The Dokimasia Painter`s “Death of Aegisthus”

The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 The tradition depicting h r es in art reaches back to the 6th century BC, before the birth
of tragedy. In the decades before the composition of Aeschylus’ Oresteia, the kleos of the
Tegean cult h r s, Orestes, was already being sung by epic poets.1 Contemporary Brygan
Circle paintings and Stesichoros’ Oresteia inspired the Dokimasia Painter, in 460BC, to fire a
red-figure glaze painting depicting the deaths of Agamemnon and Aegisthus, compressing
narrative time and space in a circular, continuous frieze framing a M ycenaean palace.2 In terms of
its ancient function, the painted calyx-krater was a drinking bowl of the all-male symposium. A
modern-day reconstruction, the Boston M FA’s red-figure calyx-krater, accurately depicts the
original Death of Aegisthus (Fig.1).3 The performance of Aeschylus’ Oresteia in 458BC provides
verbal, as well as visual evidence that aids analysis of the scene.4 All eyes converge on Orestes,
emissary of Apollo, fulfilling the first of his two commands, killing the sparsely-clothed
Aegisthus.5 Of the visual s mata: the tail of a snake, waving behind Orestes’ back, acts as the
“restrainer,” which appears to Clytemnestra alone in the Libation Bearers, as well as in the
calyx-krater, and metaphorically signifies the Fury of Agamemnon, incarnated in Orestes.6 Thus,
in garb, body, and pose, Orestes, the Athenian hoplite, is depicted simultaneously as the slayer
of Aegisthus, the dreaded ophis of Clytemnestra, and the s t r of Electra.
1
Specifically, the kleos of Orestes was sung by the performers of Stesichoros’ Oresteia, as well as by Pindar, and by during the recitations of
the Odyssey. The word Tegean refers to Pausanias’ account of Orestes hero cult in Tegea. In Pausanias’ Stories of Greece, the historian
records that Orestes cut off his hair driven to madness by the furies. In the Herodotus’ section on Croesus, the Spartans are told by the Pythia to
retrieve Orestes’ dead body from the Tegea to win a war. Orestes is also mentioned in the Heroikos as being eight cubits long, larger than life.
2
Small, pp. 562-563.
3
Billings, p. 238. Boardmann feels duty bound to disabuse his readers of the erroneous notion that the Boston vase represents the Oresteia; he
still leaves them thinking that the vase documents performance of an earlier play by an earlier poet. The illustration of the vase in Figure 1
comes from the MFA website. The approximate date of 460BC has been confirmed by several sources not just the MFA.
4
The sole performance of the Aeschylus’ Oresteia occurred over a three day period in 458BC, a fact known from several sources.
5
Rosenmeyer, pp. 241-246. Orestes is an instrument, perhaps even a reluctant instrument, of Apollo’s divine will.
6
The tail of the snake as a “restrainer” is a point I attempt to prove later when I discuss the pictorial tradition of having a “restrainer” present
to hold Clytemnestra’s axe, whether it be Talthybius or Pylades. Here, the painter is deviating from convention to communicate a point. He has
not simply forgotten to include a key character.
1 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 The hoplite garb, body, and pose of Orestes, the metaphorical ophis, bringing at as
emissary of Apollo, both evince his adaptive noos, reintegrating from Athens into his homeland
of Argos, as well as reflect his self-proclaimed ainos of the dreamed-serpent and Pythian
ainigmata, which bind him to the duty of avenging Agamemnon.7 As in the Libation Bearers,
Orestes is dressed as a xenos, a Daulian from Phocis (LB 560).8 The helmeted hoplite soldier
strides in three-quarter-view to the right, in a similar posture to Aegisthus on the obverse. The
youthful, beardless Orestes holds the crown of Aegisthus’ head in his left hand, drawing his
sword back in his lowered right hand. His body armor is comprised of a corselet and a patterned
chitoniskos, with flounces across the thighs under a plain thorax.9 On his shins, he wears greaves
fastened with scarlet thongs. His empty, thronged scabbard is slung on a scarlet baldric; his
drawn sword has a simple pommel and flat hilt.10 Interestingly, the upturned cheekpiece of his
Attic helmet is painted with a running hound on the inner surface. In light of the Oresteia
metaphor between Furies and “hounds,” this s ma reflects the vengeful will, lema, of the dead
father, pater, Agamemnon (LB 924, 1054).11 The section of the helmet between the metallic
noseguard and the forehead rim reveals a cloud of Orestes’ own dark-black curls. Conventionally,
this section of the helmet was supplied with imitation human hair or forehead wool.12 Likewise,
7
The noos of Orestes resembles the noos of Odysseus, which is in turn relevant to Theognis and the metaphor of the octopus which turns in its
coloring with each new setting: “My thumos! Keep turning and showing a new side of your versatile nature in each encounter with every
philos. Keep mixing your temperament to match that of each philos. Have the temperament of a complex octopus, who always looks like
whatever rock he has just clung to…It is true to say that sophia is better than being atropos.” (Theognis, l. 212-220)
8
In his ainos, marked by the index, houtos, Orestes is intrinsically noble but socioeconomically base, like the disguised Odysseus, another
xenos, returning home: “In the guise of a stranger [xenos], one fully equipped, I will come to the outer gate, and with me Pylades, whom you
see here, as a guest [xenos] and ally of the house. Both of us will speak the speech of Parnassus, imitating [mimeîsthai] the voice of a Phocian
tongue.” (LB, 560-2)
9
Vermeule, pp. 5-6.
10
Prag, pp. 23-24.
11
Nagy, Refractions of Epic Vision. p. 6. As Prof. Nagy writes, the dead Amphiaraos sees a vision of his living son Alkmaion:“By inherited
nature, the noble purpose [l ma] shines forth from fathers [pateres] to sons. I can see [theaomai] clearly [saphes] Alkmaion wielding the
patterned snake on his blazing shield” (Pindar Pythian 8.45ff.) In the Oresteia, Clytemnestra warns Orestes: “Take care: beware the hounds of
wrath that avenge a mother.”(LB 924) The running hound on Orestes’ helmet is therefore a sema of the Furies summoned by Clytemnestra.
12
Beazley, J. D., p. 20.
2 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 in several pre-existing iconographic renderings, two horsetail plumes are attached to the back of
Orestes’ helmet.13 Here, only the end of one “plume” is visible.14 Its outline resembles the tail of
a snake, and its light-red shading, compared to Orestes’ naturally long, dark, serpentine curls,
alludes to his metaphorical persona as the ophis of Clytemnestra (LB 526).15 In contrast to
Clytemnestra’s conventional profile eyes, Orestes has enlarged, three-quarter-view eyes gazing
down at his victim’s half-closed, large, rounded eyes.16 The motif of mantis-like “vision”
prominent in the Oresteia makes Orestes an emissary of the supreme god of vision, Apollo.17 His
light-colored, enlarged eyes convey his larger-than-life anger, kotos, releasing like a “time-bomb”
at this freeze-frame moment of “skewering” Aegisthus “with his swift sword.”(LB 576-7)18
The aestheticizing and eroticizing of the body of the dashing, young, beardless, hero-warrior
in his moment of epic glory, kleos, is conveyed by the idealized proportions of the musculature
in his slender arms and legs, his fair, light-colored skin, and his towering height.19 During the
458BC Oresteia, the murder of Aegisthus occurred offstage, leaving the Athenian audience
hearing his climactic death “cry,” to imagine Orestes, champion of dik , piercing the chest of the
unarmed, hubris turannos, Aegisthus, as depicted on numerous vases (LB 869).20 The pose of
13
Prag, Plate 12a-d, The column-krater by the Aegisthus Painter(Bologna 230) and the stamnos by the Berlin Painter(Boston 91.227) both
depict the Death of Aegisthus with Orestes wearing a helmet with two horse hair plumes attached to the back.
14
Vermeule, p. 5. In her analysis, Vermeule claims that the strand of hair is a “horsetail plume.” However, there is insufficient visual
evidence on the vase to conclusively prove that either a) the helmet has any false hair attached to it, since the conventional imitation hair on
the front is replaced by natural hair and b) that the hair which is attached to the back of the helmet is simply a horse hair plume like traditional
depictions by the Aegisthus and Berlin Painters. This work is in many respects unconventional—more different from traditional depictions than
it is similar. I would not hasten to make the same conclusion.
15
Noble, pp. 54-68.
16
Boardmann, pp. 137.
17
Nagy, Refractions of Epic Vision. p. 6. The theme of “vision” is critical to the Libation Bearers and the conception Orestes has of his future
fate, imparted by the god of intelligence Apollo.
18
Nagy, Informal Commentary on Herakles. 840. As Prof. Nagy writes, kotos is one of three forms of anger: menis, kholos, and kotos. It is like
a ticking time bomb, which explodes at the perfect moment in the plot, such as when Odysseus releases his anger upon the suitors in a killing
spree. Orestes is well-mannered both before and after the killings; therefore his anger is an example of kotos.
19
Boardmann, pp. 230.
20
Taplin, pp. 343-351. By convention of the Athenian state theater, the death of an actor was always performed offstage. During the death of
Aegisthus in the Libation Bearers, for example, the servant relates the death “cry” of Aegisthus, calling frantically for ten lines before
Clytemnestra enters.(LB, 875-885)
3 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 Orestes, striding forward to grasp Aegisthus by the head, his sword drawn back, is a natural and
common one in all forms of close combat. The Dokimasia Painter himself used it more than once
on his cup with the labors of Theseus, the hero-king of Athenian democracy.21 Thus, Orestes,
s t r of the royal oikos, stands poised to deliver a second and final blow to Aegisthus’ exposed
chest.22 Now, in the macro-narrative of the Oresteia, the Fury, summoned in the Agamemnon by
Orestes’ dying father, may finally drink as “her third and final drink” Aegisthus’ “unmixed
blood” in a perverted ritual libation (LB 579).23 At this moment, the divine mandate has not yet
reached a telos, for still lurking in the backdrop are the living “viper,” echidna, Clytemnestra, and,
through her ghost, Orestes’ divine antagonists, the snake-haired Furies (LB 1050).24
In contrast to the courageous, avenging young h r s, Orestes, the sparsely-clothed,
eroticized Aegisthus wields a mere barbiton, having just sung a “swan-song.”25 Like Agamemnon
caught in the “fatal robe,” he suffers death in a vulnerable, reclined position, causing
Clytemnestra to suffer pathos for his beautiful corpse, le beau mort.26 The convergence point of
her lament, and indeed, of the entire composition, is the space in front of Orestes’ left shoulder,
where Aegisthus’ open-palmed right hand extends too far left to catch Orestes’ gaze, yet not far
enough to touch her left hand. In his lowered left hand, Aegisthus holds a large seven-stringed
21
Prag, p. 23. Theseus, the hero of Athenian democracy, like Orestes, was a popular subject of vase paintings in the Early Classical Period in
Athens. He appears as a character in many of the plays read in this course including Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus and
22
Oikos here is used not in terms of “the resting place of the cult hero,” but rather as a house or abode. It is the household of Agamemnon for
which he is s t r, in the words of the Chorus. Yet, on a deeper level, he is also the s t r to the oikos of Agamemnon, because his father,
having been avenged, can now rest in peace.
23
The fury summoned by Agamemnon in death, is metaphorically the force which drives Orestes towards his fate, towards future vengeance.
24
Orestes in the Libation Bearers describes his visions of the Furies thus: “Ah, ah! You slave women, look at them there: like Gorgons,
wrapped in sable garments, entwined with swarming snakes! I can stay no longer.”(LB, 1050) And similarly the Chorus in Euripides’ Heracles
describes the Gorgon thus: “She is mounted on her chariot, the queen of sorrow and sighing, and is goading on her steeds, as if for outrage, the
child of Night, with a hundred hissing serpent-heads, Madness of the flashing eyes.” (Heracles, 880) In vases postdating the Oresteia, Orestes
is often depicted beside female furies with snakes in their hair. Hence, “snake haired” Furies.
25
Aeschylus uses such “swan song” imagery with Clytemnestra saying: “For he lies thus; while she, who, like a swan, has sung her last lament
in death, lies here, his beloved; but to me she has brought for my bed an added relish of delight.” (AG, 1445)
26
There are many instances of visual imagery in the Oresteia. Clytemnestra’s net is a prime example. The “fatal wealth of robe” (AG, 1384)
is also called a “net of dike”(AG 1611) and a “hunting net.”(LB 1000) The beautiful corpse, le beau mort, is not technically a corpse as of yet,
since Aegisthus is still living.
4 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 lyre or barbiton, parallel to and lifted off the ground.27 The Dokimasia Painter’s calyx-krater is
the earliest-surviving vase depicting Aegisthus with the barbitos.28 The fact that this musical
instrument is not associated with Aegisthus in the Libation Bearers alludes to the ever-active
process of reinterpretation of myths, muthoi, by the classical Athenian pot painters of the
Brygan circle.29 In the Dokimasia Painter’s preliminary sketch, the barbiton, hanging down
straight in a natural position common to Death of Orpheus scenes, fell below the picture frame;
thus, it needed to be held horizontally.30 The bearded Aegisthus is shown seated not on
Agamemnon’s conventional backless “throne”—the symbol of usurped authority envisaged by
Orestes during his ainos in the Libation Bearers—but on a klismos, a chair with curving legs and
curved back (LB 975).31 Aegisthus’ left leg is drawn back under the chair, forcing the right leg to
stretch out before him, because Orestes, having taken him by surprise and stabbed him once, has
pushed him so far back in the chair that all he can do is keep balance with his feet and gesticulate
for mercy. Interestingly, Aegisthus’ body has been forced into almost a straight diagonal like
Agamemnon’s on the obverse, so that the two central pairs are strongly reminiscent of each
other. Lacking the conventional chiton, Aegisthus wears only the himation with a wide, dark
border, which is wrapped around his waist and legs so that one end comes up behind his back and
over his left shoulder, while the other is allowed to rest across his lap.32
27
Nagy, Did Sappho and Alcaeus Ever Meet? p. 31. In light of Prof. Nagy’s argument, the barbiton is, in a sense, orientalizing and feminizing
the figure of Aegisthus. The Dionysiac context of the instrument contrasts with the Panhellenic context of the kithara of the kithara singers,
kithar idoi: performers of poetry at the Panathenaia.
28
Snyder, p. 190.
29
Robertson, pp. 115-118.
30
Vermeule, Plate 5: Figure 19. Detail of Sketch Lines. Figure 9. Death of Orpheus.
31
Boardmann, p. 137.
32
Prag, p. 23.
5 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 The Dokimasia Painter applies the red-figure technique to depict poses, with flatter relief
lines used to soften the muscular contours of Orestes and Aegisthus.33 His soft-brown, dilute
glaze used both for contours and for interior details such as drapery folds, allows light that plays
on the figure to emanate from the darkness around it.34 Thus, the radiance of Orestes becomes the
divine radiance of Apollo, the god who sees and knows all things, oida.35 M oreover, the sensuous
appearance of the “charming,” seductive musician, Aegisthus, derives from earlier Dionysiac
scenes by the artist.36 His 490BC komos in Berlin depicts a scene of sympotic revelry with a
bearded man playing a barbiton, another bearded man faces him holding a large, wreath-bedecked
amphora, behind him is the flute-player, and, to the right of the flutist, a bearded man dances.37
Unlike the kithara of Homeric or Pindaric kithar idoi, the barbitos was not an instrument
intended for competitions or for public performances, but rather was played in private circles and
frequently painted in images representing the all-male symposium.38 Thus, the vase indicates a
visual micro-narrative ainos, contrasting the Libation Bearers, where Aegisthus enters the palace
unarmed to interrogate the disguised Orestes.39 In this story, the seated, lightly-clothed
Aegisthus is relaxing and entertaining himself with his own music at home.40 He is caught
completely off guard at the depicted moment when Orestes, the full-grown minister of At ,
33
Cook, pp.166, 470-1.
34
Rasmussen, pp. 112-115.
35
Vellacott, pp. 72-5. The word oida relates back to the Pythian oracle and the function of the oracle as speaking for Apollo. He says in the
Herodotus passage: I see and therefore I know all the grains of sand in the universe. “I know [oida] the number of the sands and the measure
of the sea.” (Herodotus, 1.47) This is a somewhat cryptic utterance, but Orestes clearly takes it to mean: you must obey Apollo even if all men
condemn you for killing your mother.
36
The verb “thelgo” meaning “to charm” is used by Homer to describe musicians in the Homeric Hymn to Hermes. The Odyssey also conveys
a sense that Clytemnestra has been seduced by Aegisthus.
37
LIMC. Aegisthus.
38
Snyder, p.190. Again the barbitos is an instrument used in private domestic contexts, the lyre or cithara would be played by performers in
concerts such as the Panathenaia in Athens.
39
Lloyd-Jones, pp. 41-2. According to one version of the story, familiar from vase paintings, Aegisthus was surprised by Orestes while seated
on his father’s throne and killed instantly.
40 Koloski-Ostrow and Lyons, p. 102.
6 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 armed, and armored, makes a nostos bursting into the palace megaron to thrust a sword into his
breast.41
Justifying Orestes’ matricide, the s phr n Clytemnestra, with composed hair and stately
dress, bears a double-edged hatchet down upon her son; yet, she is “restrained” by the “vision”
of the ophis.42 Wearing chiton and himation, advancing three-quarter-view to the right,
Clytemnestra raises the pelekus above her right shoulder, and stretches her left hand toward
Orestes’ shoulder. 43 She is clad not in house-clothes, but in a chiton and himation, hardly suitable
for an aging matron. Interestingly, her see-through chiton, decorated with little spangles, is of the
same kind of material as the net-cloak that envelops Agamemnon on the obverse. In the
Agamemnon, the two-edged axe metaphorically becomes the two horns of the murderous cow
and a black machine, while the sharpened sword destroys, as it does on the vase.44 The
iconography of Clytemnestra’s axe most resembles the Berlin Painter’s cup in Vienna.45
Conventionally, Clytemnestra is prevented from bringing down the axe on her son by a
“restrainer”: either the herald Talthybius or Pylades. It is curious that the Dokimasia Painter
omitted the “restrainer.” Shortage of space can hardly have been the reason. Either the Dokimasia
Painter completely overlooked him or deliberately aimed at the effect. Like the aforementioned
unconventional motifs—hatchet, barbitos, and net-cloak—the snake, ophis, in Orestes’ hair acts
as a sufficient “restrainer.” The axe is primarily a literary invention of Stesichoros, whose
41 Snyder, p.190. Orestes is the minister of At because like the lion cub adopted and grown to maturity: “brought to full growth by time it
demonstrated the nature it had from its parents. Unbidden, in return [kharis] for its fostering, it prepared a feast with a slaughter of destruction
[at ] inflicted on the flocks…A priest of Derangement [at ], by order of a god, it was reared in the house.” (Agamemnon, 730-5)
42 Clytemnestra is restrained by the vision of the ophin. The theme of mantis-like vision is relevant here as the vision of the snake literally stops
her in her tracks. She does not, therefore, need a restrainer.
43 Koloski-Ostrow and Lyons, p.101.
44 Vermeule, pp. 5-6.(AG 1127,1262,1496, 1520, 1539)
45 Vermeule, Plate 6. Fig. 12. Pelike by Berlin Painter(Vienna 3725).
7 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 Oresteia introduced the bloody-headed serpent, Agamemnon, in a portent to Clytemnestra.46 It is
unclear to what extent Aeschylus borrowed from the Oresteia of Stesichoros.47 In that epic, “it
seemed to her a serpent came with a bloodied head, which a king appeared from, a descendant of
Pleisthenes.”48 The serpent in that work was Agamemnon, whose head Clytemnestra had
bloodied with the axe. The double-edged weapon indicates her hubris character—the kind of
woman who would first kill her husband, and then, her son, to save her “most philos” lover (LB
892).49 Before her death in the Libation Bearers, the bare-breasted Clytemnestra identifies
Orestes as the breast-nourished serpent of her dream: “Oh no! I myself bore and nourished this
serpent [ophin]!”(LB 526)50 She thus confirms Orestes’ earlier reading of the portent: “For I,
turned serpent [ekdrakontôtheis], am her killer, as this dream declares.”(LB 540-51)51 In contrast,
the soothsayers of the house think the serpent embodies Agamemnon (LB 80).52
Ekdrakontôtheis, “to become a very serpent,” is a unique word: snake and babe become one in
the adult Orestes.53 Compared to the viper, echidna, what was horrid for his mother he now
accepts for himself (LB 249).54
The painting captures Clytemnestra’s phobos, since she halts her rightward momentum,
shifting her weight to her back foot, upon seeing the bleeding Aegisthus and the serpent, ophis, in
46Rosenmeyer, pp. 241-246.
47
Nagy, Pindar's Homer. Ch. 14. 31. The ainos of the serpent is likely derived from Stesichoros’ Oresteia.
48
Konishi, p.187.
49
Hubris in this context means outrage “excessive behavior that violates morality.”Hubris is the opposite of dike as embodied by Orestes.
50
Bowen, p. 101. Before her death, Clytemnestra says: “Wait, my son! Have respect [aid s], child, for this breast at which many times while
sleeping you sucked with toothless gums the nourishing milk.”(LB 898-899) The term aidos is translated as respect, especially the respect owed
to a parent. Clytemnestra’s entreaties of a suppliant, showing him her breast, are in vain. Compare Hecuba and Hector in the Iliad. (Iliad
22.82f.)
51
Whallon, p. 132. The earlier reading occurs in the context of the scene at Agamemnon’s grave, where Orestes pledges to avenge his father
who sent the dream of a serpent, himself, to Clytemnestra, as a warning of impending danger.
52
The Chorus says that the house seers interpret Agamemnon’s rage: “And those who sort out [krinein] these dreams, bound under pledge,
cried out from the god that those beneath the earth cast furious reproaches and rage against their murderers.”(LB 40)
53
Goldhill, pp. 60-1.
54
Bowen, p. 101.
8 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 Orestes’ hair.55 Yet, her elongated, left-framing figure—in contrast to the right-framing Electra not
included in the Oresteia murders—does not exteriorize any visible signs, s mata, of internal
distress. Earlier in the Oresteia, Orestes stands beside Electra in the large, empty orchestra,
invoking Zeus, exponent of dik , he calls Clytemnestra not an “amphisbaina,” but a duplicitous
“echidna”: “who left the orphaned brood of a father eagle that perished in the meshes, in the coils
of a fierce viper.” (AG 1231; LB 247-50)56 Indeed, in the vase, her dark-black hair is composed
with curls combed up in a bun, held in place by a leafy headband, mitra.57 Like a masked actor
playing the guileful Clytemnestra, her face features an expressionless countenance, hiding her
internal distress.58 Thus, at this moment of lamentation, the inner akhos and outward composure
of Clytemnestra are in conflict.59
In contrast, Electra’s frenzied internal phrenes clearly manifests itself in her loose hair and
pose. Behind Aegisthus, Electra stands three-quarter-view to the left in a similar posture as in her
appearance on the Agamemnon side, except that she holds her left hand in front of her chest. She
holds one hand in front of her body, the arm bent, and the other stretched before her. The gesture
of excited gesticulation and warning to Orestes is paralleled by the Electras of the Copenhagen
55
Taplin, pp. 343-351. Clytemnestra comes out of the women’s doors, which must have been in front of the skene in view of the audience. By
revelation, I mean that she sees a vision which no one else sees, similar to the dream of a serpent which visited her earlier, except now that
snake is a real human being.
56
Bowen, p. 63. Cassandra calls Clytemnestra an amphisbaina in the Agamemnon. Literally, she says: “….. the hateful hound, whose tongue
licked his hand, who stretched forth her ears in gladness, like treacherous At …What odious monster shall I fitly call her? An Amphisbaina?
Or a Scylla...” (AG 1229-1231) By definition, an amphisbaina is a serpent that can go forward or backward. The Libation Bearers prefers the
echidna, viper, analogy.
57
Nagy, Did Sappho and Alcaeus Ever Meet? pp. 28, 43, 44. The leafy headband worn by Clytemnestra is definitely a mitra, based on Prof.
Nagy’s description of the mitra with leaves of ivy. Pentheus wears a similar mitra in the Bacchae.
58
We know, from Aristotle, as well as other sources, that actors wore masks. Of course, Clytemnestra is not wearing a mask in this scene, but
her face does not show any facial expressions whatsoever. The masked countenance of the actress hides her internal distress.
59
The s phr n nature of Clytemnestra contrasting her outer appearance is set up explicitly when Electra says: ““But that Orestes may come
home with good fortune I pray to you, father: Oh, hearken to me! And as for myself, grant that I may prove far more circumspect [s phr n]
than my mother and more reverent in deed.” (LB 139-40)
9 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 Painter and especially the Aegisthus Painter.60 In Aeschylus’ Oresteia, the process whereby
Electra identifies the lock and then the footprints as those of Orestes is part of the returning
h r s’ reintegration into society and the reassembly of his ascending scale of affections.61
Revealing his identity to his sister, Orestes says:
“Yet at the sight of this tress cut in mourning, and when you were scrutinizing the footprints of my tracks, your thought took
wings and you knew you had found me. Put the lock of hair, your own brother’s, in the spot it was cut from, and observe how it
matches the hair on your head. And see this piece of weaving, your handiwork, the strokes of the blade and the beasts in the
design. Control yourself! Do not stray in your phrenes with joy!”(LB 228-32)
At this point in the Libation Bearers, the actor playing Orestes shows the wrap-about mantle,
himation, he is wearing.62 The beast picture, the thereios graphe, might be embroidered, or if
stylized, might be in-woven. If the same actor played Agamemnon, Aegisthus, and Orestes, reusing a single costume, a garment decorated with a totemistic lion, an emblem of the royal house
could have been worn in all three roles.63 By comparison, in the vase painting, Orestes does not
wear a lion s ma on either his plain corselet or patterned chitoniskos.
Electra’s growing sense of kinship with her brother makes her more resolute in calling for
punishment. She is slow to cite the theme of revenge, unlike Orestes and the Chorus (LB 18-9,
117-23). In the vase, in the charged atmosphere of the megaron, Electra is present, standing
behind Aegisthus, encouraging her brother to skewer the surrounded tyrant with his sword.64
Furthermore, warning Orestes with her open right hand pointing towards the axe, she gazes, with
her profile eyes, at Clytemnestra directly opposite her line of vision. The dark-black curls of her
hair are completely loose, cascading down over her shoulders. Thus, Electra’s hair is aestheticized
60
Vermeule, Plate 6. Figure Fig. 13. Stamnos by Copenhagen Painter (Berlin 2184) Fig. 14. Stamnos by Aigisthos Painter, (Bologna 230). In
both depictions, Electra stands to the right of the seated Aegisthus, her right-hand-raised in a gesture of excitement and warning about
Clytemnestra’s axe behind Orestes’ back.
61
The reassembly of Orestes scale of affections is like the reassembly of Odysseus’s ascending scale of affections except that he only has a
chance to “test” Electra and Clytemnestra. Clytemnestra fails the test, thanks to Pylades’ intervention.
62
Taplin, pp. 343-351.
63
Whallon, p. 76.
64
MFA Catalog. Electra is described as “encouraging her brother’s actions.”
10 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 and eroticized, showing her vulnerability and emotional disequilibrium. Her loose hair can be
compared to visual depictions of Sappho by the Brygos Painter or in epic, Homer’s Andromache
lamenting over the dead body of Hector.65 Compellingly, her long, dark-black curls are similar in
length and shading to Orestes, whose lock “matches the hair” on Electra’s head in the Libation
Bearers (LB 231).66 If the context of Aegisthus playing the barbitos in the megaron is indeed
sympotic as argued earlier, the Dionysiac element of Electra’s hair and loss of phrenes make
sense. The loose hair, a clear s ma of losing self-control, suggests Electra is enthousiasmos,
possessed by a daim n.67 Admittedly, it is unclear whether Electra is inspired by Dionysus,
At , or some other unspecified god.68 The Elektra plays by Euripides and Sophocles showcase
her passionate anger toward both Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. She exits Aeschylus’ Oresteia at
line 584 of the Libation Bearers, long before the palace murders. Nevertheless, Electra prepares
the M ycenaean Palace for the perfect moment of vengeance, depicted on the Dokimasia Painter’s
vase. Her pothos for the exiled Orestes, “s t r” of the royal house, is a source of “joy” and a
harbinger of her erotic, emotional disequilibrium at the telos of revenge (LB 235, 232).
In Aeschylus’ 458BC Oresteia, performed at the City Dionysia and preserved in text, the
Death of Aegisthus and the ainos of Clytemnestra’s serpent garner the attention of his Athenian
audience: potential viewers of the Dokimasia Painter’s calyx-krater painted just a few years
65
Robertson, pp. 115-118. Robertson speculates that, in light of the Dokimasia Painter’s late development, the Munich vase with Alcaeus and
Sappho, which contains figures on a larger scale than any of the others from the Brygos Painter’s hand, is a candidate for transfer to the
Dokimasia Painter’s list of attributed works.
66
The fact that Electra’s lock matches Orestes’ hair both in the Oresteia and in the vase paintings is a compelling connection between painters
and tragedian. A causal connection cannot be established. If there were a causal connection, it would run from painter to tragedian.
67
Electra is enthousiasmos even though she is not shown frontally, staring at the viewer, which is conventionally the best way to convey
inspiration by a god (e.g. Drinking cup image from lecture on Euripides’ Bacchae)
68
Boardmann, pp. 220-221. Electra has not yet cited the theme of revenge however she shows some clear premonitions of the ate which will
befall her mother and Aegisthus: “Hear then, O father, our expressions of grief [penthos] in the midst of plentiful tears. Look, your two
children mourn you in a lament [thr nos] over your tomb. As suppliants and exiles as well they have sought a haven at your burial place. What
of these things is good, what free of evil? Is it not hopeless to wrestle against doom [at ]?”(LB 333-5)
11 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 earlier.69 Poets and painters have different methods, different goals in view. Painters can show the
most brutal killing scenes without a qualm and can use their own techniques to convey situations
and tensions that escape poet and dramatist.70 The Athenian audience at the City Dionysia
imagines the offstage deaths of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. Ancient and modern viewers of the
circular, continuous frieze on the Dokimasia Painter’s calyx-krater, like the audience of the Iliad
and the Odyssey, gazing upon the outermost circle of the shield of Achilles, judge the characters
in that freeze-frame moment.71 In the Oresteia, Aeschylus plays on the audience’s familiarity
with an iconographic type known from vase paintings to heighten dramatic suspense.72
Aeschylus’ Oresteia bridges the gap between the literary and the iconographic traditions of the
Death of Aegisthus. Thus, in Athenian state theater, as well as in pictorial art, in garb, body, and
pose, Orestes the Athenian hoplite is depicted as the slayer of Aegisthus, the dreaded ophis of
Clytemnestra, and the s t r of Electra.
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LAC 14 Bolin, Philip, and M athew Corthell, “M ixed M essages in Greek Theatre: an Examination of
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14 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 LIM C. Lexicon Iconographicum M ythologiae Classicae. Aegisthos, Agamemnon, Elektra,
Orestes, Klytaimnestra.
M ixing Bowl(Calyx-krater) by the Dokimasia Painter: Death of Agamemnon; Death of
Aegisthos. Boston 63.1246. Boston M useum of Fine Arts. Classical Greek Gallery. Side
A(Obverse). Death of Agamemnon. Side B (Reverse). Death of Aegisthos.
Fig. 1: Calyx-krater by the Dokimasia Painter: Death of Aegisthos. Boston 63.1246.
Culture: Greek (Athenian)
Period: Early Classical
15 The Dokimasia Painter’s “Death of Aegisthus” and Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Orestes as slayer of Aegisthus; ophis of Clytemnestra; s t r of Electra
Paul Murphy
LAC 14 Year: About 460 B.C.
M aterial: Ceramic
Style: Red Figure
Dimensions: Height: 51 cm, Diameter: 51 cm.
Location: M useum of Fine Arts, Boston
16