Digital Archive Post #1: Revenge
In The Oresteia, a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus, he illustrates the main idea of revenge among the characters. The trilogy begins at the faultline of Troy, where king of Argos, Agamemnon attempts to conquer the city-state in the Trojan War. While sailing divine winds, an oracle informs him that he must sacrifice his daughter in order to ensure his victory. Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter, causing her mother to be furious with the king. Clytemnestra then seeks revenge for her daughter by killing her husband. As a result of this, Orestes, Agamemnon’s son, seeks to avenge his father’s death by killing his own mother. Blood shed has occurred throughout the family lineage and because of Agamemnon’s actions, a cycle of revenge has created.
When will this cycle be put to an end? Is justice served after you have avenged the dead? According to Kevin Carlsmith, a social psychologist at Colgate University, he states, “‘Rather than providing closure, it does the opposite: It keeps the wound open and fresh.’” The characters in The Oresteia pursue revenge in hopes of relieving their pain of losing a loved one. Their actions however, only lead to more pain inflicted on others. David Chester of Virginia Commonwealth University discovered from multiple experiments that the initial feelings of revenge are pleasurable, yet as time goes on, emotions build up and the individual begins to feel worse. This research drew me to recall a time I sought revenge and the emotions I experienced along the way. At first, my pain was gone, however it was only temporary and led to more emotions filled with stress and grief. Reading The Oresteia, I realized justice does not result from revenge and revenge enhances pain rather than ease it.
