Throughout his career, Miller drew heavily on the great writers of Ancient Greek tragedy. The only extant plays from that period are Aeschylus,Sophocles. Today the most famous play of the period is Aeschylus’ trilogy of The Oresteia, containing The Libation Bearers,The Eumenides and Agamemnon. Tragedy explores the flaws in its central character or protagonist, usually a person of noble birth. This person is undone by a fatal flaw in his personality and brought down. The main warning of Greek tragedy was that uncontrolled power corrupted; hubris or excessive pride was the main failing of tragic heroes. The purpose was to bring the whole being of the audience member to a catharsis, an outpouring of emotion and a spiritual awakening, that would help them be fuller, more aware and responsible citizens –to make people
aware of their common humanity. The plays sought to sharpen Greek audiences’ critical faculties too, to stop power being misused. It taught and cleansed and made better citizens. Its purpose was to elevate the minds of its audience. This was very close to Miller’s own artistic ambitions