Throughout the "Oresteia," Aeschylus portrays gender as a socially volatile issue that results in increasing miasma within the House of Atreus. Aeschylus engages the cultural significance behind such sexist disputes by depicting gender-based competition among Greeks who feel threatened when others do not maintain their expected masculine and feminine identities. However, he indicates that when women do act accordingly, they are still belittled from both men and other women. Through his portrayal of sexist double standards and society's rejection of diverse gender expression, Aeschylus exposes the widespread, unjust underestimation of females, who in the end, ironically possess authority. For an Athenian citizen, power and strength are essential qualities to have in order to be respected; yet such traits are deemed too masculine for women and therefore are only celebrated when men obtain them. For example, Agamemnon is well regarded for representing the culturally ideal sense of virility for fighting at Troy and returning home safely, while, Aegisthus on the other hand, is mocked for his weak, effeminate qualities. In "The Libation Bearers," Orestes honors the soldiers efforts and then ridicules Aegisthus's unmanly complacency, saying, "Besides, the lack of patrimony presses hard; and my compatriots, the glory of men who toppled Troy with nerves of singing steel, go at the beck and call of a brace of women. Woman-hearted he is" (Aes., Ag., ll. 307-311). Aeschylus specifically uses this quote to show Orestes's disapproval of Aegisthus who stays at home under the rule of Clytemnestra, while other real men like Agamemnon defend Athens. However, Aeschylus also highlights Orestes's misogynistic views towards his own mother, a perspective that resurfaces. For instance, Orestes maintains these views even when he disguises himself as a foreigner to greet his mother: "Come out! Whoever rules the house. The woman in charge. No, the man, better that way. No Scruples then. Say what you mean, man to man launch in and prove your point, make it clear, strong" (Aes., Ag., ll. 644-48). Of course he had to react to the peculiar fact that a woma