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The Oresteia (Modernized)

All three of the great Greek Tragedians have written plays about the bloody chain of murder and revenge within the royal family of Argos. Yet theirs is in fact not a story of tragedy, but rather one of redemption. As they move from darkness to light, from rage to self-governance, from primitive ritual to civilized institution, their spirit of struggle and regeneration becomes an everlasting song of celebration to be heard throughout the ages. Forming a discourse set against the emergence of Athenian democracy out of a period of chaos and destruction, the Orestian plays are compelling stories of the tensions between our obligations to our families and the laws that bind us together as a society. In the beginning, we witness how a king’s decision to sacrifice his daughter and turn the tide of war inflicts lasting damage on his family, culminating in a terrible act of retribution. In the aftermath of regicide, we behold how a son must set out to avenge his father’s death by committing a most egregious sin. In the end, the sinner is tormented by supernatural powers that can never be appeased, but ultimately finds redemption and ends the curse on his house once and for all. Woven through all of this is the story of a friendship so close that it elevates itself to brotherhood - Where the blood of the covenant is shown to be indeed thicker than the water of the womb. In this very brief twelve-chapter modern rendition of the Orestian plays, I have chosen to place my focus mainly on the lives of the characters Orestes and his best friend Pylades. The chapters, each around 2000-2500 words, are split up evenly between them in first-person narrative. I hope that you will come to enjoy reading this heartwarming story, but more importantly, that you see how the conflicts portrayed in the story, whether human or institutional, are still much very relevant to our societies today. Note on Sources: The details of this story is very loosely based on The Oresteia by Aeschylus, who was one of the three great Greek Tragedians (though this story is not a tragedy). And I mean very loosely. Other sources that I referenced for detail and inspiration are Mythology by Edith Hamilton, Electra by Sophocles, and Iphigenia in Tauris by Euripides. You may also find that I have quoted some of these works, and others (such as Shelley's Ozymondaeus), without citations (average of 1-2 such quotes per chapter). I did this because I do not have the ability to describe certain scenes nearly as well as some of those writers. If you read a particularly beautiful piece of prose here, chances are it's probably stolen lol.

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17 Chs

Prologue, Patroclus

ONLY the prologue and intermissions are written in poem; the rest are written in plain English (i.e. prose).

***

10 Years Ago: From the Journals of Patroclus

A gloom spirit was what I carried scores of days ago

When Achilles I followed to his prophesized end

On the fields of Troy away from our dearest home.

How my heart still aches, for the inevitable doom.

That damned Odysseus, with his cunning tongue

Convinced my dearest friend that the essence of life

Was to be found more in the glory of battle and blood

Than in the embrace of family, friends, and lover.

***

For days we waited at the shores of Aulis,

The might of a thousand ships surrounding us

Yet the north wind will not break,

It rages on and on, day after day:

It broken men's heart and mind,

Spared neither ship nor cable.

The time dragged on with the waves,

Doubling itself with each passing.

***

The army was desperate, brought to its knees.

When all hope seemed lost to the howling winds

Calchas the soothsayer received a message divine:

The Goddess Artemis was vengeful with spite.

For our leader Agamemnon, the king of Argos

Had angered the divinity in a hunt of his.

By his hand, he slew a favorite child of hers:

A hare, innocent, white, and pure.

***

The soothsayer declared the sacrifice to be slain:

The joy of the king's house – his daughter.

Life for life,

Child for child.

***

The royal Iphigenia he called, his eldest daughter,

In deceit he called, promising marriage with my Achilles.

When she arrived bright with hope, he dared the deed,

Spilling his own blood to help a war yet to commence.

And all her prayers, cries of Father, Father,

Beholden by the entire army, we held as naught,

For we had become savage warriors, battle-mad.

Kindness, love, and empathy had left us all.

***

But the deathless gods in their eternal perfection

Were better than us in their deeds and mind.

So gentle was she, Artemis the holy,

To dewy youth, to tender nurslings.

That as Iphigenia lay dying in blood,

She changed her heart and there appeared.

By gentle hands, she healed her wounds,

Left in her place a stag coated in red.

***

The winds halted, and the thousand ships

Sailed on to battle, glory, treasure, and fame.

But ever there hang a dark atmosphere

For the king had spilled the blood of his own.

TL;DR: Patroclus details how Odysseus has convinced his friend Achilles to go join the Greeks in the Trojan War. However, when the army has gathered at Aulis, a north wind starts and continues to blow, and the army is stuck. The Prophet Calchas says that the goddess Artemis was angered because the king Agamenon has killed one of her favorite hares, and demands an offering. The king summons her daughter Iphigenia tells her that she is to marry Achilles. However, when she arrives, the king sacrifices her at the altar to Artemis. Artemis has a change of heart, heals Iphigenia, and takes her away (presumably to heaven, but as we may later find out, not really). The north wind breaks and the Greek army sails towards Troy.

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