Professor Armand D’Angour

So although, as you rightly say, Clytemnestra does argue that this was the reason she felt justified, she felt it was right to kill the man who killed her daughter, that doesn't seem to be taken terribly seriously by Electra. And perhaps, again, it's because of this misogynistic view that a mother's blood is really not as important as a father's.

So although, as you rightly say, Clytemnestra does argue that this was the reason she felt justified, she felt it was right to kill the man who killed her daughter, that doesn't seem to be taken terribly seriously by Electra. And perhaps, again, it's because of this misogynistic view that a mother's blood is really not as important as a father's.

So although, as you rightly say, Clytemnestra does argue that this was the reason she felt justified, she felt it was right to kill the man who killed her daughter, that doesn't seem to be taken terribly seriously by Electra. And perhaps, again, it's because of this misogynistic view that a mother's blood is really not as important as a father's.

And maybe that would have been accepted by the Athenian audience, that actually it was a worse crime, So, that's his excuse for it. In all the plays he's die von Exil zurückgekehrt wird und die Frau tötet, die Agamemnon, seinen Vater, den König, getötet hat. Aber wiederum, der Fakt, dass Clytemnestra diesen Argument macht, macht es ziemlich mächtig.

And maybe that would have been accepted by the Athenian audience, that actually it was a worse crime, So, that's his excuse for it. In all the plays he's die von Exil zurückgekehrt wird und die Frau tötet, die Agamemnon, seinen Vater, den König, getötet hat. Aber wiederum, der Fakt, dass Clytemnestra diesen Argument macht, macht es ziemlich mächtig.

And maybe that would have been accepted by the Athenian audience, that actually it was a worse crime, So, that's his excuse for it. In all the plays he's die von Exil zurückgekehrt wird und die Frau tötet, die Agamemnon, seinen Vater, den König, getötet hat. Aber wiederum, der Fakt, dass Clytemnestra diesen Argument macht, macht es ziemlich mächtig.

in all the plays actually, she feeds for her justified behaviour, suggests to me that the tragedians did want us not to simply think this was a straightforward tale of the bad person gets her just desserts. They want us to recognise that there is a moral dilemma here. We should think, is it really right that she deserved to die? Doesn't she have good reasons for having killed Agamemnon?

in all the plays actually, she feeds for her justified behaviour, suggests to me that the tragedians did want us not to simply think this was a straightforward tale of the bad person gets her just desserts. They want us to recognise that there is a moral dilemma here. We should think, is it really right that she deserved to die? Doesn't she have good reasons for having killed Agamemnon?

in all the plays actually, she feeds for her justified behaviour, suggests to me that the tragedians did want us not to simply think this was a straightforward tale of the bad person gets her just desserts. They want us to recognise that there is a moral dilemma here. We should think, is it really right that she deserved to die? Doesn't she have good reasons for having killed Agamemnon?

Yes, there are bad reasons as well. She and her lover Aegisthus set up in the royal palace. Aegisthus himself is not a very pleasant individual. So there are all sorts of good reasons why the two of them perhaps shouldn't be let off the hook. But you can't simply say they were all bad and they had no reason to do what they did.

Yes, there are bad reasons as well. She and her lover Aegisthus set up in the royal palace. Aegisthus himself is not a very pleasant individual. So there are all sorts of good reasons why the two of them perhaps shouldn't be let off the hook. But you can't simply say they were all bad and they had no reason to do what they did.

Yes, there are bad reasons as well. She and her lover Aegisthus set up in the royal palace. Aegisthus himself is not a very pleasant individual. So there are all sorts of good reasons why the two of them perhaps shouldn't be let off the hook. But you can't simply say they were all bad and they had no reason to do what they did.

Yes, I mean, so there are a few lines of Arrestes, aren't there, where he says something like, it's a terrible thing to kill one's own mother. So he recognizes that it's not an easy demand that he has to follow. She stiffens his resolve. I mean, in a sense, what you get is a much more vengeful woman. You get a sense that she's the one who's deciding that this should be done.

Yes, I mean, so there are a few lines of Arrestes, aren't there, where he says something like, it's a terrible thing to kill one's own mother. So he recognizes that it's not an easy demand that he has to follow. She stiffens his resolve. I mean, in a sense, what you get is a much more vengeful woman. You get a sense that she's the one who's deciding that this should be done.

Yes, I mean, so there are a few lines of Arrestes, aren't there, where he says something like, it's a terrible thing to kill one's own mother. So he recognizes that it's not an easy demand that he has to follow. She stiffens his resolve. I mean, in a sense, what you get is a much more vengeful woman. You get a sense that she's the one who's deciding that this should be done.

Elektra's pushing it, okay. Yeah, and I think that... leads us to think more psychologically about what's going on.

Elektra's pushing it, okay. Yeah, and I think that... leads us to think more psychologically about what's going on.

Elektra's pushing it, okay. Yeah, and I think that... leads us to think more psychologically about what's going on.

Jung famously thought that the Oedipus Complex, in which Freud had suggested that young infant boys want to murder their father and then suppress that, because they want to be at one with their mother, so that sense that they love their mother and kill their father, that we get in the von der Oedipus-Szene, aber Jung hat empfohlen, dass das Vordergrund für Mädchen ein Elektra-Komplex war.

Jung famously thought that the Oedipus Complex, in which Freud had suggested that young infant boys want to murder their father and then suppress that, because they want to be at one with their mother, so that sense that they love their mother and kill their father, that we get in the von der Oedipus-Szene, aber Jung hat empfohlen, dass das Vordergrund für Mädchen ein Elektra-Komplex war.