Date Thesis Awarded

5-2015

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Arts (BA)

Department

Classical Studies

Advisor

Vassiliki Panoussi

Committee Members

William Hutton

Varun Begley

Abstract

This study will examine the linkages of money with power and justice in two tragedies centered upon the house of Atreus: Aeschylus’ Agamemnon and Euripides’ Electra. While at first glance, the house of Atreus seems to be plagued by a succession of murders motivated by revenge, its fate is marked by deep problems with the transactional, materialistic elements of society. Ultimately, the struggle for material resources at such great personal cost challenges deeply entrenched beliefs in Greek society. Aristocracy, seemingly founded upon noble principles, is actually centered upon such an unstable basis as money. Furthermore, the question of money illuminates the perilous position occupied by women. Equated with financial gain through marriage, their objectification in tragedy has terrible consequences. Traffic in women begins as a symbolic transaction meant to solidify homosocial bonds. The women of tragedy, however, speak frankly about the material nature of such exchanges and thus reveal the bare profit-and- loss accountancy of male society.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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