I think Art (as we define it in the Western World) evolved to some extent from religion, the Greek ideal of Beauty, the Gods, the Muses, the Graces, etc. Through evolution Greek tragedies moved from the realm of religion to that of literature, to that of modern day entertainment; from the sphere of service to that of performance and entertainment.
In the first part of the trilogy of the Oresteia, the Agamemnon, we find the perfect balance between “service” and “performance”. In it we discover the entertainment of the drama, as well as some vestiges of religious beliefs and practices.
Re-reading the Agamemnon, I came to the sublime realisation that this masterpiece of Aeschylus, is far more than a tragedy or a play. The more I read, the more I thought, and the cacophony of selective thinking brought me closer and closer to the understanding of its otherworldly atmosphere steeped in religious significance and revelation, as the Psyche embraces its meaning and assimilates it as nutrition. The Oresteia is in essence “a criticism of life”.
Every wrong is justly punished. And every punishment becomes a new wrong and beckons new vengeance. Every wrong is rooted in some wrong of old.
At the opening of the first act, Clytemnestra is alienated from her husband and secretly befriended with Aegisthos, his ancestral enemy. The air is weighty and charged with the electricity of hatred. Hatred which is more than dislike. Hatred that contains the seeds of evil. And yet. It all has its due cause; the sacrifice of her daughter Iphegenia.
Agamemnon obeys Calchas at Aulis by giving his daughter Iphigenia as a human sacrifice, when his fleet lay storm-bound and was unable to continue towards its voyage to Troy.
As with the patriarch Abraham and his son Isaac, how does a sane man, consent to such an act? Is it through faith in the word of the Gods/God? Is it lack of love for his offspring? Is it trust that the Gods/God will restore their loved one to life as a prize for their obedience? Or is it simply dictated by deadly superstition and the need to protect “oneself” at all costs against it. Or is it the mere execution of one's “evil duty” (in the sense of negative dharma)? Agamemnon killed the fruit of his loins; his inner child put forth. How many of us have killed our own innocence with scepticism and cynicism?
The Oresteia is a complete and passionate contemplation and expression of truth, as the great Aeschylus interpreted it. In his words we know that “Truth” pervades life, like a thread of gold weaved through the fabric of the Universe, its stars, its planets, its majestic song and rhythm. From it none escape. What sublime message filters through in Aeschylus’ mode of reasoning and divine poetry! Longinus defined sublimity as “the ring, or resonance, of greatness of soul”.
In the Oresteia we become familiar with the cycle of crime. Every wrong turns out to be rooted in an older wrong itself. It is never gratuitous, it is never merely wicked, but provoked, tempted by persuasion and the repeated punishment of every wrong, without escape … ad infinitum.
For Aeschylus there is a new Ruler in Olympus (heaven); one who has both sinned and suffered and therefore grown wise through the experience of living. Zeus the Saviour. His gift to mankind, is Learning through Suffering. We suffer through wrong doing. We suffer through bad judgement. Through the tempering of suffering, He grants us the attainment of our own salvation. For this very reason We should understand the diametrically opposite new Ruler of the Christian heaven. Jesus Christ Saviour of and giver of everlasting life to those who believe in Him.
Men whose hearts do not dwell with the Gods tend towards blindness, seeking to further their interests through the exploitation of others, through wrong doing and Aeschylus tells us that the cause of this lies in the infection of old deeds, deeds of wrong, deeds of cruelty. He firmly believes that every wrong is the result of another. Man is so intent on living out life upon the memory of his own wrongs that he gropes blindly towards his demise, always on the defensive, always attempting to impose his will on others, yet unable to escape the irrefutable universal law of cause and effect.
Amongst Pagans and Christians alike there are those who like Cassandra are the beloved of Apollo/God, but, if like Cassandra they break their promise to the God, their gift becomes their curse; for never will their prophesies be believed, their meaning evading everyone where they live. As Herodutus wrote, they will “be in possession of the knowledge which sees, warns but cannot help”.
Agamemnon is the King of Kings, but as a symbol of hubris/pride, he is doomed to fall. His name means “unseen wrath abides” as opposed to his brother Menelaus “house of the mind”. His profound repudiation of Hubris is his doom, for it is that which the Cosmos would bring to dissolution.
I understand the Christian mind. I respect the Christian doctrine. The same applies to Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. However, how many visitors to, and members of this site, have ever stopped to ponder on the nature of the Pagan Mind?
The Pagan Mind is devoid of Christian baggage, and yet, so many of us arrive here, carefully treasuring the lessons and injunctions of its doctrine. Is there something wrong in this? No, unless, the pontification to those who no longer adhere to/or who have never carried with them the necessity of guilt, the burden of the same, the need to be saved, commences and the dogma of this fusion of ideologies becomes a stumbling block to community building, to unity in diversity.
The beauties of Judeo-Christian morality are “per lo piu’” out of place in Paganism and vice versa. Similarities do exist, but Pagans need not turn the other cheek … like Clytemnestra some of us have become possessed by the Daemon of the House and insane with judgement, inebriated with the idea of triumph, and attempt to dominate others by pressurize them into feeling guilty about their legitimate feelings and through this guilt into accepting their ideologies.
Judgement, guilt, god-given peace and salvation have a rightful role to play in Christian doctrine. In Paganism Peace is a Goddess! War is a God! Love is God! Strife is a Goddess. We all worship different Gods in our polytheistic ways, striving to strike the balance between the opposites and propel ourselves within the tension of the same, towards spiritual refinement, without the incrimination and judgement of others, until, through many lives we achieve epicentre perfection. Not through the grace and glory of a saviour’s sacrifice, but through the refinement of our own Psyches.
We should not utter, like Clytemnestra “let us not stain ourselves with blood”, once the essence of her better half stains her skin, who after the anguish of silent prayer, daring not to speak sincerely, not daring to show her feelings until Agamemnon is dead, echoes in our lives. Let us not forget how deep the dramatic edge of our words and their penetrative destruction may reveal themselves to be, but let us carefully measure their poison as homeopathic remedies, lest a resistance build up against it.
“All things pay retribution for their injustice one to another according to the ordinance of Time.” Gilbert Murray - Four Stages of Greek Religion - pg. 47 (1907)
Let not the eloquence of some become our personal despair through the interpretations that occur through the filter of our subjective minds and translate themselves into unbrotherly retaliation. Let us not argue in a spirit of self-assertion but rather in a spirit of debate and learning. Let us remove ourselves from the pulpits and sit down in the respectful circle of the amphitheatre of the Council where the dramas and tragedies of Pagan Life seek to restore themselves through us, putting on a "show" that projects us from the realm of entertainment to that of Religious achievement and fulfilment.
So Mote It Be!

References:

Aeschylus the Agamemnon - Gilbert Murray – 1949