All about My Mother Cilissa, Apollo and the Unity of the Oresteia

• Published in: Studia Litteraria Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis Vol. 17; no. 4; pp. 241 - 253
• Main Author: Pypacz, Joanna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kraków Jagiellonian University Press 01.01.2022; Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagielloskiego; Jagiellonian University-Jagiellonian University Press
• Subjects: Aeschylus (522-456 BC); Comparative analysis; Language and Literature Studies; Literary characters; Literary criticism; Mothers; Sexism; Speeches; Translation Studies; Aeschylus; Apollo; Clytemnestra; Orestes; Oresteia; motherhood; Cilissa
• ISSN: 1897-3035; 2084-3933
• DOI: 10.4467/20843933ST.22.020.17186

The aim of this article is to reveal the connection between Cilissas speech in the Choephoroi and the infamous speech made by Apollo in the Eumenides. The analysis shows that if these two passages are treated separately, the former would seem to be a comic interlude that has been randomly inserted into the text, while the latter would seem to be weird, convoluted and even downright outrageous. However, if they are juxtaposed and analysed together as two chapters of Aeschylus explanation of the nature of motherhood, they become one sensible statement about the fact that mother is much more than a parent in the technical sense of the term. While the speeches of Cilissa and Apollo simply cast light on the issue of responsible motherhood and also on the harmful effects of outsourcing the care of newborn children in ancient Greece, the fact that the link between these two speeches has been overlooked makes their interpretation very problematic, as do the failings of contemporary criticism, these being the anachronic approach and also the fact that translations are treated on a par with (or, sadly, given preference to) the original text, thus giving Aeschylus the undeserved reputation of being a sexist or misogynistic poet.