The opening scene of the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus

 

 Discuss the opening scene of the play Agamemnon by Aeschylus.

Ans. In Aeschylus' play Agamemnon the opening scene is on the flat roof of the palace. A night watchman, leaning on his elbow and gazing towards the east.

 

The night watchman opens the play with a soliloquy on his monotonous duty of night observation for years. In the prologue he narrates how he had once been posted by Clytemnestra, queen of Argos and wife of Agamemnon. Presently Agamemnon has been in far off Troy on a mission to rescue Helen, wife of King Menelaus of Sparta and his younger brother. Helen, the matchless beauty had been abducted by Paris, the son of King Priam of Troy.

 

The watchman was engaged with the duty to keep a lookout each night for the light flashing from a series of beacon fires that will signal the fall of Tory at the hands of the Greeks under the command of Agamemnon. Of late the watchman is getting impatient as no such light has ever come to his view despite keeping sleepless watch for years. He utters a few dark hints about the state of affairs within the palace Suddenly he sights a beacon flashing in the distance. For a moment the watchman feels excited at the thought that his long vigil is soon coming to an end. His king is returning home at long last. But then a feeling of gloom shadows his mind. He refuses to think aloud the cause of he foreboding, but the walls of the palace could tell the story had they tongues to speak. He goes out to tell the news to Clytemnestra.