American Journal of Philology

Although Aeschylus' Oresteia moves toward resolution on many fronts, there are significant counterpoints to these positive progressions. Human stature and initiative decline over the course of the trilogy; the "hero"of the final play is largely passive, with speech and action increasingly the province of the gods; Orestes' "initiation" in Eumenides remains incomplete; and the trilogy ends with not just "uppity" women put in their place but the capacity for human greatness itself reduced. These and other contrapuntal undercurrents complicate and enrich our response to the many resolutions that do occur in the final play of the trilogy.