The Play of Words

This book examines the dynamics of interfamilial violence in the Oresteia. It argues that the key element of the play’s discourse about violence is to be found in the inquiry for a definition of Clytemnestra’s motherhood. By reading the play’s narrative on interfamilial violence and matricide as a narrative of uncertainties in terms of the role of the mother figure, this book illustrates the complexity of the maternal role of Clytemnestra.