Introduction

About the lecture

In this first lecture, we think about Agamemnon as the first play in what is the only surviving trilogy from Classical Greece—the Oresteia—first performed in Athens in 458 BC. In particular, we think about the narrative of the trilogy as a whole—a story in which retributive justice of the first two plays is replaced with the juridical justice of the third.

About the lecturer

Oliver studied Classics at Oxford University as both an undergraduate and a postgraduate student. In 2008-11, he held a research fellowship at Christ Church, Oxford, and in 2011-14 he was a lecturer at Cambridge University. He joined the University of Nottingham as a lecturer in February 2014.

Oliver's particular area of expertise is in ancient Greek literature and religion, more specifically hymns, and more specifically still the Homeric Hymns. He has also written a book about one of Aeschylus' tragedies, and is currently doing his best to get to grips with Greek science.