The Oresteia: Agamemnon Plot Summary

Which work is introduced as a trilogy that includes Agamemnon and focuses on Agamemnon, his wife Clytemnestra, and their children Orestes and Electra?

• The Iliad

• The Oresteia

• The Odyssey

• The Aeneid

According to the summary, what act by Agamemnon motivates Clytemnestra’s desire for revenge?

• Abandoning Troy during the war

• Stealing the Golden Fleece

• Sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia

• Refusing to honor Zeus

What role does the Chorus primarily serve at the beginning of Agamemnon as described in the material?

• They plan the assassination of Agamemnon

• They provide comic relief through jokes

• They offer foreboding and recount background such as the prophecy and the history of the Trojan War

• They announce the winners of athletic games

Which goddess forced Agamemnon to sacrifice Iphigenia after he killed a sacred deer?

• Athena

• Hera

• Artemis

• Aphrodite

In the account of the Judgment of Paris presented here, what does Aphrodite promise Paris?

• Victory in battle

• Riches and power over Troy

• The most beautiful woman in the world

• Immortality

Why does Clytemnestra say she has extended thanks to the gods and laid rich tapestries for Agamemnon?

• To honor his triumph while concealing her resentment over Iphigenia’s sacrifice

• To appease Apollo for Cassandra’s curse

• To celebrate Paris’s defeat in single combat

• To persuade Odysseus to return home

What fate does Cassandra foresee for herself and Agamemnon upon arriving at the palace?

• Both will be welcomed and live in peace

• Agamemnon will be exiled and Cassandra will rule

• Both will be killed, with Cassandra acknowledging her impending death

• Cassandra will escape to Troy while Agamemnon is crowned king

According to the summary, how is Agamemnon ultimately murdered?

• Poisoned at a banquet by Odysseus

• Stabbed in a net while bathing by Clytemnestra, with Aegisthus’s involvement

• Shot by Paris with an arrow on the walls of Troy

• Killed in battle by Menelaus

In the conclusion of Agamemnon, which pair is explicitly stated as being murdered on stage according to the notes?

• Agamemnon and Clytemnestra

• Agamemnon and Cassandra

• Aegisthus and Cassandra

• Clytemnestra and Aegisthus

Based on the summary, what role does Aegisthus assume at the end of Agamemnon, and how does this transition set up the next play in the trilogy?

• He repents and lifts the curse, leading directly into Eumenides

• He is revealed as Cassandra's murderer, ending the trilogy

• He appears as Clytemnestra’s ally asserting control, which transitions to Libation Bearers and the continuing curse

• He is executed by the Chorus, which introduces the gods’ trial in Eumenides