So, I'm having a hard time working this one out. A guy kills his mother because she killed his father because he killed her daughter to win a war. There is nothing cut and dry about this case. But, if I was forced to decide who was more guilty, Clytemnestra or Orestes, I'd say Orestes.
I have a reason for this, I swear, but I'm having a hard time putting it to words. To make it easier, lets scale it back a bit. Since both of them committed the same crime (murder), then I'll use an illustration in which they both do the same (less drastic) thing. If I yell at my husband, that's one thing. Whether he deserves it or not, it's bad communication and is incredibly rude. If I yell at my mother, it goes beyond rude right into the realm of disrespect and it just plain feels wrong.
Maybe what I'm getting at is that the relationship between a husband and wife is a voluntary one in which two people choose how they relate to one another. The relationship between a parent and child is one in which nature itself has created a hierarchy with the parent on top. I think that's why, for me anyway, Orestes' crime just seems... heavier.
P.s. I commented on Collin's post
I totally agree with you. I don't understand at all the Greek view of marriage. It seems a bit twisted and not a very loving, accepting relationship. It also seems like there is a little feminism going on in the Greek world. That seems to cause a lot of issues. Perhaps that's because they aren't doing it God's way.
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