An Examination of Clytaemnestra as a Tragic Victim of the Oresteia.

Clytaemnestra, although villified in the Oresteia, was in fact a moral extractor of vendetta justice who fell victim to the patriarchal Athenian society. What constitutes justice is a question that could not be given justice in one brief paper; therefore, for purposes of this paper we will use only two ideas of justice: vendetta justice and legal justice. Vendetta justice defies boundaries limiting actions and allows the extractor to make their own definition. This would …

…if I were to tell of/ all I met who were not hurt by being with me./ Time in his aging overtakes all things alike. Through Orestes' claim that he is not of any danger to society, he is given justice - but this justice should have been applied to Clytaemnestra. Clytaemnestra had shown neither disregard for life nor viciousness toward others but, as many of the men who went before her, measured out justice.