Paul Cantor’s lecture notes on The Oresteia from the History of European Literature course.
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A study of Wagner’s Ring Cycle as a Romantic creation myth, analyzing how it tells the story of an initial harmony with nature, a fall from that unity into the power struggles of civilization, and Wagner’s hope for an apocalypse that would allow for the triumph of love in the world. Lecture
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This chapter studies John Ford’s The Searchers against the background of Aeschylus’ trilogy, the Oresteia. As revenge tragedies, both works explore the thin line between barbarism and civilization. Ford portrays the tragedy of the isolated heroic figure who tries to bring order to the Wild West, and in the process must adopt some of the barbarism of the enemies he fights. Chapter 1
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