Our own Dr. Brian Phillips is a recent featured guest on CiRCE Institute’s Overdue Classics podcast. In his discussion of The Oresteia, he argues that Agamemnon gets everything that he rightfully deserves! Join him for this four-part podcast.
Episode 1: Agamemnom
Andrea and Brandon are joined by Brian Phillips for this series on Aeschylus’ Oresteia. In this first episode, they jump into Agamemnon discussing its back story, connections to and deviations from Homer, and end up wishing for more time.
Episode 2: The Libation Bearers
Brian, Andrea, and Brandon then get into parallels between Oerestes and Odyssius, competing claims of piety, and true dilemma.
Episode 3: Eumenides
Brian, Andrea, and Brandon dive in to the final play of Aeschylus trilogy resolving the woes of house Atreus. They discuss Athene’s establishment of Athens as the center for rhetorical justice as well as the passionate…and strange…arguments by the Furies and Apollo as they adjudicate between piety and matricide.
Episode 4: Q & A
Brian, Andrea, and Brandon revisit all 3 plays in this Q&A. They start with Brian playing Professor, giving first-timers Andrea and Brandon the questions he uses with students when teaching these plays. Then they dive in to all the burning questions…yours and theirs!
The Oresteia – Webinar Recording
Click here to purchase Dr. Phillips’ 2021 webinar of The Oresteia
These plays – Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, and Eumenides – begin with the homecoming of Agamemnon, the despised leader of Greeks during the Trojan War, and end with one of literature’s most complex dilemmas being solved by Athena herself. You do not want to miss this!
In this webinar, you will:
• Gain an overview of the three plays of the Oresteia and their characters
• Grow to understand the importance of “nostoi” or homecoming stories
• Explore connections between the plays, their characters, and other classic works
• Receive tips for reading and teaching the Oresteia
• And much more!