Final answer:
The Argive messenger is a character who reports Agamemnon's return from the Trojan War, highlighting the war's tragedies. These accounts illustrate the Greek virtue of arete and contribute to the unfolding narrative in works like Aeschylus's Oresteia, reflecting on human experience and the fickle hand of fate.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Argive messenger is a figure who brings news of Agamemnon's safe homecoming to the chorus in ancient Greek drama. This character provides vivid descriptions of the Trojan War and the horrors that befell both the conquerors and the vanquished.
His role is to convey the tragic events and the high cost of victory, observed through the losses suffered by legendary heroes like Achilles and Ajax. The messenger's account reflects the ancient Greek virtues of arete, epitomized in Homeric epics like The Iliad and The Odyssey, which also highlight the interplay of human effort against the backdrop of destiny and divine will.
In Aeschylus's Oresteia, particularly in the play Agamemnon, messengers play a crucial role in unfolding the narrative. The descriptions they provide not only relay occurrences from the battlefield or from distant lands but also set the emotional tone for the scenes to follow. In effect, these messengers bridge the world of the characters and the audience, enabling a deeper understanding of the thematic elements that define human existence and its transient nature within the context of Greek tragedy.