Seneca's Thyestes

Abstract

SYNOPSIS This tragedy is concerned with the revenge that Atreus (king of Argos) took on his brother Thyestes, luring him back from exile, killing his three sons and serving them up as a meal tohim. It takes the form of five acts separated by short odes in which the chorus comment onthe action. In act one a dreadful Fury (goddess of the Underworld) brings the tormented ghost of Tantalus (grandfather of Atreus and Thyestes) to Argos and compels it (despite its great reluctance) to drive the royal family mad with a murderous rage. In the second act Atreus psychs himself up to get his awful vengeance, recalling Thyestes' former crimes against him(the theft of his wife and the throne), and forms his demented plan to bring his brother backand get him to eat his own children unwittingly. An attendant tries to restrain the king, but he brushes aside his objections and cows him into submission. In act three a dirty and ragged Thyestes turns up at the palace with his children, suspicious of Atreus and his offer to share power, but craving the wealth and prestige that go with the throne. He allows his son to persuade him to meet with Atreus, and then allows the playacting Atreus to allay his fears and press a share of the kingship on him. He and his sons enter the palace with Atreus, suspecting nothing now. In the fourth act a distraught messenger relates at length and in detail how in a mysterious haunted grove in the depths of the palace Atreus murdered Thyestes' sons as if they were sacrificial victims, then cut them up, cooked them and served them up to their father. In act five Atreus comes on stage, exulting as Thyestes eats the terrible meal, and has the palace doors opened so that he can see him enjoying the luxurious feast. He toys with his brother, who feels a growing unease. He then produces the children's heads and tells the horrified Thyestes what he has just eaten, bitterly regretting the fact that he did not make him drink the blood from their living bodies and dismember and cook them himself. Thyestes calls wildly and in vain on Jupiter to blast the killer, and the play peters out in frustration and an illogical exchange between the two brothers.