The Greek poet and playwright Aeschylus wrote “The Libation Bearers” as a sequel to “Agamemnon”. Its name comes from the ancient Greek religious practice of Libation, which is a basic showing of piety that you do often to appease the gods and dead humans. In the story, the dead were not being appeased because libations were not offered. Differing from “Agamemnon”, the chorus is made up of captured Trojan slaves who converted to Greek religion.
In this play Zeus is once again in charge, yet seems to always be in the background instead of making every decision. Still, everyone praises Zeus since this was basic to Greek thought. The god Apollo is the most important of the Olympians in this play. Orestes, Agamemnon’s son, promises Apollo that he will kill his father’s murderers, but Apollo has to validate the legitimacy of this oath. He eventually does at the conclusion. There is another set of gods called the “furies” or “hounds.” They are gods of retribution and avenge people who have been murdered. Described as being relentless in their revenge, they are feared by the characters.
One of the other vital Olympian gods in “The Libation Bearers” is Hermes who is a messenger of Zeus to the underground gods. He is known as a trickster and will sometimes change Zeus’ message to get what he wants. There are gods of the “hearth” who provide the well-being and success of each individual family, and they are the ones that must be offered Libations. Fate, time, fear, and justice are described as invisible forces or gods themselves. Like in “Agamemnon”, bloodshed is dealt with by more bloodshed; justice is constant and merciless. Fate is a large part of the story; the outcome of men’s actions depend on it. The succession of Agamemnon’s family is unclear and we don’t know if Orestes becomes the ruler, but in the end, Orestes kills his father’s murderers fulfilling the oath.
