Freedom

Much like Harriet Tubman, the chorus of slave women in Aeschylus' "The Libation Bearers" uses deception to gain their own freedom. However, in contrast to Tubman, their motives are evil and selfish. The chorus despises Clytemnestra and Aegisthus because it is only natural for slaves to hate their masters seeing that they are the ones that keep them from freedom. The chorus obviously has a great desire for Orestes to kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, and they act for their own benefit rather than in favor of Electra or Orestes.

In the beginning of the play, Electra and the chorus stand at Agamemnon's grave. Because Electra does not know how she should pay tribute to her father, she asks the chorus to "teach [her] what to say" (152). They tell her to call for "someone who'll pay back life by taking life" (157). They feel that the only way to pay tribute to Agamemnon is to avenge his murder. Obviously, the chorus wants someone to free them by killing their masters. The chorus tells Orestes and Electra that evil must be punished by further evil, so that they will show their loyalty to their father by killing Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. As Orestes and Electra reminisce over the past, the chorus interrupts with their desire to see Clytemnestra and Aegisthus "dead one day, roasting in flames" (331). The chorus cannot even let the two siblings talk about old times without intruding to mention their death wishes. The chorus hopes that Orestes will share this wish with them and act on it. Furthermore, if he kills Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, then the power over the slave women would fall to Orestes. However, the chorus finds a loophole. They know that when Orestes kills his mother and Aegisthus, he will be punished for his matricidal act because "slaughter calls upon the Furies of those who have been killed" (496). Then, they would be under the control of the last remaining able-bodied member of