Page 11 - GALIET MUSIC´S METAPHOR: The House of Atreus IV

in Eumenides. The Apollonian lyre is heard in synchronicity with Athena and Apollo’s speech attesting to Athens’ new democratic, restorative ideals of justice while drumming is heard whenever the Erinyes’ appear suggesting the proto-state concept of retributive justice: Hammurabi’s “eye for eye, tooth for tooth.” If these musical- textual Dionysian and Apollonian tensions 3⁄4 mirrors of tragedy as suggested by Nietzsche 3⁄4 have an impact on a detached, modern audience, Athenians must have keenly felt it close to home. Undoubtedly, Aeschylus’ 5th century audience would have recognized in the Oresteia many of its social, religious and political tensions while at the same time deeply feeling the musical relational reality of Athens.
In addition to the great beauty experienced through these musical metaphors, “The House of Atreus” moves exquisitely between speech and lyrics despite the limitations of English6. This production displays cunning fluctuations among dialogue (Gr. iambic triameter), chanting (Gr. anapaestic rhythms) and singing (Gr. lyric meters) reminiscent, in a way, of Athenian performance. We hear in Agamemnon the alternation between Clytemnestra’s stern speech- chant and Cassandra’s lamenting lyrics; in Libation Bearers, the contrast between the Aria-like choral lament (LB 25-83) and Orestes’ agitated speech; in Eumenides, the Erynies’ chilling chants against Apollo’s stern speech. The effective employment of lyrics and chants (Cassandra, Chorus, Electra, Erynies), like the Dionysian drums, suggests the anxieties of the proto-state, honour-shame code while the use of calm speech (Apollo, Athena), like the Apollonian lyre, suggests city-state ideals of hope, fair trial and justice. Orestes’ shift from more agitated (Libation Bearers) to calmer speech (Eumenides), on the other hand, suggests the social-religious turmoil
6 In Classical Greek, length and weight is measured against English’s stress and accent.
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