Things Are Not Always What They Seem

Megan Walker

Cremins

Alpha Human Situation

Nov. 17, 2013

Things Are Not Always What They Seem

In fifth century BC Greece (pre-Electra) people’s characters were consistent with their social identity, or position within the Oligarchy and the Greek society. By the time Electra was written, Greece’s governance had evolved into a young democracy and the populous was still conflicted over the traditional roles and the new democratic roles and how individuals would fill those roles. As a young democracy it was a capitalistic democracy which still gave most of the power to the wealthy but a growing voice to the common man. The new democratic culture of this Athens began to raise questions based on how a person is valued. Electra is used as a tool to challenge the traditional view that your worth is valued on the basis of social rank. Patterned throughout the play are examples of deceiving appearances and Orestes validates this when he says, “There’s no precise mark for recognizing worth. Appearance confuses.” (35, 381-382) In Electra, Euripides re-conceptualizes the relationship between social identities and roles and illustrates the inconsistencies within the characters actions and shows that their identities are more related to their fundamental nature than their appearance.

Throughout this tragedy there is a struggle between perception and truth. The main character Electra is a “royal daughter,” yet she is married to a poor farmer and looks like a slave. (27,194) Electra is indeed a princess and of royal lineage but appears in the play with, “raw stubble,” on her head and with robes that have more holes than cloth.(27, 191-192) Euripides uses this hyperbole of her clothes having more holes than cloth to drastically contrast Electra’s slavish tattered appearance to her true identity as a Monarch. Electra’s days are spent engaged in “heavy labor” rather than being “dressed in gleaming robes and necklaces of gold.” (23,67;26,183-184) The description of the clothes as “gleaming” is a reference to the more lavish and flashy garments that would have been worn by royalty. This is used to show the importance of her value and lineage that was once known to everyone. Unfortunately that is not later the case for our disheartened princess as she is seen in the play as no more than a poor maiden.

Electra is forced to wed a poor farmer. This man is a peasant, a poor farmer and “never had much money.” However, this unfortunate farmer is not what he seems. (22,37) The farmer is not considered noble in lineage but is called “noble in mind” by Electra. (30,263) While his position in society is not noble, he is certainly a noble man. This nobility is shown through his hard work, self-control and respect for Electra. The farmer is a motivated citizen and works hard for his living he exclaims, “No man can keep himself alive by mouthing idle prayers to gods. It takes hard work.” (23,82-83) Also, the virtue of restraint is apparent in the farmer when Electra tells Orestes that, “self-control runs in my husband’s grain.” (30,271) At first, the farmer’s honorable nature is not revealed and you would assume that he is not of nobility, yet throughout the play Euripides slowly reveals his obvious morality and worth. The farmer shows his nobility through his self-restraint in not deflowering Electra. Electra is a married women but “she is still virgin.” (22,45) Electra is once again believed to be one thing but in reality is another.