Close Reading: Agamemnon
The Passage
“There is the sea
and who will drain it dry? Precious as silver,
inexhaustible, ever-new, it breeds the more we reap it –
tides on tides of crimson dye our robes blood-red.
Our lives are based on wealth, my king,
the gods have seen to that.
Destitution, our house has never heard the word.
I would have sworn to tread on legacies of robes,
at one command from an oracle, deplete the house –
suffer the worst to bring that dear life back!
When the root lives on, the new leaves come back,
spreading a dense shroud of shade across the house
to thwart the Dog Star’s fury. So you return
to the father’s hearth, you bring us warmth in winder
like the sun –
And you are Zeus when Zeus
tramples the bitter virgin grape for new wine
and the welcome chill steals through the halls, at least
the master moves among the shadows of his house, fulfilled.
--Agamemnon, ll. 957-974.
Words we might not know
• inexhaustible: “Incapable of being exhausted,
consumed, or spent; exhaustless.”
• reap: “To cut and (usually) gather a grain or
similar crop, orig. (and typically) using a sickle or
scythe. Freq. fig. or in figurative context”
• destitution:
– “Deprivation of office; discharge; dismissal.” or
– “The condition of being abandoned or left helpless, of
being deprived or bereft (of anything).” or
– “The condition of being destitute of resources; want
of the necessaries of life.”
General sense of the passage, and who is speaking
• Don’t worry about walking on these expensive,
possibly sacred tapestries, Agamemnon. We’re so rich,
it doesn’t matter – and I would do it if I were you.
Come on in, your return is great, for several
metaphorical reasons, and you’re basically Zeus.
• Clytaemnestra (the queen) is speaking to Agamemnon
(the king) in front of the chorus and Cassandra. Her
relationship to Agamemnon remains to be seen; she is
probably not too fond of Cassandra, and her previous
tone towards the chorus has been somewhere
between defensive and defiant.
Diction
“There is the sea
and who will drain it dry? Precious as silver,
inexhaustible, ever-new, it breeds the more we reap it –
tides on tides of crimson dye our robes blood-red.
Our lives are based on wealth, my king,
the gods have seen to that.
Destitution, our house has never heard the word.
I would have sworn to tread on legacies of robes,
at one command from an oracle, deplete the house –
suffer the worst to bring that dear life back!
When the root lives on, the new leaves come back,
spreading a dense shroud of shade across the house
to thwart the Dog Star’s fury. So you return
to the father’s hearth, you bring us warmth in winter
like the sun –
And you are Zeus when Zeus
tramples the bitter virgin grape for new wine
and the welcome chill steals through the halls, at last
the master moves among the shadows of his house, fulfilled.
--Agamemnon, ll. 957-974.
* Why blood red?
* Not poverty, or lack, but destitution
* A shroud – associated w/death
* Are grapes usually bitter?
* Not creeps, not moves, but steals
* Not halls, rooms, people - shadows
Figurative Language
“There is the sea
and who will drain it dry? Precious as silver,
inexhaustible, ever-new, it breeds the more we reap it –
tides on tides of crimson dye our robes blood-red.
Our lives are based on wealth, my king,
the gods have seen to that.
Destitution, our house has never heard the word.
I would have sworn to tread on legacies of robes,
at one command from an oracle, deplete the house –
suffer the worst to bring that dear life back!
* Metaphor
* Simile
* Personification
When the root lives on, the new leaves come back,
spreading a dense shroud of shade across the house
to thwart the Dog Star’s fury. So you return
to the father’s hearth, you bring us warmth in winter
like the sun –
And you are Zeus when Zeus
tramples the bitter virgin grape for new wine
and the welcome chill steals through the halls, at last
the master moves among the shadows of his house, fulfilled.
*Metaphor
--Agamemnon, ll. 957-974.
*Personification / Symbolism
*Simile
Rhetorical Language
“There is the sea
and who will drain it dry? Precious as silver,
inexhaustible, ever-new, it breeds the more we reap it –
tides on tides of crimson dye our robes blood-red.
Our lives are based on wealth, my king,
the gods have seen to that.
Destitution, our house has never heard the word.
I would have sworn to tread on legacies of robes,
at one command from an oracle, deplete the house –
suffer the worst to bring that dear life back!
When the root lives on, the new leaves come back,
spreading a dense shroud of shade across the house
to thwart the Dog Star’s fury. So you return
to the father’s hearth, you bring us warmth in winter
like the sun –
And you are Zeus when Zeus
tramples the bitter virgin grape for new wine
and the welcome chill steals through the halls, at last
the master moves among the shadows of his house, fulfilled.
--Agamemnon, ll. 957-974.
* Rhet. Q
*Direct Address
*Deliberate ambiguity – Ag or Iph?!
* Allusion?
Imagery
“There is the sea
and who will drain it dry? Precious as silver,
inexhaustible, ever-new, it breeds the more we reap it –
tides on tides of crimson dye our robes blood-red.
Our lives are based on wealth, my king,
the gods have seen to that.
Destitution, our house has never heard the word.
I would have sworn to tread on legacies of robes,
at one command from an oracle, deplete the house –
suffer the worst to bring that dear life back!
When the root lives on, the new leaves come back,
spreading a dense shroud of shade across the house
to thwart the Dog Star’s fury. So you return
to the father’s hearth, you bring us warmth in winter
like the sun –
And you are Zeus when Zeus
tramples the bitter virgin grape for new wine
and the welcome chill steals through the halls, at last
the master moves among the shadows of his house, fulfilled.
--Agamemnon, ll. 957-974.
* Pay close attention to colors
* Describes a withered tree
* A contrast of shade/light
* A contrast of heat/cold
* New sense: taste
Structure
“There is the sea
and who will drain it dry? Precious as silver,
inexhaustible, ever-new, it breeds the more we reap it –
tides on tides of crimson dye our robes blood-red.
Our lives are based on wealth, my king,
the gods have seen to that.
Destitution, our house has never heard the word.
I would have sworn to tread on legacies of robes,
at one command from an oracle, deplete the house –
suffer the worst to bring that dear life back!
When the root lives on, the new leaves come back,
spreading a dense shroud of shade across the house
to thwart the Dog Star’s fury. So you return
to the father’s hearth, you bring us warmth in winder
like the sun –
And you are Zeus when Zeus
tramples the bitter virgin grape for new wine
and the welcome chill steals through the halls, at least
the master moves among the shadows of his house, fulfilled.
--Agamemnon, ll. 957-974.
Speaker and audience
“There is the sea
and who will drain it dry? Precious as silver,
inexhaustible, ever-new, it breeds the more we reap it –
tides on tides of crimson dye our robes blood-red.
Our lives are based on wealth, my king,
the gods have seen to that.
Destitution, our house has never heard the word.
I would have sworn to tread on legacies of robes,
at one command from an oracle, deplete the house –
suffer the worst to bring that dear life back!
When the root lives on, the new leaves come back,
spreading a dense shroud of shade across the house
to thwart the Dog Star’s fury. So you return
to the father’s hearth, you bring us warmth in winter
like the sun –
And you are Zeus when Zeus
tramples the bitter virgin grape for new wine
and the welcome chill steals through the halls, at last
the master moves among the shadows of his house, fulfilled.
--Agamemnon, ll. 957-974.
* Sudden shift to 3rd person
Syntax
“There is the sea
and who will drain it dry? Precious as silver,
inexhaustible, ever-new, it breeds the more we reap it –
tides on tides of crimson dye our robes blood-red.
Our lives are based on wealth, my king,
the gods have seen to that.
Destitution, our house has never heard the word.
I would have sworn to tread on legacies of robes,
at one command from an oracle, deplete the house –
suffer the worst to bring that dear life back!
When the root lives on, the new leaves come back,
spreading a dense shroud of shade across the house
to thwart the Dog Star’s fury. So you return
to the father’s hearth, you bring us warmth in winter
like the sun –
And you are Zeus when Zeus
tramples the bitter virgin grape for new wine
and the welcome chill steals through the halls, at last
the master moves among the shadows of his house, fulfilled.
--Agamemnon, ll. 957-974.
* Repetition of description
* Moved to the front: thematized
Punctuation
“There is the sea
and who will drain it dry? Precious as silver,
inexhaustible, ever-new, it breeds the more we reap it –
tides on tides of crimson dye our robes blood-red.
Our lives are based on wealth, my king,
the gods have seen to that.
Destitution, our house has never heard the word.
I would have sworn to tread on legacies of robes,
at one command from an oracle, deplete the house –
suffer the worst to bring that dear life back!
When the root lives on, the new leaves come back,
spreading a dense shroud of shade across the house
to thwart the Dog Star’s fury. So you return
to the father’s hearth, you bring us warmth in winter
like the sun –
And you are Zeus when Zeus
tramples the bitter virgin grape for new wine
and the welcome chill steals through the halls, at last
the master moves among the shadows of his house, fulfilled.
--Agamemnon, ll. 957-974.
* Question
* Pause
* Pause
* Emphasis
* Pause / Line Break
Sound
Oops, it’s translated. So we can’t do much here.
Meter
Again, the translation keeps us from making very
specific comments. It seems to be in some sort
of meter, which would indicate a formal context.
Tone
• Clytaemnestra is exhorting, persuading, and
attempting to flatter Agamemnon. There is a
dangerous, dark undercurrent to her pleasant
words, though.
Context
• Immediate context: Right after Agamemnon
returns and reveals Cassandra, and only a little
before before Clytaemnestra kills
Agamemnon.
• Larger context: End of the Trojan war,
Agamemnon’s homecoming, history of the
house of Atreus
– Feast of Thyestes
• (hypo)thesis: Clytaemnestra is using language that
simultaneously 1) appeals to Agamemnon’s desire to
see himself as a conquering, triumphant king, and 2)
incorporates an undertone of intense hatred.
• Her language – on the surface – is encouraging,
flattering, etc. but her use of contrasting imagery and
ambiguous reference (the hinge of the passage is “that
dear life”) – allow a careful reader to see the irony (and
dramatic irony) in her description.
• In doing so, she is describing the conditions of
possibility for the continuing cycle of violence in the
house of Atreus.