Oh! We're halfway there....CASTING!

I have some great casting news people. After researching the tragedy of Agamemnon I began thinking who could portray these characters. Oh man, I realized I had not thrown out the characters of the play. Well, let's do it with a little help from our friend Oxford Reference Online...

"Agamemnon
king of Mycenae and brother of Menelaus, commander-in-chief of the Greek expedition against Troy. On his return home from Troy he was murdered by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus; his murder was avenged by his son Orestes and daughter Electra.

Clytemnestra
wife of Agamemnon. She conspired with her lover Aegisthus to murder Agamemnon on his return from the Trojan War, and was murdered in retribution by her son Orestes and her daughter Electra.



There are a quite a load of characters, but I wish to focus on the main two who bring this to an epic tragedy, Agamemnon is constantly acting selfish and greedy, constantly reflecting about the various ways in which to acquire power. Although he does want to win his battles and protect his country, he does it for the wrong reason: to gain power and respect as a king. Agamemnon’s magnanimity encompasses neither the love of his family, nor the love for his country. This is not to say Agamemnon does not exude power, respect, and honor. However, the degree of his honor is simply measured by false public recognition and by his selfish desires to become powerful.

Aeschylus’ tragedy Clytemnestra is portrayed as a strong willed woman, which was not very typical of her time. Early in the play Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter because the winds would not allow his ships to sail any further so by sacrificing Iphigenia the winds would blow in his favor. This action inevitably set the stage for Clytemnestra’s lust for revenge since it was her daughter as well. Clytemnestra used her manly qualities to carefully and deceitfully plan the death of her husband; her lust for revenge was so immense that she wished for her husband to return so that she may kill him herself.

So who would I suggest in such a powerful role as these two:

Actor Liam Neeson as Agamemnon. This actor could basically take any scene and control with his recognizable voice and his facial expression could bring the calm to a mad men.






Next: Tilda Swinton as Clytemnestra

 Her sleek beauty look may be welcoming, but again, under it all she is fierce and ready to kill.











 Thoughts?

References.

"Aegisthus"  The Oxford Dictionary of English (revised edition). Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  1 November 2010  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t140.e989>

"Agamemnon"  The Oxford Dictionary of English (revised edition). Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  1 November 2010  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t140.e1212>

"Clytemnestra"  The Oxford Dictionary of English (revised edition). Ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson. Oxford University Press, 2005. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press.  Central Washington University.  1 November 2010  <http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t140.e14652>