On the guilt of Agamemnon, by Lloyd-Jones: a problematic of Ate and Zeus intervention

Abstract

The proposed paper addresses Ate’s and Zeus’ interventions over Agamemnon according to Hugh Lloyd-Jones’s treatment in the paper “The Guilt of Agamemnon”. Lloyd-Jones’s main thesis is that Agamemnon’s guilt comes ultimately from Zeus’ acknowledgment of the Atreidae curse. He reaches this conclusion by reducing Agamemnon’s free will, considering his choices not made by clear continence but taken by Ate, sent by Zeus to stun the hero. Lloyd-Jones reduces the god’s intervention to be fomented by this single cause. Although his article has in many aspects a good approach of the tragedy, I reject Lloyd-Jones’s thesis by basing myself on Aeschylus’ text and the absence of enough textual evidence to give weight to his interpretation. I intend to substantiate my position showing that Lloyd-Jones inclusions of Ate cannot give a good interpretation on Agamemnon’s choices in the passages of Iphigenia’s Sacrifice and the stroll over the purple tapestry. On reading Aeschylus’ tragedies one must take in consideration the previous epics as background knowledge that he constantly dialogs with – but not always in agreement. In the end, I suggest that Zeus is still the main planner of all events but Agamemnon’s guilt remains also as a part of his own character and that he consciously play his part on building his tragic fate.