Reading Aeschylus (pronunciation thanks to Merriam Webster\ˈes-kə-ləs, ˈēs-\) I really felt that I was missing something. There is a bit of back story which is not explained. At some point prior to the Trojan war Agamemnon feels compelled (for reasons I'm not clear on, probably due to their wonderful gods) to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia. Clytemnestra, his wife and Iphigenia's mother, sites this as the reason for murdering her husband upon his return. This wasn't clear to me during the reading but once I knew it it changed my entire feeling for the plays. She is this sort of Jezebel in the plays and so heinous her son Orestes comes to murder her. I don't blame her. If someone hurt my child, watch out. In fact my fury could not have waited ten years. However, she sends furies to kill her son for murdering her. So perhaps she isn't the mother bear after all.
The Oresteia isn't as tragic as one would expect. I expected at the end that everyone would be dead and this wasn't the case, there's plenty of blood shed though.
It is clearly Shakespeare's inspiration for Hamlet. Orestes isn't as introspective as Hamlet but Hamlet's mother isn't nearly as complicated or interesting as Clytemnestra.
But even clearing up the reason for Clytemnestra's desire for revenge I still feel that there is much I missed and I have a feeling that it has to do with the form itself. There is a lot that is unknown about Greek plays but I know practically nothing. I know that it was the inspiration for Opera. There, that's all. So before moving forward into Sophocles and Euripides I want to look at a few books recommended in The New Lifetime Reading Plan in the hopes that it will illuminate my future readings.

Greek Tragedy: An Introduction
History of Greek Literature
A History of Ancient Greek Literature