Hi everyone,

I have been studying Aeshlyus' Orestia Trilogy , and have stumbled across something that puzzled me. After Clytaemnestra and Agisthoos murdered Agamemnon, the god Apollo ordered Agamemnon's son, Orestes, to avenge his father's murder. But what was strange to me was the fact that Apollo should even care about whether Agamemnon was avenged or not. If you remember in the Iliad , Apollo actually sent a plague to Agamemnon's troops because Agamemnon had grossly offended the god. Also, Apollo fought on the side of the Trojan army during the war. So why the sudden change of heart? The only thing that I could think of was that Apollo felt bad for the way he treated Cassandra. ( Remember Clytaemnestra & co. also murdered Cassandra, who was the war-bride Agamemnon won. Cassandra was priestess to Apollo, and when he fell in love with her, Apollo gave her the gift of prophecy. But when she didn't return his love, he cursed her in that she would never be believed.)
That's the only reasonable theory I could come up with. Any thoughts?

~historian2be

So why the sudden change of heart?

Because Greek gods were fickle. As changing as the weather.

True. But this is like an "Ebeneezer Scrooge" sort of change of heart, not an "I'm a god so I can do whatever I jolly well wish" sort of change. :)

~historan2be

Alright. Here's a more probable cause.

One.) The stories are from different authors. This might make some difference.

Two.) Despite Apollo's faults with Agamemnon, it was not the place of a woman to murder her husband this way. I'm thinking that the myth is likely highly male oriented.

The Greek gods tended to think mortals ought to behave morally, even if they didn't themselves.

The Greek gods tended to think mortals ought to behave morally, even if they didn't themselves.

Ah. So the Greek gods were Republicans? :cool:

"If the lower orders don't set us an example, what on earth is the use of them?"