Show how Aeschylus builds up dramatic intensity around the homecoming of Agamemnon in his tragedy Agamemnon.

Four tools Aeschylus uses to build intensity at
Agamemnon's homecoming in Agamemnon are Clytemnestra's speech
announcing the end of the Trojan War, the conversation between the Herald and the Chorus
Leader, the Chorus's song, and the controversy between Agamemnon and Clytemnestra over
the tapestries. Clytemnestra's speech builds intensity because she first talks about her
mistaken joy over the rumor that the war was over, then follows immediately with her
assurance that now the war is won and that Agamemnon is soon to return home: "So wild a
cry of joy my lips gave out, / ... / The king himself anon shall tell me
all."

This builds intensity because it adds ambiguity and
controversy to Agamemnon's reported approach. Intensity is further added through her
contemplation of how best to greet him and her protestations of ten years of longing and
fidelity:

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Remains to think what honour best may
greet
My Lord, ... / ... /
Trusty to keep for ten long years
unmarred
The store whereon he set his
master-seal.

Intensity is
increased by the conversation between the Herald and the Leader in which they debate the
hazards of the homeward trip and add doubts of Agamemnon's
approach:

Say,
by what doom the fleet of Greece was driven?
How rose, how sank the storm, the
wrath of heaven?

The Chorus
follows up with an intensity-building digression into Helen's story and the background
of the Trojan War: "Helen, the bride with war for dower / ... / Well named, at once, the
Bride and Bane; ...." In addition, they add to the intensity because some of their lines
provide foreshadowing that is important to setting up the audience for what is to
follow: “The blood-thirst of the lion-race, / ... / And to Fate's goal guides all, in
its appointed wise.”

Intensity is further built in
Agamemnon's entry speech in which he expresses the controversy between himself and
Clytemnestra over the tapestries. This adds to the intensity because it puts them at
odds with each other immediately, during the first moments of his homecoming, and
provides another source of foreshadowing ("I hold such pride in
fear,"):

Not
unto me, as to some Eastern lord,
Bowing thyself to earth, make homage
loud.
Strew not this purple that shall make each step
An arrogance;
such pomp beseems the gods,
Not me. A mortal man to set his foot
On
these rich dyes? I hold such pride in
fear,

Clytemnestra has rolled
out brilliant tapestries that, according to Agamemnon's speech, are the usual province
of gods. Clytemnestra claims this is the right way in which to greet her Lord after ten
years of battle and Agamemnon insists that he is not fit to walk where gods alone should
tred. The intensity built through this controversy moves the plot toward and prepares
the audience for the horrific acts to come.