There is no shortage of violence and death in the stories and myths adapted to the stage by the tragedians of ancient Greece. However, these actions are almost never explicitly represented on stage: the murders take place off stage while the audience is only aware of the sound of the victim's last screams, the characters on stage recount violent events in words after they have already happened without the public saw them. Typically, the public only sees the aftermath of such an event, if anything. Rather than actually re-enacting such fateful encounters on stage, Greek tragedians of classical antiquity (such as Aeschylus and Sophocles of the fifth century) perhaps chose to communicate these events through vivid metaphors. The enactment, or reification, of these metaphors can be done in an entirely bloodless manner, while still evoking powerful and emotionally resonant images of real violence and death. In this way, metaphors of tragedy – such as the carpet scene in Aeschylus' Agamemnon and Antigone's “marriage” to Death in Sophocles' Antigone – allow a tragic poet working under the constraints of staging ancient Greece to depict violence on stage in a way that more effectively informs the audience about the characters or themes of their work. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In Aeschylus' Agamemnon, the Argive king, recently returned from a ten-year battle with Troy, is killed by his wife Clytemnestra for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia at the start of the war. Despite being a defining moment in the Greek myth surrounding Agamemnon's return to Argos, this act occurs out of sight. The true climactic scene of the play comes, however, when Clytemnestra brings out a red carpet for Agamemnon to step onto from his chariot. Apparently, this is an act of love and reverence for her dear husband who fought valiantly and defeated the Trojans in battle, and this is clearly how Clytemnestra wishes Agamemnon to receive her gift: "Such is my greeting to him, who deserves well" (Aeschylus l. 903). However, like much of Clytemnestra's speech in this play, her words here are cleverly double-edged. She relies on her husband's pride to infer that she thinks so highly of him that she could rightly walk in (and in doing so ruin) expensive, luxurious red robes. In fact, such a presumptuous act is recognized by Agamemnon as "befitting the gods, and no one else", so he initially refuses his wife's request (l. 922). On the other hand, from Clytemnestra's point of view, Agamemnon is the miserable murderer of her beloved daughter; these red robes therefore represent the innocent blood he shed and the life he so recklessly trampled upon in pursuit of glory in the Trojan War. Iphigenia's sacrifice is obviously never shown in Agamemnon, but this scene offers the audience a sort of metaphorical reenactment. of Agamemnon's commitment to the act which also serves to vividly illustrate Clytemnestra's position on the matter. While Agamemnon initially rejects Clytemnestra's offer to walk the red carpet, his persistence ultimately prevails, and his “feet crush crimson” as he walks with his wife to their home (l. 957). This action has two levels of meaning. The first is that it demonstrates Agamemnon's pride and heightened sense of self, a trait that Clytemnestra knows she can rely on. After a few lines of exchange between husband and wife, he deigns to perform an act that he recently described as permitted only to the gods. This does not mean that he now believes himself to be a god, but rather that he always was onedeemed worthy. Any previous objections were likely an attempt to save face in the eyes of his colleagues. This scene reveals his true character as perceived by Clytemnestra: proud and brazen. The second layer of meaning is that of the metaphor of Iphigenia's death. Agamemnon's feet destroy the precious crimson fabric, just as, in Clytemnestra's eyes, he destroyed the life of his precious daughter. Although subtextual, this reading is undoubtedly evoked in the audience by the bloody coloring of the carpet and the act of destruction. Agamemnon's walk down the red carpet is an echo of his previous actions, and Clytemnestra sees it as further evidence of the misery of his character that condemns him to die at her hands. This metaphor of Iphigenia's death as depicted on stage serves the dual purpose of providing a way to represent this violent action (while still adhering to the conventions of ancient Greek tragic theatre) and of physically manifesting the way in which Clytemnestra views the misdeeds of her Husband. Similarly, in Sophocles' Antigone, the metaphor of “marrying death” expresses more than the simple action symbolized. In this play, the cursed daughter of Oedipus is sentenced to death for performing the necessary funeral rites for her brother Polyneices against the orders of King Creon. Once again, the actual event of Antigone's death is not shown, but the image of her metaphorical death is repeatedly provided throughout the previous play. Once Antigone is convicted of this crime, the other characters and even Antigone herself begin to talk as if her death was more like a wedding. After questioning her and discovering her reasons for defying his decree, Creon responds, “Go down below and love, / if you must love, love the dead” (Sophocles ll. 591-592)! Antigone is a being made to love, in her own estimation, but the unfortunate circumstances of her birth and family line preclude any possibility of normal, non-incestual love. She cares deeply about her family, a feeling that likely reflects her father's incestuous relationship with her mother. However, her father and her two brothers are now dead and Antigone's love can only be directed towards the deceased. The metaphor continues with references to her future grave, a place described by the sympathetic chorus as a “wedding tomb where all rest” (l. 899). This combination of marriage and death in a single image is reinforced by Antigone's words as she faces the reality of her destiny: “O tomb, my nuptial bed” (l. 977). Here, no husband is explicitly intended for Antigone to marry, but it is quite clear through the repeated pairing of these two important life events that the very act of dying will be a sort of "marriage" to death. Although Antigone later describes herself as going to "marry the lord of the dark waters" and a messenger designates her as "the bride of Death", this metaphor of marriage to death is more about Antigone's steadfast love for her deceased relatives than a suicidal infatuation with the concept of dying itself (ll. 908, 1238). Discussing Antigone's death in these terms is a bit euphemistic, but the real purpose in using these images is to highlight her feelings of love that go beyond the grave. Once again, her death is not shown on the scene, but the realization of this metaphor is shown later: the messenger's account of the discovery of Antigone's body hanging from her corporeal wedding veils embodies what until now only alluded to images. Even though it occurs out of sight, her disappearance can be vividly imagined, and the presence of this metaphor throughout the work allows it to be so surprising and.