Aeschylus' The Oresteia is a poignant representation of how the human psyche handles injustice. As children, humans are taught to treat others in the same way they would wish to be treated, but history has shown that most people no longer live by this "golden rule . In fact, if the saying "an eye for an eye, makes the whole world blind  were less metaphorical and more literal, the world today would be completely dark. Humans are ingrained with a sense of justice and will seek to attain justice by any means necessary. No matter the self-control one may have, there is a threshold at which control is relinquished and retribution is sought. Throughout the trilogy, Aeschylus paints a picture of this cycle that starts with a murder, creating a vendetta. The vendetta leads to revenge and upon succeeding retribution is attained. However, as retribution is attained, a vendetta is born again and the cycle begins anew. Aeschylus' exemplifies this cyclical theme in each book, but also uses it as a tie between each of the three books and executes this beautifully and articulately. The first book, Agamemnon, is not the beginning of the cycle of revenge, but acts as an entry point for the reader. The reader is given the story of the Atreus family and how Agamemnon is just one victim of many that has become the history of the representative family of human nature. Agamemnon ignorantly puts himself into a position to breed malice in opposition to himself. Faced with the question as to whether or not to go to war and bring Helen back to Argos, Agamemnon must choose between filicide or risk losing the alliances formed through Helen and Menelaus' marriage. Agamemnon knows "rage craves rage  and so he must feed the fire to achieve the retribution he seeks (Meineck and Foley 11). He is far too advantageous for his own good and neglects to see that the justice he seeks is ironically created by his own injustice. Aeschylus brilliantly exacerbates the cycle of revenge by exemplifying Agamemnon's choice as just, but born through injustice. The victory over Troy may have brought retribution, but the way it was afforded will "cultivate insatiable misery  and "curse future generations  (Meineck and Foley 30). Aeschylus brings closure to the injustice against Menelaus, but keeps the theme progressing as it begins to seep deeper into the house of Atreus. Just as retribution blinded Agamemnon, Clytemnestra seeks to avenge the death of her daughter. Aeschylus brings this full circle and uses the chorus to remind us of the transgressions that took place with Iphigenia. It was not choice Agamemnon made, but the "evil deed itself  that "spawns further evil  (Meineck and Foley 30). Clytemnestra is fixated on avenging the death of her daughter and fails to see that she is no better than Agamemnon. She proclaims herself as "the age-old spirit of vengeance  and slays Agamemnon in hopes of ending the cycle (Meineck and Foley 59). However, Aeschylus has shown through each character that the end of the cycle of vengeance and retribution is not obta