Early Modern Drama · Character Archetypes

AGAMEMNON

in Agamemnon (Seneca's Eighth Tragedy) — Studley, John, trans.; Seneca, Lucius Annaeus

Metadata

PlayAgamemnon (Seneca's Eighth Tragedy)
AuthorStudley, John, trans.; Seneca, Lucius Annaeus
Year (catalogued)1566
First performance1566
Decade1560s
GenreTragedy
Play typeCloset Translation
Speech prefix(es)Aga.
Words173
Characters890
Typicality0.25 (cosine to cluster centroid)
TCP idA11910
BritDrama no.415
ClusterCluster 24 — Gods, cupids & celestial agents

Important excerpts

No keyword-matching excerpt could be extracted (the cluster label doesn't share vocabulary with this character's speech).

Full speech

¶Let us to Chalters worship gy e. ¶Pray we to Jove. ¶Dost thou suppose that Troy y u seist? ¶Troy is not here. ¶Fear not as maid to serve thy dame. ¶take thou no thought how y u shalt live: ¶Yet say I once again There is no danger left, whereby thou mightest hurt sustain. ¶What mischief may a victor dread? ¶You trusty many of my men come carry her away, Till of the sprite she rid her self, lest fury force her say That may be preiudicall, her to ge she can not frame. To thee oh father flinging forth the lyghtninges flashing flame, That dost disperse the clouds, & rule the course of every star, And guide the Globe of earth, to whom the booties won by war With triumph victor's dedicate: to thee oh Juno height The sister deer of doughty Jove, (thy husband full of might) Both I and Greece with flesh & blood and eke our vowed beast And gorgyou gifts of Araby gyve worship to thy hest.

Plot summary

Plot — Agamemnon (Seneca's Eighth Tragedy)
The ghost of Thyestes describes his crimes and foretells the death of Agamemnon. During her husband’s long absence at the Trojan war, Clytemnestra has had an affair with Aegisthus; but now Agamemnon is coming home. She tells Aegisthus her doubts about their liaison, but when he proposes suicide, she agrees to join him in finding another way to dispose of their problems. Agamemnon arrives after a stormy crossing from Troy, bringing Cassandra with him as a prisoner. She foretells his murder by Clytemnestra, which duly comes to pass. Clytemnestra wants to kill her children 1566 too, but Orestes has escaped, and Aegisthus is reluctant to behead Electra; instead she is imprisoned in a distant dungeon. Cassandra exults in the overthrow of Troy’s conqueror, and predicts Clytemnestra’s downfall. She is beheaded, but Orestes survives to avenge his father’s death.