Aidan Owens
English 9H, Period 2
December 31st, 2010
Ms. DiPaolo
I stand before you today bearing the accusations of a mother killer. I, Orestes, son of
Agamemnon, accused of slaughtering the woman that bore me. Well, if by mother you mean the
unfaithful, conniving, dark-hearted woman that sold me away as a child, then I do not deny these
accusations. Nor do I regret my actions. Was the murder of Aegisthus fair? Was the killing of
Clytemnestra just? Most definitely.
Seen as immoral to some, the lives taken were but acts of revenge to avenge the killing of my
father. It should not be alright for wives to kill their husbands in cold blood and then try to
capture the pity of their sons. I had no choice. I had to avenge his murder.
What could I do? My father, Agamemnon, is the reason I walk the Earth today. He gave me life.
Clytemnestra simply nurtured me for a few short years, and then simply threw me away in spite.
That woman, who shall not be called my mother, was deceitful by nature and unfaithful to her
loyal husband. After ten long years at war, my father returned home just to be brutally
slaughtered by the woman he adored and her lover, Aegisthus, who was Agamemnon’s jealous
cousin. Aegisthus…. That unfaithful, woman-hearted coward! He sought revenge on my father
but was too soft to do anything, so he involved himself with Clytemnestra, and let her kill
Agamemnon. Despite his role in the death of my father, Aegisthus was an adulterer-- involved
with the wife of the Lord of the Greek fleet, nonetheless-- and experienced the fate of one.
If anything, should I not be thanked by the people of Greece? I, Orestes, avenged the killing of
Agamemnon and broke the curse on the House of Atreus. As the time comes to decide my fate,
keep this in mind. Because of Clytemnestra’s actions, I was forced to kill her and her lover in
order to make things right. And I bear no guilt, nor do I have an ounce of regret.