin poetry, and may also prove valuable to those interested in Seneca's influence on later European drama.

Genres: Plays, Classics, Mythology, Drama, Ancient, Greek Mythology, Roman

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 65

About the author

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca or Seneca the Younger); ca. 4 BC – 65 AD) was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero, who later forced him to commit suicide for alleged complicity in the Pisonian conspiracy to have him assassinated.

Reviews

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 3 out of 5]

AGAMENÓN, de Séneca

"¡Ay, qué dulce desgracia tienen los mortales: el amor obstinado por la vida, cuando tienen a mano la huida de los males y a los que sufren"

Esta obra de Séneca tiene el mismo nombre y casi argumento de "Agamenón" de Esquilo que forma parte de su trilogía de la Orestiada. Trata del regreso del héroe a su tierra natal luego de la cruenta guerra con Troya a cargo de su esposa Clitemnestra.
Hay varios puntos sin embargo en el que hay diferencias importantes. En el principio aparece la sombra de Tiestes, cosa que le da mucho sentido y explicación a lo que vendrá. Cabe decir que Séneca escribió un "Tiestes" de muy buena factura además. En esta primera escena Tiestes cuenta la maldición que echó sobre el linaje de Atreo antes de morir debido a que su hermano Atreo le causó enormes desgracias y cómo espera cobrar venganza.
En cuanto a Clitemnestra ella parece dudar de la decisión que había tomado, incluso esto es un poco dramático. Esquilo en cambio Clitemenestra y Egisto actúan tan normalmente que uno no se da cuenta de nada hasta el desenlace que llega bien calculado.
Es una obra en realidad bastante partida, muchos personajes aparecen en un acto para luego no aparecer más. Agamenón mismo que le da título a esta obra tiene un papel muy pequeño.
Al final es la presencia de Electra quien ayuda a Orestes y se encuentra con Estrofio (el padre de Pílades) quien ayuda a ocultar al niño luego de ocurrida la tragedia. En Esquilo en cambio Orestes ya había sido enviado a pedido del propio Estrofio anticipando un atentado contra él al no estar presente Agamenón.

"Todo lo moderado tiene más larga vida:
dichoso aquel que, siendo del montón,
tranquilo con su suerte,
se ciñe al litoral con un viento seguro"

Aparte de estos cambios, que no son nada disonantes con la historia principal, Séneca aporta su filosofía como lo vano de estar en el poder o en lo más alto cuando la seguridad está en lo simple. También hay buenas descripciones de lugares por los cuales pasaron los griegos. Euríbates es el encargado de narrar las peripecias de los griegos luego de tomar Troya y aquí hay una descripción muy detallada mucho más que en Esquilo de las desgracias de todos incluyendo la de Ayax Oileo. Por su parte Casandra ya no aparece como la esclava en parte sumisa sino más bien una un poco burlona como en Eurípides.

"¡Qué verguenza y qué pesar! ¡Una hija de Tindáreo, descendencia del cielo, ha parido una víctima lustral para la escuadra doria!"

[Simon Goldenson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Latin literature really shat the bed with Seneca

[Marika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tandem.
Veniet et vobis furor.

[Illiterate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A revenge tragedy. I like the storm over the ships returning from Troy.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seneca's version of Aeschylus' Agamemnon is a so-called closet drama to be read rather than performed. This at first is off-putting in that there are more speeches than dialogues.

Seneca has a certain amount of sympathy for Clytemnestra. She has good reason to be enraged with Agamemnon who quite literally sacrificed their daughter to speed the Greek fleet on to Troy, who abandoned her for ten years, who took up with captive Trojan women and indeed brings home with him a Trojan mistress. Still, she wonders if she should forgive all that to honor their marriage vows.

CLYTEMNESTRA Love for my husband conquers and turns me back. Return we thither whence ‘twere well never to have come away. E’en now let us reseek purity and truth, for never too late is trod the path to honesty; whose repents his sin is well-nigh innocent.

To that her lover retorts:

AEGISTHUS Whither art borne, mad one? Dost believe or hope that Agamemnon is still true to his marriage vows?

No, she does not believe that. Her fury knows no bounds. She entangles Agamemnon in a gown she has sewn herself and when Aegisthus' knife fails to kill him, she steps in and beheads Agamemnon herself with an Amazonian axe. Her fury extends beyond the pale to her children whom she also sets out to murder. Aegisthus cools her fury and saves the lives of the children.

Clytemnestra changes in a moment from a penitent seeking reconciliation to a monster. All was fated by the curse on the House of Atreus.

My rating of this play increased considerably on a second read with the translator's notes by my side.

[وائل المنعم · Rating 1 out of 5]

أول مسرحية أقرها لسينيكا ومن الواضح الفارق الكبير بينها وبين مسرحيات كتاب المسرح الاغريق، فهي اشبه بتراجع في مستوى فن المسرحية، لا يمكن اطلاق الحكم من مسرحية واحدة ولكن فارق الجودة كبير بينها وبين اقل مسرحيات يوربيديوس أو اسخيليوس ناهيك عن سوفوكليس.

[Saimi Korhonen · Rating 3 out of 5]

“That famous king of kings, leader of leaders, Agamemnon, behind whose banner a thousand ships hid the seas of Ilium with their sails, has conquered Ilium after ten cycles of Phoebus, and is here – doomed to offer his throat to his own wife. Soon now the house will swim in blood answering blood.”

3,5/5!

Seneca's Agamemnon is a Latin tragedy focused on the brutal aftermath of the Trojan war and the Greek king Agamemnon's return home which quickly turns from trumph to slaughter.

While I didn't actively hate this play and I thought it had some good moments, this version of Agamemnon's return home just paled in comparison to the more famous ancient play of the same name, Aeshyclus's Agamemnon. Seneca's play has all the classic aspects of this story but does none of them as well as Aeschylus. If you are interested in this story, I'd recommend Aeschylus over this one any day. Aeschylus's Agamemnon and its two sequels are masterpieces of ancient literature – this one is a fine tragedy but nothing else.

Let's start with the positives. Seneca did a great job showcasing how the house of Atreus is trapped in this violent cycle in which they just keep tearing each other apart and hurting each other: he starts the play with Thyestes, the father of Aegisthus and uncle of Agamemnon, who is punished forever in Hades for his crimes against his own family, and as the story goes on, Agamemnon's ancestor Tantalus (who also committed severe crimes against his own flesh) is also mentioned as grieving for what is to become of the current king of Mycenae. Seneca also emphasised Clytemnestra's familial connection to Helen, a woman who causes unbeforeseen chaos to the Greeks with her love affair with the Trojan prince Paris. She too belongs to a family notorious for its crimes. When she and Aegisthus do their dark deed and slaughter Agamemnon (on that note, I have to say I really appreciated that Clytemnestra got to deliver the killing blow with her axe), Cassandra says: "Both show themselves true to family by such a crime: he is Thyestes’ son, she is Helen’s sister.”

Speaking of Cassandra, I really appreciated aspects of how she was written. Seneca showed Cassandra's hatred of her prophetic abilities really well – one of my fave scenes in the whole play was when she is seized by one of her visions and she rails against it helplessly: “– why do you goad me with spurs of fresh madness, why sweep me out of control of my own mind? Leave me, Phoebus: I am not yours any longer. Smother the flames you have planted in my breast. For whom do I drift in frenzy now? For whom do I play the crazed maenad? Now Troy has fallen, what business have I as a failed prophet?” I also found the depiction of her grief really moving: she thinks about all her dead siblings, her mother whose rage and grief ended up making a literal beast out of her, and she remembers her city that was sacked and destroyed for good. The chorus of captured Trojan women also moved me with their lament, their sorrow and their words to Cassandra: “There is no limit, Cassandra, to tears since what we suffer has surpassed limit.” This play really does show how brutally the Greeks treated the Trojans and there's even a sense of the gods being angry at the Greeks for what they did to this glorious city. Before Agamemnon returns, his envoy tells Clytemnestra of the misfortunes the Greeks faced during their return home and when Cassandra walks to her death at the end, she says she is happy to see her family in Hades and tell them what became of the Greek fleet and the man who led the destruction of Troy: "Now I am happy to have outlived Troy – yes, happy!”

Agamemnon was despicable as always, and I did like his depiction. Aegisthus describes him really well: “He was overbearing to associates while Troy still stood: what do you think Troy’s fall has added to a spirit that is naturally harsh? He was king of Mycenae, he will return a tyrant; success swells men’s minds.” Even though he and his men were tested by the gods on their way home, he returns triumphant and utterly convinced of his own might, unable to see the threat that awaits him. His discussion with Cassandra where she continuously speaks of the danger he is in and of how she sees echoes of Troy and its fate here in Mycenae, and he doesn't pay her any heed was one of my favorite moments in this play. This exchange between king and enslaved princess especially struck me: “What can a conqueror fear?” – “What he does not fear.”

Electra also had a few awesome scenes. She is a very challenging character, though because in this play I felt less intensely for Clytemnestra for reasons we will soon go into, I was able to like Electra more, though I still do not understand her devotion to Agamemnon (who on earth would and could love him?). I liked her spiring Orestes away, even though it was a bit too convenient that Strophes, alongside his son Pylades, just so happens to drive by as they are escaping and I liked her absolute fearlessness in the face of her mother's rage. Clytemnestra can rage and threaten all she wants, but Electra won't give up her brother, their father's only chance for vengeance. It was quite harrowing to see Clytemnestra so ready to kill her daughter and Aegisthus order her to be imprisoned for the rest of her life, hoping brutal imprisonment and loneliness and hunger will make Electra reveal where Orestes has gone. I loved this interaction between mother and daughter : “Restore my son to me now.” – “And you restore my father.” So good, so haunting. This moment was a great clash between two really unshakeable women with fierce wills: neither of them will budge at this point, and both of them are convinced that they are right.

Finally, I just have to mention that my Patrochills heart was much warmed by the description of Patroclus as "the man beloved by Peleus’ ferocious son". Cute.

Now, on to my gripes. In general, this play just doesn't hold a candle to Aeschylus's take. The vibes are not as impeccable, the atmosphere not as oppressing and the characters, even the ones I enjoyed, just aren't as good. Cassandra made me emotional in this play, but in Aeschylus, the description of her grief and her courage at the face of death are truly heartbreaking. Also, as someone who just isn't that intrigued by Aegisthus, I feel like there was too much of him in this play (though I quite liked his dynamic with Clytemnestra: they are lovers, but they also argue and Clytemnestra is not above mocking him for his incestuous origins when she is angry).

But my biggest issue is with the depiction of Clytemnestra. This version of Clytemnestra felt very unfamiliar to me: where is her rage over Iphigenia's brutal death, where is her anger towards Agamemnon, where is her righteous, blazing fury? Where is her steel core? This Clytemnestra, though she is still haunted by what happened to her daughter (I loved this quote:My minds relives my daughter’s wedding, celebrated by that man in a manner worthy of the House of Pelops, when he stood as father making sacrificial prayers at the alter – such a bridal altar! –– O house that always outdoes crimes with crimes! We bought the winds with blood, the war with murder! But at least a thousand ships set sail together? No, the fleet was not released with divine favour: Aulis cast the unnatural ships out of its harbour.”), is motivated by shame over her infidelity. She doesn't seek to avenge her murdered daughter, but to hide her sexual shame. I think Seneca flattened her character and made a really boring woman out of her. She has a fierceness and a penchant for violence, but she isn't as clever, formidable, powerful and authoritative as she is in many other versions of her, most notably Aeschylus's. I was also really disturbed by how the play emphasised that she should and would be jealous of other women in Agamemnon's bed (Cassandra, for example). Why on Earth would Clytemnestra want to share a bed with the man who killed their daughter? Why would she be driven by sexual jealousy, as she is in the end when she specifically orders Cassandra's death because she "stole" Agamemnon away from her? What the hell? This Clytemnestra was also way too easily swayed by others: Nurse almost talks her out of murder, but then Aegisthus talks convinces her to return to her original plan. I missed her iron will. All of this was just really uncomfortable and made me miss Aeschylus's masterful depiction of her so much. It's because of Clytemnestra's depiction that I cannot give this play more than 3,5/5 stars.

Agamemnon is the 5th Seneca play that I have read and it is by far my least favourite. I do still consider Seneca a favorite, as he has written several plays I whole-heartedly love (such as Thyestes, which retells the gruesome story of Agamemnon's father and uncle). This one just wasn't a total hit for me, despite it having some stuff I quite liked.

[Fernando Ferreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rápido, nervoso, intenso. São essas as características que Sêneca consegue imprimir com o seu estilo próprio à conhecida tragédia de Agamêmnon - o rei de Argos que, vencedor da guerra de Tróia, é traiçoeiramente assassinado em seu retorno por sua mulher, Clitemnestra, em conluio com seu amante, Egisto.

Bem se vê a razão de Sêneca ser uma das principais influências - talvez a maior - do Barroco: os agudos contrastes de emoções, da fraqueza mais humilde à fúria mais insana; as paixões indômitas que fazem terra arrasada dos débeis - mas verdadeiros - apelos da razão e do bom senso; o orgulho ferido que se levanta sem pudores mesmo diante dos mais sacros deveres da piedade filial.

Em suma, Sêneca força um contraste muito vivo de virtude/vício, emoção/razão, para mostrar como as paixões recônditas da alma humana, sacudido o jugo sereno da razão, são capazes de arrastar toda uma família à mais rematada desgraça.

Fica aí implícita a lição do mestre estóico: o ideal da ataraxia, da impassibilidade, do autocontrole, absolutamente necessários para evitar justamente que, dada a circunstância propícia, as cegas paixões tomem de assalto o timão da alma e ponham o barco a pique.

Uma grande obra, um clássico.

[JV]

Comparar as peças de Ésquilo e Sêneca, tendo como objeto o mesmo pano de fundo mítico, é atravessar toda a civilização greco-romana. São obras praticamente incompatíveis. Não obstante, a geração anterior de poetas conseguiu, com Horácio, Catullus, e Virgílio(Bucólicas e Geórgicas) - pelo menos - reviver e absorver muito da cultura grega original. Sob essa perspectiva histórica, cristalizou-se a opinião de que as peças de Sêneca seriam versões ineptas das peças gregas. Sêneca teria falhado em fazer o que Horácio, por exemplo, fez pela lírica grega.

Buscando outro panorama, José Eduardo dos Santos Lohner, num brilhante estudo comparativo, mostra que Sêneca usa de seus antecessores latinos para afirmar-se e a escola estoica. Metros, loci e vocabulários tirados de Horácio, Virgílio e Ovídio, bem como a vasta experiência oratória de Sêneca, se unem para oferecer ao público romano o melhor espetáculo possível. O uso extensivo de Sententiae (provérbios) é a maior prova disso. Prova também de heterodoxia, que igualmente se acha na mistura de metros de outros gêneros.

Excelente leitura, cativante na descrição da tempestade, instrutiva no diagnóstico da doença de Clitemnestra e terrível como há de ser uma tragédia. É estranho ser eu quem tive de upar esse livro para o goodreads!

[Yasmeen · Rating 4 out of 5]

*من مشهد بين إلكترا و إيجستوس*
-هل تمنحنى الموت ؟
=إن رفضتى أوامرى فسوف لا أمنحك اياه ؛ فالحاكم الخائب هو من يعاقب بالموت.
- هل هناك ما هو أسوأ من الموت ؟
= نعم هناك .. الحياة إن كنتِ ترغبين ف الموت .
...
انا نفسى بقا ف كتاب يربطلى بين كل شخصيات التراچيديات القديمة الأزل دى، هروح أدور و ياريت ألاقى 😂🏃

[CivilWar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah, unfortunately Seneca's take on Agamemnon's triumphant return immediately followed by his murder by Clitemnestra doesn't work so well.

Clitemnestra is here, far less furious and more vacillating than she is in Aeschylus' classic rendition, which would work well to humanize her more, maybe, but here she also is infinitely crueler to Elektra and Orestes, whom she clearly plans to murder, whereas in Aeschylus it was more ambiguous: wanting to stoically return to be the "faithful wife" to a "deserving husband" while being willing to be so cruel to her children after the deed is done only muddles her character in both ways, it makes her less engaging and attractive as a certain feminine type, the scheming queen who is at once court plotter and Amazon, and as a sympathetic victim of circumstance since it is harder to feel sorry for this Clitemnestra when she's so brutal to her children.

Likewise, I am not that fond of Kassandra being the one to announce Agamemnon's death, and to describe it, through her visions: it is unique, but, frankly, I think an onstage death would be far better here, and it is something that Seneca already wrote.

Finally, maybe most importantly, the chorus here is nearly pointless, and sings songs related to myths that are, AT BEST, tangentially related and worse not at all but in any case add... not very much to the play, and feel rather too much like filler.

All in all, not one of the best tragic offerings from Seneca.

[Thalia Andasol · Rating 2 out of 5]

I complained about this to my prof but the Boyle translation of this one was so annoying because one it was a pain to carry around to class, like so heavy and two I just hated how Boyle committed so hard to using archaic language to "elevate" the text. Like yes, Seneca is different from the Athenian tragedians because he's not writing for wide audience, but also he engages with that in a more intertextual manner and less in an "refined" language way. I just find that some classicist try too hard to make texts undesirable for a wide audience when often wide audiences were what the texts were intended for. But beyond that, this fits in with my independent study of Clytemnestra and I would have to admit it was one of the most forgettable versions we've read. And I say that as someone who defends Seneca when he probably doesn't deserve it: see my impassioned essay in favour of Seneca's Medea. But here it just felt so underdeveloped, like he weaves in the ghost of Thyestes but does practically nothing with him which could've been such a good way to emphasize the villainous motivations of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Additionally, even with Dracontius' Orestes I felt this similar level of "this could've been refined more" but with Dracontius I see that in the case that he overstuffs his narrative so his best points are made difficult to see, but here Seneca really doesn't have great points or even any points and that's so disappointing knowing he also wrote the Thyestes. But whatever I guess, I don't have to write an essay about this one.

[Marko Vasić · Rating 5 out of 5]

U odnosu na Eshilovog Agamemnona, Senekin je nešto eksplicitniji što se samog čina ubistva tiče. Klitemnestrini monolozi su svedeni, i prikazuje se više njena unutrašnja borba i oklevanje da li da počini to što je naumila ili ne. Na kraju prevladava strast i mržnja i Agamemnona ubija ne u kadi kao kod Eshila, već sputanog odorom koju mu je dala da obuče. Egist je sve vreme prisutan, za razliku od Eshilove tragedije i sve vreme zajedno kuju plan kako da uklone nepoželjnog heroja trojanskog rata. Mali Orest je takođe prisutan i tek pred izvršenje čina ga majka prepušta kralju Fokide na čuvanje. Jedino je osovina Kasandrine tragedije ista kod obojice (Seneke i Eshila) ali je kod Seneke, rekao bih, naglašenija i glasnija.

[Rosaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

الاقتباس هنا عند سنكا لا يعني تقيداً بالمصدر، بل استلهام حر للحدث وشخصياته بتأويل جديد لدوافع الأعمال، مع مبالغات شديدة في الأفعال نفسها، وتركيز كبير على أناشيد الجوقة واستنتاجاتها من الماضي ونبوءاتها للمستقبل. وعلى نقيض المسرحيين الإغريق كان سينيكا يترك لشخصياته حيزاً كبيراً للبوح الداخلي المتفجر، كي يبرز ما يعتمل في دخيلة النفس من مشاعر متضاربة ومنفعلة، فيوضح للمستمع خطر الانفعال إذا تجاوز حد الاعتدال وأفلت من زمام العقل. وقلما يعتمد سينيكا على الجدل السريع المتصاعد بين شخصيتين متناقضتين عقلاً وقلباً وقولاً، فهو لا يبغي فنيّة التأثير بقدر عمقه وتجذره في النفس والعقل، كي يوصل إلى المتلقي مفهومه عن الحكمة.

[Ahmad El-Saeed · Rating 3 out of 5]

في الحقيقة القصة لن تفهم إن لم يكن لديك معرفة مسبقة بقصة اجاممنون، ولكنها كافية لتستمتع بالاسطورة.

- إنها الان مجنونة، تحارب ضد الاله.



- هل تمنحنى الموت؟
= إن رفضتى أوامرى فسوف لا أمنحك اياه ؛ فالحاكم الخائب هو من يعاقب بالموت.
- هل هناك ما هو أسوأ من الموت؟
= نعم هناك .. الحياة إن كنتِ ترغبين ف الموت.

[Lucia Vitale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clitemnestra se debate en su interior si ha de matar a su marido o no. A diferencia de la obra de Esquilo, en Séneca los protagonistas constantemente dudan de las decisiones que deben tomar, y de las que han sido tomadas.
Electra juega un papel mayor en la obra, protegiendo a su hermano Orestes de la desgracia familiar.

[Linus Lythell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very hard to follow and many old words, but when the story reveals itself, my interest increased

[Antonia Chiruţa]

Too stupid to understand even half of this

[Elizabeth Amisu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the translation by Studley.

[Ulrike · Rating 3 out of 5]

kind of all over the place and wont be helping with my essay as much as i had hoped

[Rafael · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5

[VerbaVelata · Rating 1 out of 5]

Penoso, bello solo quando muore Agamennone

[Toon Pepermans · Rating 2 out of 5]

the ending is way too rushed
2.5 stars