The Power of Language in Aeschylus’ Oresteia
Abstract
This article examines the remarkable way in which the Oresteia not only stages language from various perspectives, but also reflects on language, with characters in the dramas explicitly considering language or the audience implicitly learning about language through monologues, dialogues and actions.The main focus of these reflections is on the relationship between object and language, the difference between appearance and reality, and the difference between knowledge and opinion. The question of the authority of the speaker is also addressed. This allows the Oresteia to be situated more firmly than ever in the intellectual context of its time.
open access
Pubblicato 27 Febbraio 2026 | Lingua: en
Keywords Peitho and bia • Reflection on language • Seeming and being • Rhetoric • Authority of the speaker
Copyright © 2026 Sabine Föllinger. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/979-12-5742-013-0/001