Universality in Agamemnon by Aeschylus:

   Agamemnon is treated as the masterpiece of Aeschylus. In it the action takes place before the palace of Agamemnon in Argos at the time of his victorious return from the Trojan war. Agamemnon is the first play in the Oresteia, which is considered Aeschylus' greatest work, and perhaps the greatest Greek tragedy.

   There are several themes considered of that particular age and the conventional way of presenting the Greek tragedy . As far as concerned the aspects of universality in the play, which are very close to reality as well as universal truths which present almost in every age, in every society and any corner of the world accordingly, besides traditional elements in the play.

            Usually those who are wrong seem to blame others as criminals. They try to give clarifications that others committed wrongs as they were on fault. Clytemnestra blamed the king that he had killed her daughter and in revenge, she killed king Agamemnon. While soon after she joined her lover Aegisthus, Agamemnon's cousin. They take over the government and the Chorus declared that Clytemnestra's son Orestes would return from exile to avenge his father. Later on she gave clarifications to her son that king had unfair relation with Cassandra while she had unfair relation with King’s cousin.

            Cassandra, a Trojan Princess whom Agamemnon had taken as his slave and entered, was riding in his chariot with her into his palace. The Chorus expressed a sense of foreboding, and Clytemnestra came outside to order Cassandra inside. The Trojan Princess was silent, and the Queen left her in frustration. Then Cassandra began to speak, uttering incoherent prophecies about a curse on the house of Agamemnon. She told the Chorus that they would see their king dead, and she would die as well, and then predicted that an avenger would come. After these bold predictions, she seemed resigned to her fate, and entered the house. Representing the people helpless she couldn’t save her against dominated power. She was helpless and tyrannized.

            The play's mood carried a heavy sense of impending doom. From the Watchman's opening speech through the Chorus' foreboding words and Cassandra's prophesies, the drama prepared the audience for the King's murder. The actual act of violence was occurred off-stage, a traditional practice in Greek tragedy. The violence caused violence. But in a broader sense, it was the source of the ancestral curse that pervaded the trilogy, as one act of violence led to another.