The Oresteia: Agamemnon, The Libation Bearers, The Eumenides

Aeschylus's trilogy, the only complete surviving set of Greek tragedies, follows the house of Atreus after the Trojan War. In Agamemnon, the king comes home from Troy and is murdered by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. In The Libation Bearers, his son Orestes returns with his sister Electra and kills his mother to avenge his father. In The Eumenides, the Furies pursue Orestes, and Athena sets up a jury in Athens to judge him. The cycle ends with the replacement of blood vengeance by law.

Readers who want a foundation of Western drama will find a dense, forceful sequence of three plays about justice and family violence. It suits students of classical literature and anyone wondering how a society moves from endless revenge to the rule of courts.

Deep, contemplative, open-ended and thought-provoking; a demanding read.

Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?