Aeschylus vs Oresteia: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Agamemnon, Orestes, Electra, Greek language materials, Greek drama, Continental european drama
Aeschylus
““A world of wealth is trash if men are wanting…" As Charles Isherwood noted in The New York Times, “the ruler of a rich and powerful empire leads his countrymen into a disastrous war on foreign soil in “The Persians,”…
vs
Oresteia
The Oresteia -- Agamemnon, Choephori, and The Eumenides -- depicts the downfall of the house of Atreus: after King Agamemnon is murdered by Clytemnestra, their son, Orestes, is commanded by Apollo to avenge the crime by…
1 film adaptation
The verdict
- Ratings are close across the board — any is a safe pick by score.
- Oresteia has the widest readership — 48380 ratings behind its score.
- Oresteia runs the darker storyline; Aeschylus stays the lighter read.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Aeschylus | Oresteia | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | 3.9 (896) | 4.0 (48380) |
| Hardcover | 4.4 (5) | 3.9 (86) |
| Apple Books | 4.0 (8) | 3.5 (17) |
Reception
| Aeschylus | Oresteia | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 896 | 48380 |
| Editions | 43 | 133 |
| Citations | 3 | — |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | 453 | 40645 |
| Reading it now | 25 | 1478 |
| Written reviews | 74 | 2400 |
| Wikipedia attention | 34032 | 58945 |
| Pages | 178 | 187 |