MKT 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Aegisthus, Origin Myth, Aeschylus

• School: Ryerson University
• Department: Marketing
• Course: MKT 100
• Professor: Caitlin Mc Laughlin

Document Summary

While many claim that the plot of oresteia encompasses an historical transition from vendetta justice to institutionalized trial by jury (p. xvii), the study we read last week by david cohen argues that vendetta justice spilled into the courts. Law was just another weapon that athenians used in their feuds with each other. So, when you read draw comparisons between cohen"s account of law and aeschylus"s plays. The oresteia is not about how law is an alternative to rivalry. Rather, it is an origin myth the greeks had for recounting how the furies the spirit of vengeance that drives enmity came to reside in the courts, how law became the venue for vengeance. The answer to these questions will push us to new problems and through centuries of struggle and thinking about law and morality. On page vii of the oresteia you will find the translator"s brief summary of the plot.