Thyestes

Abstract

Abstract This chapter argues that, although Thyestes does not contain a single female character, women are nonetheless essential to the play’s revenge plot. First, Atreus’ revenge is motivated in part by the belief that, if he does not attack his brother Thyestes first, then his wife Aerope and Thyestes will conspire to overthrow him as the ruler of Argos. Secondly, and more significantly, Atreus self-consciously models his monstrous revenge on that of the Athenian sisters Procne and Philomela, which he anxiously strives to outstrip in scale and intensity. It argues that Atreus’ awareness of Procne and Philomela’s revenge is the most significant advantage that he possesses over his brother Thyestes as he aspires to overcome him. The chapter also shows that Atreus’ obsession with excess in revenge and outperformance, symbolized by the term maius, benefits from being interpreted in metaliterary terms as a reflection of Seneca’s own attitude to Ovid, whose account of Procne and Philolema’s revenge in book 6 of the Metamorphoses he both imitates and aspires to surpass. It examines too Atreus’ anxieties about conjugal fidelity and the legitimacy of his potential dynastic successors, which are further factors which motivate his revenge. Finally, it demonstrates how the idea of the whole revenge plot can be interpreted as being conceived in the prologue by the Fury who, in bringing about perpetual and ever-escalating acts of revenge, gives voice to the female call for justice that had been suppressed and silenced in Aeschylus’ Oresteia.

Authors 1

1. Basil L P Nelis corresponding Aachen

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Leiden University