The Power of Language in Aeschylus’ Oresteia

This article examines the remarkable way in which the Oresteia not only stages language from various perspectives, but also reflects on language, with characters in the dramas explicitly considering language or the audience implicitly learning about language through monologues, dialogues and actions.The main focus of these reflections is on the relationship between object and language, the difference between appearance and reality, and the difference between knowledge and opinion. The question of the authority of the speaker is also addressed. This allows the Oresteia to be situated more firmly than ever in the intellectual context of its time.