Produced ca 413 BC, at the time of the fatal Athenian Expedition against Sicily during the Peloponnesian War. The play itself describes the compelling force and inevitability of blood revenge.
Argument/Hypothesis
[From The Tragedies of Euripides (1896) translated by Arthur S. Way]When Agamemnon returned home from the taking of Troy, his adulterous wife Klytemnestra, with help of her paramour Aegisthus, murdered him as he entered the silver bath in his palace. They sought also to slay his young son Orestes, that no avenger might be left alive; but an old servant stole him away, and took him out of the land, unto Phocis. There was he nurtured by king Strophius, and Pylades the king's son loved him as a brother. So Aegisthus dwelt with Klytemnestra, reigning in Argos, where remained now of Agamemnon's seed Electra his daughter only. And these twain marked how Electra grew up in hate and scorn of them, indignant for her father's murder, and fain to avenge him. Wherefore, lest she should wed a prince, and persuade husband or son to accomplish her heart's desire, they bethought them how they should forestall this peril. Aegisthus indeed would have slain her, yet by the queen's counsel forebore, and gave her in marriage to a poor yeoman, who dwelt far from the city, as thinking that from peasant husband and peasant children there should be nought to fear. Howbeit this man, being full of loyalty to the mighty dead and reverence for blood royal, behaved himself to her as to a queen, so that she continued virgin in his house all the days of her adversity. Now when Orestes was grown to man, he journeyed with Pylades his friend to Argos, to seek out his sister, and to devise how he might avenge his father, since by the oracle of Apollo he was commanded so to do.
And herein is told the story of his coming, and how brother and sister were made known to each other, and how they fulfilled the oracle in taking vengeance on tyrant and adulteress.
Dramatis Personae
Peasant/Farmer, wedded in name only to Electra
Electra, daughter of Agamemnon.
Orestes, son of Agamemnon.
Pylades, son of Strophius king of Phocis, boon companion of Orestes [mute character].
Klytemnestra, murderess of her husband Agamemnon.
Old Man, once servant of Agamemnon and his former tutor; rescued Orestes.
Messenger, servant of Orestes.
The Twin Brethren, Kastor and Pollux, sons of Zeus.
Chorus, consisting of the Country Women of Argos.
Attendants to Orestes and Pylades; handmaidens of Klytemnestra.
Setting: Before the Peasant Farmer's cottage on the borders of the Argolis. The skene is his hut which is situated on a desolate mountain side; the river Inachos is visible in the distance. The time is the twilight of early dawn, just before sunrise.
Summary:
Prologue [Lines 1-166]
She appeals to Orestes, her brother, in whatever city or house he may be a slave in, how he has left her behind to drink from the cup of bitterness. She appeals to Zeus, to set her free from this life of sorrow, and to avenge her father with the blood of his foes, bringing her brother home to Argos.
She describes how daily she chants this dirge in lament for her father, rending her skin with her nails, and with the beating her shaven head in mourning for his death.
To conclude she describes how her father has been slaughtered in his bath, hacked to death with an axe. That Clytemnestra had not welcomed him home as the victor at Troy with garlands, but with death.
Parodos [Lines 167-212]
Enter the Peasant-Farmer (husband of Electra)
He states that we are in Argos. He describes how Agamemnon had returned home from the war against Troy as victor, but was assassinated by his wife and queen, Clytenestra, and her paramour Aegisthus. Now that Agamemnon was dead Aegisthus had become king and Clytemnestra has become his wife and queen. Agamemnon's children, his son and daughter, Orestes and Electra, live on. In fear of his life was in danger of vengeance by Orestes, Aegisthus planned to murder him; but Orestes' tutor smuggled him away to safety in neighbouring Phocis, and placed him under the care of king Strophius. Meanwhile Electra has grown up to be of age. Many suitors, leading men of Greece, attended Aegisthus' court seeking her hand in marriage. Yet Aegisthus was still afraid that were she to give birth to a son that he too might come one day to seek vengeance on him for the murder of Agamemnon. So he planned to kill her too; but Clytemnestra has stopped him from doing this. Instead Aegisthus has "married" her off to him. Although he is a descendant of noble Mycenaean ancestry, he lacks wealth and money, and this undermines his nobility. And although Electra lives with him, she has kept her chastity and remains a virgin still. He knows he is not worthy of her, and he sighs for Orestes were he to come back to Argos only to find his sister has made a wretched marriage.
Enter Electra from the Peasant's hovel.
Electra tells us that she is going down to the stream to fetch water. She wants to display to all the shame that Aegisthus has brought down upon her The Peasant tells her that she was brought up for a better life than this and she should do as he bid and stop doing this type of work. She says to him that although she has been treated very badly, he has treated her very great respect, that he has enough to do outdoors, and she is responsible for everything inside the house. He says to her if that what you want to do so be it.
Exeunt Electra and Peasant-Farmer
Enter Orestes and Pylades
Enter Electra from the Peasant's hovel.
Electra tells us that she is going down to the stream to fetch water. She wants to display to all the shame that Aegisthus has brought down upon her The Peasant tells her that she was brought up for a better life than this and she should do as he bid and stop doing this type of work. She says to him that although she has been treated very badly, he has treated her very great respect, that he has enough to do outdoors, and she is responsible for everything inside the house. He says to her if that what you want to do so be it.
Exeunt Electra and Peasant-Farmer
Enter Orestes and Pylades
Orestes tells Pylades of all men he trusts him the most. He is his true friend. That he has come here after seeking advice from the Oracle of Apollo at Delphi who said he must go to Argos to assassinate Aegisthus in vengeance for his murder of his [Orestes'] father, Agamemnon. He wants to meet up with his sister, Electra, for them both to be parties in this deed of blood which he must commit. He needs her to find out what is going on in the city. He has heard that she is no longer a virgin but has got married. He describes how he escaped to Phocis, how he eluded his father's murderers.
He says to Pylades let's wait a while someone will come along and direct us to where we may find her.
Pylades and Orestes stand to one side
Enter Electra with a pitcher of water on her head.
He sings a monody
She declares she is Agamemnon's daughter, whom Clytemnestra had given birth to; and that hapless Electra is her name. Sing that dirge once more; it relieves her pain.He sings a monody
She appeals to Orestes, her brother, in whatever city or house he may be a slave in, how he has left her behind to drink from the cup of bitterness. She appeals to Zeus, to set her free from this life of sorrow, and to avenge her father with the blood of his foes, bringing her brother home to Argos.
She describes how daily she chants this dirge in lament for her father, rending her skin with her nails, and with the beating her shaven head in mourning for his death.
To conclude she describes how her father has been slaughtered in his bath, hacked to death with an axe. That Clytemnestra had not welcomed him home as the victor at Troy with garlands, but with death.
Parodos [Lines 167-212]
The Chorus of Women of Argos enter.
The Chorus bring news to Electra that a festival in honour of the goddess Hera is being organised in which all the virgins [parthenoi] of Argos are to participate in a procession to her temple.
Electra tells the Chorus that she is too sad to be able to attend. The Chorus tell her that they will lend her bright garments for the event. Electra tells the Chorus she is in mourning: mourning for her father's murder and her wasted life in the hovel of a peasant whilst her mother romps away with paramour, Aegisthus. The Chorus press her further. Electra says that none of the gods really care about her fate or listen to her grief. The Chorus blame Helen [of Troy fame, Clytemnestra's sister] for all the troubles brought down upon her family.
The Chorus bring news to Electra that a festival in honour of the goddess Hera is being organised in which all the virgins [parthenoi] of Argos are to participate in a procession to her temple.
Electra tells the Chorus that she is too sad to be able to attend. The Chorus tell her that they will lend her bright garments for the event. Electra tells the Chorus she is in mourning: mourning for her father's murder and her wasted life in the hovel of a peasant whilst her mother romps away with paramour, Aegisthus. The Chorus press her further. Electra says that none of the gods really care about her fate or listen to her grief. The Chorus blame Helen [of Troy fame, Clytemnestra's sister] for all the troubles brought down upon her family.
First Episode [Lines 213-431]
Orestes and Pylades [unrecognised Strangers] emerge from their hiding place [from behind the altar].
Electra ceases her dirge. She does not recognise the Strangers, but rather thinks that they are dangerous and wants to rush into the hovel for safety. She prays to Apollo to protect her. The strangers say that they bring news about her brother, telling her he is alive; that he is wandering from city to city; that they have been told to find her, his sister. Electra comments how haggard she looks, withering from grief. The Strangers ask why is she is living so far from the city in the house of what seems to be a peasant. She tells them that she has been married, not to one who her father might have approved of, but to death itself; that the hovel is her husband's home. She tells them that her husband is actually good, a poor but noble-hearted man and he is kind to her and respects her. He realises that the man who gave her away to him had no right to do so, and that she remains a virgin. Orestes asks whether her mother approved of this arrangement. Electra answers: Women love men, not their children: that Aegisthus had married her off to the peasant to render whatever children she might bear powerless. She also mentions that Aegisthus fears that Orestes may come one day to kill him. Orestes comments: So Aegisthus is afraid of vengeance; that he has given her to this peasant in order in order that she is prevented from bearing children who may seek it. Electra comments may he pay her the price for this.
Orestes asks if the Chorus of Argive Women were listening to what they were saying. Electra says they are but would never reveal what they heard to anyone. He asks if Aegisthus knows she is a still a virgin. Electra: No, we keep that secret from him.
Orestes asks Electra: What should Orestes do if he came to Argos? How could he kill his father's murderers?
Electra: By daring to do what his father's murderers did.
Orestes: Would you have him murder his and your mother?
Electra: Yes, with the same axe that killed my father.
Orestes: Would you have him murder his and your mother?
Electra: Yes, with the same axe that killed my father.
Orestes: Can I tell him that he has your co-operation?
Electra: I would die happy if I had shed my mother's blood in revenge.
Electra: I would die happy if I had shed my mother's blood in revenge.
Orestes: Ah! Would that Orestes was nearby to hear this.
Electra: But Stranger, I would not recognise him if I saw him.
Electra: But Stranger, I would not recognise him if I saw him.
Orestes: You two were very young when they separated you.
Electra: There is only one person who would recognise him. The Old Man who rescued him from death and took him away, the ancient tutor of my father.
Electra: There is only one person who would recognise him. The Old Man who rescued him from death and took him away, the ancient tutor of my father.
Orestes asks Electra whether they buried her father and gave him a tomb. Electra replies that they gave him what they did and cast him out of the house. Orestes [as Stranger] asks Electra to tell him about all her woes and troubles so that he report back to her brother her true feelings. Electra says she is willing to do this.
Electra says to the Stranger that he is to Orestes about the squalour in which she lives, that once she lived in a palace and now in a hove;. that she has to weave her own clothes or do without them; that she has to fetch and carry water from the river; that she cannot participate in festivals and their dancing; that she has to shun other married women for she is still a virgin. Meanwhile, she explains, her mother enjoys the spoils that Agamemnon won and brought home from the sack of Troy: Asian slave women, robes fastened with gold brooches. In the meantime her mother has never poured any libations or placed any shoots of myrtle on Agamemnon's tomb: it remains dishonoured. His altar is dry of any offerings. As for Aegisthus he leaps over her father's tomb and throws stones at it. And he has the audacity to ask their mother: "Why isn't Orestes here to defend the honour his father?" She begs the Stanger to take back all this message to Orestes and bid him to come to her to see for himself her condition.
Enter the Peasant-Farmer
He demands to know who the Stangers are and what their business is. He remarks that it is shameful for a woman to stand around talking to young men. Electra tell him that they have come to tell her about Orestes, that he is still alive. And she believes them. She explains that they have come to find out about her desolate situation and that she has held nothing back. They now know everything. The Peasant-Farmer tells Electra that she should have invited the Strangers to enter their house. He does so himself.
Orestes comments how the sons of noble fathers turn out worthless whereas the offspring of base men prove good; that he has seen emptiness in a wealthy man's mind and great spirit in a poor body. How is one to judge people? By their wealth? No! that is a poor yardstick. Often, those who lack worldly goods are taught by their poverty to be bad out of necessity. Does the ability to fight in battle prove a man's prowess? Even facing the enemies spears is only haphazard in proving a man's bravery. This man's head is not swollen by being a descendant of a famous lineage. He is just an ordinary man, and we have found him to be truly good. Judge men by the company they keep and how they behave. men like this manage cities and homes well, not the empty-headed hunks who decorate the city centre. It all come down to one' nature and courage.
Electra doesn't fully understand why her husband has invited these Strangers, who are so much more their betters, into their home. She comments that he has seriously blundered. He comments that if they are noble they will see beyond the poverty of their home. Electra tells her husband that they should try to find Orestes' former tutor, her father's old servant. She tells him that he tends sheep on the borders with Sparta ever since they turned him out of Argos. He will know the truth about Orestes. Tell him to come here, and bring something to cook for the guests. The Peasant tells Electra he will do this.
Electra goes into the Peasant's hovel. The Peasant goes in search of the Old Tutor
First Stasimon [Lines 432-486]
Electra says to the Stranger that he is to Orestes about the squalour in which she lives, that once she lived in a palace and now in a hove;. that she has to weave her own clothes or do without them; that she has to fetch and carry water from the river; that she cannot participate in festivals and their dancing; that she has to shun other married women for she is still a virgin. Meanwhile, she explains, her mother enjoys the spoils that Agamemnon won and brought home from the sack of Troy: Asian slave women, robes fastened with gold brooches. In the meantime her mother has never poured any libations or placed any shoots of myrtle on Agamemnon's tomb: it remains dishonoured. His altar is dry of any offerings. As for Aegisthus he leaps over her father's tomb and throws stones at it. And he has the audacity to ask their mother: "Why isn't Orestes here to defend the honour his father?" She begs the Stanger to take back all this message to Orestes and bid him to come to her to see for himself her condition.
Enter the Peasant-Farmer
He demands to know who the Stangers are and what their business is. He remarks that it is shameful for a woman to stand around talking to young men. Electra tell him that they have come to tell her about Orestes, that he is still alive. And she believes them. She explains that they have come to find out about her desolate situation and that she has held nothing back. They now know everything. The Peasant-Farmer tells Electra that she should have invited the Strangers to enter their house. He does so himself.
Orestes comments how the sons of noble fathers turn out worthless whereas the offspring of base men prove good; that he has seen emptiness in a wealthy man's mind and great spirit in a poor body. How is one to judge people? By their wealth? No! that is a poor yardstick. Often, those who lack worldly goods are taught by their poverty to be bad out of necessity. Does the ability to fight in battle prove a man's prowess? Even facing the enemies spears is only haphazard in proving a man's bravery. This man's head is not swollen by being a descendant of a famous lineage. He is just an ordinary man, and we have found him to be truly good. Judge men by the company they keep and how they behave. men like this manage cities and homes well, not the empty-headed hunks who decorate the city centre. It all come down to one' nature and courage.
Orestes accepts the hospitality of the Peasant who receives him well.
Orestes and Pylades enter the Peasant-Farmer's hovel
Electra doesn't fully understand why her husband has invited these Strangers, who are so much more their betters, into their home. She comments that he has seriously blundered. He comments that if they are noble they will see beyond the poverty of their home. Electra tells her husband that they should try to find Orestes' former tutor, her father's old servant. She tells him that he tends sheep on the borders with Sparta ever since they turned him out of Argos. He will know the truth about Orestes. Tell him to come here, and bring something to cook for the guests. The Peasant tells Electra he will do this.
Electra goes into the Peasant's hovel. The Peasant goes in search of the Old Tutor
First Stasimon [Lines 432-486]
The Chorus chant the Shield of Achilles ode.
This ode serves as an interlude between Electra's first encounter with Orestes and the arrival of the old servant who will effect their recognition and reunion, and set their plot to murder their mother in motion. The ode heightens the prestige of the memory of Agamemnon, adding to necessity of vengeance upon their mother. The Trojan War was heroic. Agamemnon had behaved heroically during it.
This ode serves as an interlude between Electra's first encounter with Orestes and the arrival of the old servant who will effect their recognition and reunion, and set their plot to murder their mother in motion. The ode heightens the prestige of the memory of Agamemnon, adding to necessity of vengeance upon their mother. The Trojan War was heroic. Agamemnon had behaved heroically during it.
Achilles is the Trojan war's principal hero. Clytemnestra has murdered the leader and king of the heroes of that war. The Trojan war was a gallant exploit of the heroic times. The description in this ode of the ornamentation on Achilles' armour with its imagery of violence and horror generates a mood of terror with the audience, adding to a sense of fear: mythical heroes are seen on it as slaying female monsters and beasts, like the Medusa (a Gorgon), Sphinxes and Chimera. Orestes is soon going to slay Clytemnestra, a female monster. Orestes, by example, is going to become a hero. The heavenly gods are going to send Clytemnestra to her death in the same heroic manner.
Second Episode [Lines 487-698]
Enter an Old Man [Orestes' former Tutor]
He asks where Electra is? He tells us he once was Agamemnon's tutor, and that he is old.
Electra appears at the door of the hovel.
She asks if he was sad at Orestes being in exile.
He tells her he has brought a lamb and a stronger wine to mix with their weaker, for her guests. On his way here he had passed by way of Agamemnon's tomb. A ewe had been recently been sacrificed on it. He had poured some of his wine on the tomb and placed some myrtle branches on the grave. And he also saw a lock of dark brown hair. He wondered who would dare to visit Agamemnon's grave, certainly no Argive would. Perhaps Orestes might have. Perhaps he had come there secretly. He hands the lock of hair over to her to let her compare its colour with her own hair.
She tells the Old Man that she does not believe that Orestes would come to Argos secretly, and that hair colour is not a certain sign proving consanguinity, nor can one use footprints to prove whether Orestes has come or not.
The Old Man tells her that he might use the cloak as a token by which he might be recognised, the one which she had personally woven on her loom, the one which he had wrapped him up in when he was small and had helped him to escape Argos to save his life following the murder of Agamemnon. Electra comments that it would not fit him anymore. The Old Man asks her to be allowed to see the two Strangers to ask them about Electra's brother.
Enter from the hovel, the two Strangers [Orestes and Pylades]
The Old Man comments that they seem to have nobility, but it might be fake. The Old Man greets them. Electra tells the Strangers that this is the very selfsame man who got Orestes safely away when he was a child. He is Agamemnon's former guardian, when he too was a child. Orestes owes his very life to him. Orestes [as Stranger] asks why is the Old Man is staring at him.
The Old Man tells Electra that she must now pray to the great gods who will now reveal the truth to her. Electra asks the Old Man what on earth was he talking about. The Old Man says to her that these people are those whom she would love no one more than they. Electra comments that the Old Man has lost his wits.
Old Man: Lost my wits? when I see your brother standing before my eyes?
Electra: My brother? I can't believe it!
Old Man: You are looking at Orestes, the son of Agamemnon. look at the scar on his brow. He fell and cut it once at home chasing a fawn with you. Hesitate no longer. Hug him.
Enter an Old Man [Orestes' former Tutor]
He asks where Electra is? He tells us he once was Agamemnon's tutor, and that he is old.
Electra appears at the door of the hovel.
She asks if he was sad at Orestes being in exile.
He tells her he has brought a lamb and a stronger wine to mix with their weaker, for her guests. On his way here he had passed by way of Agamemnon's tomb. A ewe had been recently been sacrificed on it. He had poured some of his wine on the tomb and placed some myrtle branches on the grave. And he also saw a lock of dark brown hair. He wondered who would dare to visit Agamemnon's grave, certainly no Argive would. Perhaps Orestes might have. Perhaps he had come there secretly. He hands the lock of hair over to her to let her compare its colour with her own hair.
She tells the Old Man that she does not believe that Orestes would come to Argos secretly, and that hair colour is not a certain sign proving consanguinity, nor can one use footprints to prove whether Orestes has come or not.
The Old Man tells her that he might use the cloak as a token by which he might be recognised, the one which she had personally woven on her loom, the one which he had wrapped him up in when he was small and had helped him to escape Argos to save his life following the murder of Agamemnon. Electra comments that it would not fit him anymore. The Old Man asks her to be allowed to see the two Strangers to ask them about Electra's brother.
Enter from the hovel, the two Strangers [Orestes and Pylades]
The Old Man comments that they seem to have nobility, but it might be fake. The Old Man greets them. Electra tells the Strangers that this is the very selfsame man who got Orestes safely away when he was a child. He is Agamemnon's former guardian, when he too was a child. Orestes owes his very life to him. Orestes [as Stranger] asks why is the Old Man is staring at him.
The Old Man tells Electra that she must now pray to the great gods who will now reveal the truth to her. Electra asks the Old Man what on earth was he talking about. The Old Man says to her that these people are those whom she would love no one more than they. Electra comments that the Old Man has lost his wits.
Old Man: Lost my wits? when I see your brother standing before my eyes?
Electra: My brother? I can't believe it!
Old Man: You are looking at Orestes, the son of Agamemnon. look at the scar on his brow. He fell and cut it once at home chasing a fawn with you. Hesitate no longer. Hug him.
This convinces Electra and she embraces Orestes.
Orestes says he is very pleased that at last they have found each other.
Orestes says he is very pleased that at last they have found each other.
Electra: You really are Orestes.
Orestes: Yes, your only friend. If I can catch the one I pursue ... I am confident of doing so, for I must be able to do so otherwise I can no longer believe in the gods if injustice proves stronger than justice.
Chorus chants an ode proclaiming Orestes has come at last. They implore Electra to lift up her arms in prayer to the god who brought him back to his city..
Orestes asks the Old Man for his advice how best he can take revenge on his father's murderers, namely his mother and her partner [Aegisthus] utterly blasphemous in their marriage. He asks whether he had any good friends in Argos, or would he be all alone in this enterprise, and what would be the best way for him to take up against his enemies.
The Old Man tells Orestes that he has no friends; that he is an exile: whatever friends he might have had they see him as ruined, uprooted and finished. No one will pin any hope on him. The only way Orestes can succeed is if he is brave. He might then win back his father's palace and city. He must kill Aegisthus and his mother. This will give him the crown. But Orestes must be aware that everywhere inside the city wall's Aegisthus has sentries and guards posted who will arrest him on sight, but Aegisthus does live in fear of him and cannot sleep well.
The Old Man then tells Orestes that on his way to the hovel he saw Aegisthus in the fields where his horses graze. He was preparing for the feast of Nymphs [gods and goddesses of the trees and forests] and or so it seemed. He had the necessaries for making sacrifices with him, including an ox. Otherwise there were no men of Argos with him, only some of his household slaves.
Orestes tells the Old Man that he is certain that no one would recognise him, but would any of Aegisthus' slaves, The Old Man tells Orestes that the slaves would be well disposed towards him ifhe killed Aegisthus as that was their nature. Slaves always support success. That would be very advantageous to Orestes. Orestes could safely get very close to Aegisthus when he has out in the open field especially when the ox was about to be sacrificed. He might invite Orestes to dine with him if he saw him [because of his apparent nobility]. Orestes must improvise as he finds the situation. His mother, however, would be inside the city. She is afraid of the people. They see her as polluted, unholy.
Electra interrupting the planning says she will see to the murder of her mother. Let Orestes deal with Aegisthus. She tells the Old Man to go to their mother, Clytemnestra, and tell her that she has given birth to a boy, some nine days previously, the tradional time required for a woman to purify herself after giving birth. She will come if the Old Man tells her that the childbirth has made her sick.
The Old Man says to Electra that he will lead Orestes to where Aegistus intends to sacrifice the ox, and that he would then proceed to the city to find her mother to tell her about Electra. Orestes tells the Old Man he is ready to leave. He prays to Zeus and Hera that they will defend the children of Clytemnestra as they rid the land of the two unholy impious polluters. The Old Man tells Orestes that Agamemnon has heard all this.
Electra tells her brother to be a man and not to hesitate in the killing of Aegisthus. He must die, and that she awaits the happy news of this enterprise.
Exeunt Old Man, Orestes, Pylades and attendants.
She tells the Women of the Chorus to report the outcome of the assassination of Aegisthus, to raise a cry whether he lives still or has died. She awaits the news. She will be in waiting ready to kill herself if the former happens. She will allow no one to violate her.
Electra goes into the hovel.
Second Stasimon [Lines 699–746]
The Chorus of Women chant the Thyestes Ode, also known as the Ode of the Golden Lamb.
[This interlude is required to allow Orestes time to undertake the assassination.]
[These events were said to be the origin and cause of all the subsequent troubles of the House of Atreus. Most of the contemporary audience would know this myth for Euripides has not related the whole myth of Thyestes in this play.]
Third Episode [Lines 747–1146]
Some of the Women of the Chorus then hear a cry in the distance.
The Chorus of Women chant the Thyestes Ode, also known as the Ode of the Golden Lamb.
[This interlude is required to allow Orestes time to undertake the assassination.]
The story goes that long ago the god Pan has brought down from the Argive mountains a lamb with beautiful golden fleece. A herald announced to all the people of Argos to come to see the lamb, and to honour the house of Atreus with their dancing. The lamb has been given to Atreus as a sign that he was the true king of Argos. All the temples of the city blazed forth with the braziers on their altars,
But then Thyestes has secretly won over the love of the wife of Atreus. With her help Thyestes has carried the lamb off, back to his house. He has told this to the assembled people. At this juncture Zeus intervenes, altering the passages of the sun and stars through the sky. The god causes the western sky to experience dawn [the western sky is normally the region for sunset, not sunrise] and then for the sun to move widdershins across the sky. He has also caused the rain-bearing clouds to travel north, leaving the lands of Ammon [Libya] to dry up and suffer famine being cut off from the rains. Then Zeus returned the sun and stars to their normal courses through the sky.
This all happened because men had sought justice against other men. Would that Clytemnestra had listened to this story before she killed her husband, Agamemnon, for she was the sister of these two famous brothers [Atreus and Thyestes].
This all happened because men had sought justice against other men. Would that Clytemnestra had listened to this story before she killed her husband, Agamemnon, for she was the sister of these two famous brothers [Atreus and Thyestes].
[These events were said to be the origin and cause of all the subsequent troubles of the House of Atreus. Most of the contemporary audience would know this myth for Euripides has not related the whole myth of Thyestes in this play.]
Third Episode [Lines 747–1146]
Some of the Women of the Chorus then hear a cry in the distance.
Electra rushes out of the hovel.
She questions the Chorus how Orestes has fared in the contest against Aegisthus. The Chorus tell her that they cannot say just yet. Electra tells them that she has a sword ready to kill herself. The Chorus tell Electra to wait till they all learn the truth of the matter. Electra despairs for a messenger would have come if Aegisthus had been killed. The Chorus tell Electra that the killing of a king is no easy matter.
Enter a Messenger [Orestes' attendant]
He tells the assembled Women of the Chorus and Electra that Orestes has triumphed in his assassination of Aegisthus who now lies dead on the ground. Electra, who is sceptical, asks the Messenger how does he know. The messenger says to Electra doesn't she recognise who he is? He's Orestes' attendant. She now accepts his story. The hateful murderer of her father is dead.
The Messenger continues by relating what happened:
He tells the assembled Women of the Chorus and Electra that Orestes has triumphed in his assassination of Aegisthus who now lies dead on the ground. Electra, who is sceptical, asks the Messenger how does he know. The messenger says to Electra doesn't she recognise who he is? He's Orestes' attendant. She now accepts his story. The hateful murderer of her father is dead.
The Messenger continues by relating what happened:
After they left Electra's home, they took the main way to where Aegisthus was, a well-irrigated land, where he was gathering sprigs of myrtle to make a wreathe for his head. Aegisthus, as predicted, on seeing them had called out "Welcome Strangers!" He wanted to know who they were and where they were going. Orestes told him that they were Thessalians on their way to make a sacrifice to the god Zeus of Olympus. Aegisthus then invited them to join the feast as his guests, that he was about sacrifice an ox to the Nymphs. If they got up at dawn participating in this would make no difference to their journey. Aegisthus took Orestes into his house. Aegisthus invited him and his party to cleanse themselves with purifying water to enable them to stand close to the altar. Orestes said that they had already done this in a stream, and that they were ready. However, Aegisthus' slaves put down their spears which they were guarding Aegisthus with, and set up cauldrons around the hearth of the altars. Aegisthus started the ceremonies by throwing barley onto the altars. He made a prayer to the Nymph of the rocks and slaughtered a calf.
Aegisthus then said to Orestes, "You Thessalians are famous for butchery and the breaking in of horses; please prove the truth of your skills." Orestes took up a well made Dorian knife and together with Pylades, he expertly skinned the calf in no time at all. After this Aegisthus examined the entrails of the calf which foretold that evil was about to befall the one who looked on these. Orestes asked Aegisthus why was he so sullen. Aegisthus replied to him that he knows that his most bitter enemy still lives, the son of Agamemnon. Orestes asked Aegisthus whether he, the ruler of a city feared the trickery of an exile. He then said to Aegisthus "Ask someone to bring a Phthian cleaver so that we can break open this calf's breast bone."
The cleaver was brought. Orestes took it and while Aegisthus was examining and sorting the calf's entrails stooping down, Orestes struck him with the cleaver on his backbone smashing his spine. Aegisthus then writhed in agony dying a grisly death. Aegisthus' slaves immediately took up their spears when they saw this, and prepared to fight Orestes and Pylades. Orestes then told the slaves that he had not come as an enemy to the city or to his servants, but had performed this assassination in vengeance upon his father's murderer; that he was Orestes Agamemnon's son. He begged the slaves who were once his father's not to kill him. One of the more elderly slaves who had served royal household for a long time, burst into mirth at what had happened. The rest of the slaves all then put down their weapons and placed garlands on Orestes' and Pylade's heads, raising joyful cries.
The messenger continued by telling Electra that Orestes was on his way back here to her with Aegisthus' head now that he had paid the reckoning for the murder of Agamemnon with his own blood.
Exit Messenger
The Chorus tells Electra to dance for joy.
Electra says she must use some of her best festive finery which she has stored inside the hovel, ready to welcome Orestes when he comes, ready to crown her brother with in celebration of his victory.
Exit Electra into the hovel.
The Chorus sing a short ode to the Muses, now that their true king has deposed the usurper.
Electra comes back outside again carrying two wreathes which to crown both Orestes and Pylades with.
Orestes and Pylades enter together with others bearing the body of Aegisthus.
Electra welcomes the two of them. Crowning them with the wreathes she declares them the victors wishing them both a long life.
Orestes pulls out the head of Aegisthus asking Electra whether he should he throw it to the dogs or should he impale it on a stake for the the carrion of the sky to feed on?
Electra tells Orestes that by mistreating the dead this may bring misfortune. Orestes has now at last freed her. She speaks to Aegisthus' head saying to it things that at last she can say what she wants and needs to say. She tells it that he, Aegisthus, was the ruin of her and her brother's life; that he was no hero for he had not gone to Troy unlike her father; that he was a fool to expect that by sleeping with her mother he would find a faithful wife. By custom an adulter who sleeps with his neighbour's wife is forced to marry her. Let that man beware and be sure this is what he really wants. A wife who cuckolds one husband may cuckold two. She knows that her marriage is unholy and that he is the enemy of the gods. "Each being evil you took up each other's evil fortunes"
Electra continues by saying to the head that the Argives all say that she was not the man's woman, but that he was the woman's man. He may have had massive wealth, but it was vain of him to think he was a somebody. But wealth is nothing. The only thing one can trust is a person' nature. A person's nature is their lifelong companion, one which endures misfortunes. Wealth that makes unjust friendship with wickedness soon flies out of doors.
As for his behaviour with women Electra hints that Aegisthus showed no self-control. He may have been good-looking but that as far she was concerned she wouldn't want a fop, but a real man. Good looks are only decorative at dances. Let no criminal think that just by getting off to a good start that he will outrun Justice, in the end he will meet with it.
The Chorus concur with Electra adding that he had done terrible things. And terrible was the Justice he was met with. and terrible was the penalty he paid.
Electra: Let his body be carried off.
The corpse of Aegisthus is carried off-stage.
Electra and Orestes see in the distance that Clytemnestra is on her way to the hovel. They discuss whether they ought to kill her. Apollo [at the Delphi Oracle] had told Orestes that he must kill his mother. But how could he? it would be morally wrong. Electra tells him he would be avenging his father. Orestes tells Electra that he would have to stand trial for matricide if he did. He exclaims that Apollo is a fool. Electra comments that if Apollo is a fool who is wise. Orestes asks whether a fiend taekn the place of the Pythia on the tripod at Delphi. Electra says she doesn't think so and says to Orestes watch out that he doesn't become a coward.
Orestes: If heaven wills it so be it.
Exit Orestes and Pylades into the hovel.
The Chorus tells Electra to dance for joy.
Electra says she must use some of her best festive finery which she has stored inside the hovel, ready to welcome Orestes when he comes, ready to crown her brother with in celebration of his victory.
Exit Electra into the hovel.
The Chorus sing a short ode to the Muses, now that their true king has deposed the usurper.
Electra comes back outside again carrying two wreathes which to crown both Orestes and Pylades with.
Orestes and Pylades enter together with others bearing the body of Aegisthus.
Electra welcomes the two of them. Crowning them with the wreathes she declares them the victors wishing them both a long life.
Orestes pulls out the head of Aegisthus asking Electra whether he should he throw it to the dogs or should he impale it on a stake for the the carrion of the sky to feed on?
Electra tells Orestes that by mistreating the dead this may bring misfortune. Orestes has now at last freed her. She speaks to Aegisthus' head saying to it things that at last she can say what she wants and needs to say. She tells it that he, Aegisthus, was the ruin of her and her brother's life; that he was no hero for he had not gone to Troy unlike her father; that he was a fool to expect that by sleeping with her mother he would find a faithful wife. By custom an adulter who sleeps with his neighbour's wife is forced to marry her. Let that man beware and be sure this is what he really wants. A wife who cuckolds one husband may cuckold two. She knows that her marriage is unholy and that he is the enemy of the gods. "Each being evil you took up each other's evil fortunes"
Electra continues by saying to the head that the Argives all say that she was not the man's woman, but that he was the woman's man. He may have had massive wealth, but it was vain of him to think he was a somebody. But wealth is nothing. The only thing one can trust is a person' nature. A person's nature is their lifelong companion, one which endures misfortunes. Wealth that makes unjust friendship with wickedness soon flies out of doors.
As for his behaviour with women Electra hints that Aegisthus showed no self-control. He may have been good-looking but that as far she was concerned she wouldn't want a fop, but a real man. Good looks are only decorative at dances. Let no criminal think that just by getting off to a good start that he will outrun Justice, in the end he will meet with it.
The Chorus concur with Electra adding that he had done terrible things. And terrible was the Justice he was met with. and terrible was the penalty he paid.
Electra: Let his body be carried off.
The corpse of Aegisthus is carried off-stage.
Electra and Orestes see in the distance that Clytemnestra is on her way to the hovel. They discuss whether they ought to kill her. Apollo [at the Delphi Oracle] had told Orestes that he must kill his mother. But how could he? it would be morally wrong. Electra tells him he would be avenging his father. Orestes tells Electra that he would have to stand trial for matricide if he did. He exclaims that Apollo is a fool. Electra comments that if Apollo is a fool who is wise. Orestes asks whether a fiend taekn the place of the Pythia on the tripod at Delphi. Electra says she doesn't think so and says to Orestes watch out that he doesn't become a coward.
Orestes: If heaven wills it so be it.
Exit Orestes and Pylades into the hovel.
Enter Clytemnestra on a chariot with her retinue of Female Trojan Slaves
The Chorus announce her arrival with a brief description of her genealogy and kinship with the gods. That they worship her as a god, and for her wealth and prosperity. They tell her that now is the time that she must face her fate, much will be put right by her coming.
Clytemnestra tells her Trojan slaves to climb down from the chariot and help her to the ground. Electra asks why she could not be given the privilege of holding here own mother's hand, saying she too is a slave banished from her father's house to misery. She's compares her life to those of the slaves of Clytemnestra.
Clytemnestra tries to explain that it was her father who brought all this upon her by his wicked treachery. That she did not expect her husband [Agamemnon] to have lured their daughter, Iphigenia, to Aulis with lies about a marriage to Apollo, to where his fleet had been becalmed and where there he had her stretched out over the sacrificial altar, and then cut her throat. If he had done this to save the city or Argos from capture or to save many other children, or to save their own family, this may have been forgivable. But it was because Helen was a whore and her husband [Menelaus (Agamemnon's brother)] had no idea how to control his treacherous wife, Agamenon had murdered their daughter.
Clytemnestra: But the last straw was when he also brought back a "girlfriend" from Troy, the mad prophetess Cassandra. He brought her into the marriage bed, keeping two wives, shunning one and favouring the other. It is in the nature of women that when a wife has been cast aside, such a woman begins to copy her husband, finding herself another friend. But it is men who keep their good name. Husbands are never wrong. Was it not right for him, the killer of my child, to die? I killed him. Tell me why it was wrong!
Chorus: A sensible wife would always ought to accept her husband's judgement. A wife who does not is beneath consideration.
Electra: Both you and Helen, you two sisters, have been rightly praised for your beauty, but both of you are vicious and have brought shame down upon your brother, Castor. Helen went off to her own ruin. You destroyed the best man in Greece, hiding behind the pretext that you sought vengeance with his blood for the murder of your daughter. Many believe and accept your story, but I, your daughter, know better. No sooner than your husband had gone off to war, you went before your mirror to beautify yourself. A woman who does this when her husband is away is a bad lot. She has no need to show herself outside the home unless she is up to no good. I know, in complete contrast to other Greek women, that when the war was going in Troy's favour you were happy, but when the Greeks were winning you were not. You had no real wish for Agamemnon to come home from the war. Since your sister had behaved so scandalously, you had the opportunity to be different, to behave impeccably. You chose not to. Agamemnon was not Aegisthus's inferior in any way. The Greek had appointed him to be their commander-in-chief. You say our father killed your daughter, then how have I and my brother done you wrong? After you killed Agamemnon why didn't you hand the palace and kingdom immediately over to us? You gave away our rightful heritance, our property as a dowry for your marriage. Aegisthus lives and has not gone into exile only because Orestes was forced to go into exile. And I have suffered a living death twice as bad as the death suffered by the daughter whom Agamemnon sacrificed. If murder sits in judgement and demands murder in requital, then I shall kill you; I and Orestes will do it in vengeance for our father. If one murder is just so is the other. A man who marries a bad woman for her wealth and position is a fool. It is better to live in a humble and respectable marriage.
Chorus: Chance rules when you marry a woman. We have seen some marriages are happy where others fail.
Clytemnestra: It is natural for daughters to love their fathers best. This is the way of things. I forgive you. I do not glory in what I have done. How I suffer because of it. I bitterly regret it now.
Electra: It's too late for regret now. You cannot undo what has been done, but your son Orestes lives. Why don't you bring him home from exile?
Clytemnestra: I am afraid for myself. They say he is full of anger over his father's death.
Electra: Why do let Aegisthus persist in persecuting me?
Clytemnestra: That is what he is like, and you are stubborn, implacable.
Electra: I have good reason, but I'll put my anger aside.
Clytemnestra: Do this and he will stop victimising you.
Electra: But he persists in still living in my house; that makes him arrogant.
Clytemnestra: Look, you are still fanning the flames of hatred.
Electra: I'll keep quiet, but I am afraid of him.
Clytemnestra: That's enough on this subject. Why have you summoned me here?
Electra: I think you have heard that I have given birth. Make a sacrifice on my behalf for the safe delivery. This is the custom on the tenth day after a birth of a boy; I have no experience how to do this as this is my first birth.
Clytemnestra: This is not my task, but is the duty of the midwife.
Electra: I was the midwife. I had no help.
Clytemnestra: Don't you have any friendly neighbours?
Electra: No one wants the poor as friends.
Clytemnestra: Oh My Gosh! You're so poorly dressed and filthy. I will go and make the sacrifice as a favour to you, but after that I will join my husband at the festivities of the sacrifices to the Nymphs. [To her Trojan slaves] Take the Chariot, feed the horses, allow me enough time to perform this sacrifice, but then come back and fetch me.
The Trohjan Slaves leave with the horses and chariot
Electra: Please come into our poor home. Be careful of the soot; it might sully your fine dress. You will make the kind of sacrifice here that you ought to the gods.
Clytenestra goes into the hovel.
Electra: All is ready. The sacrificial sword which felled the ox is all prepared, sharpened, by whose side you will fall after you are struck. In [the darkness of] Hades' halls you will be the wife of the man whom you slept with in the light. So great will be the favour I will give you; so great will be the penalty you pay for my father.
Electra exits, entering the hovel.
The Chorus announce her arrival with a brief description of her genealogy and kinship with the gods. That they worship her as a god, and for her wealth and prosperity. They tell her that now is the time that she must face her fate, much will be put right by her coming.
Clytemnestra tells her Trojan slaves to climb down from the chariot and help her to the ground. Electra asks why she could not be given the privilege of holding here own mother's hand, saying she too is a slave banished from her father's house to misery. She's compares her life to those of the slaves of Clytemnestra.
Clytemnestra tries to explain that it was her father who brought all this upon her by his wicked treachery. That she did not expect her husband [Agamemnon] to have lured their daughter, Iphigenia, to Aulis with lies about a marriage to Apollo, to where his fleet had been becalmed and where there he had her stretched out over the sacrificial altar, and then cut her throat. If he had done this to save the city or Argos from capture or to save many other children, or to save their own family, this may have been forgivable. But it was because Helen was a whore and her husband [Menelaus (Agamemnon's brother)] had no idea how to control his treacherous wife, Agamenon had murdered their daughter.
Clytemnestra: But the last straw was when he also brought back a "girlfriend" from Troy, the mad prophetess Cassandra. He brought her into the marriage bed, keeping two wives, shunning one and favouring the other. It is in the nature of women that when a wife has been cast aside, such a woman begins to copy her husband, finding herself another friend. But it is men who keep their good name. Husbands are never wrong. Was it not right for him, the killer of my child, to die? I killed him. Tell me why it was wrong!
Chorus: A sensible wife would always ought to accept her husband's judgement. A wife who does not is beneath consideration.
Electra: Both you and Helen, you two sisters, have been rightly praised for your beauty, but both of you are vicious and have brought shame down upon your brother, Castor. Helen went off to her own ruin. You destroyed the best man in Greece, hiding behind the pretext that you sought vengeance with his blood for the murder of your daughter. Many believe and accept your story, but I, your daughter, know better. No sooner than your husband had gone off to war, you went before your mirror to beautify yourself. A woman who does this when her husband is away is a bad lot. She has no need to show herself outside the home unless she is up to no good. I know, in complete contrast to other Greek women, that when the war was going in Troy's favour you were happy, but when the Greeks were winning you were not. You had no real wish for Agamemnon to come home from the war. Since your sister had behaved so scandalously, you had the opportunity to be different, to behave impeccably. You chose not to. Agamemnon was not Aegisthus's inferior in any way. The Greek had appointed him to be their commander-in-chief. You say our father killed your daughter, then how have I and my brother done you wrong? After you killed Agamemnon why didn't you hand the palace and kingdom immediately over to us? You gave away our rightful heritance, our property as a dowry for your marriage. Aegisthus lives and has not gone into exile only because Orestes was forced to go into exile. And I have suffered a living death twice as bad as the death suffered by the daughter whom Agamemnon sacrificed. If murder sits in judgement and demands murder in requital, then I shall kill you; I and Orestes will do it in vengeance for our father. If one murder is just so is the other. A man who marries a bad woman for her wealth and position is a fool. It is better to live in a humble and respectable marriage.
Chorus: Chance rules when you marry a woman. We have seen some marriages are happy where others fail.
Clytemnestra: It is natural for daughters to love their fathers best. This is the way of things. I forgive you. I do not glory in what I have done. How I suffer because of it. I bitterly regret it now.
Electra: It's too late for regret now. You cannot undo what has been done, but your son Orestes lives. Why don't you bring him home from exile?
Clytemnestra: I am afraid for myself. They say he is full of anger over his father's death.
Electra: Why do let Aegisthus persist in persecuting me?
Clytemnestra: That is what he is like, and you are stubborn, implacable.
Electra: I have good reason, but I'll put my anger aside.
Clytemnestra: Do this and he will stop victimising you.
Electra: But he persists in still living in my house; that makes him arrogant.
Clytemnestra: Look, you are still fanning the flames of hatred.
Electra: I'll keep quiet, but I am afraid of him.
Clytemnestra: That's enough on this subject. Why have you summoned me here?
Electra: I think you have heard that I have given birth. Make a sacrifice on my behalf for the safe delivery. This is the custom on the tenth day after a birth of a boy; I have no experience how to do this as this is my first birth.
Clytemnestra: This is not my task, but is the duty of the midwife.
Electra: I was the midwife. I had no help.
Clytemnestra: Don't you have any friendly neighbours?
Electra: No one wants the poor as friends.
Clytemnestra: Oh My Gosh! You're so poorly dressed and filthy. I will go and make the sacrifice as a favour to you, but after that I will join my husband at the festivities of the sacrifices to the Nymphs. [To her Trojan slaves] Take the Chariot, feed the horses, allow me enough time to perform this sacrifice, but then come back and fetch me.
The Trohjan Slaves leave with the horses and chariot
Electra: Please come into our poor home. Be careful of the soot; it might sully your fine dress. You will make the kind of sacrifice here that you ought to the gods.
Clytenestra goes into the hovel.
Electra: All is ready. The sacrificial sword which felled the ox is all prepared, sharpened, by whose side you will fall after you are struck. In [the darkness of] Hades' halls you will be the wife of the man whom you slept with in the light. So great will be the favour I will give you; so great will be the penalty you pay for my father.
Electra exits, entering the hovel.
Third Stasimon [Lines 1147–1171]
References
The Chorus of Argive Country Women in this ode recall the murder of Agamemnon; how he was slaughtered in his bath. As he dies Agamemnon has cried out why has his woman murdered him on his return after ten years at Troy. Meanwhile and soon after Clytemnestra’s death cries are heard coming from inside the hovel:
Clytmenestra [inside the hovel]: O children, by the gods, do not kill your mother ... O woe is me!
Chorus: We cry woe too. Justice has been done as your children overpower you. You may have suffered cruelty, but what you did to your husband was unholy.
Exodos [Lines 1172-1359]
Orestes and Electra come out of the hovel bespattered with their mother's blood.
The bodies of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus are rolled out on the ekkyklema on full display for the audience to see.
The Chorus announce that there was never a family more wretched than the descendants of Tantalus.
Orestes laments at what he has done. Electra says she is to blame; that she was on fire with hate for her mother. The Chorus say that Clytemnestra was killed justly by them for the murder of their father. Orestes wonders, as an exile, where, which city, he can go to next, who will accept him, as he is now a mother-slayer. Electra says the same about herself, what marriage can she join in, what husband would now take her. The Chorus comment that she is now vacillating: one moment she is the pious daughter, next she is driving her brother to do terrible things, despite his reluctance. Orestes comments did Electra see how their mother pulled out her breast from underneath her clothes as he killed her?
Orestes: Look at the body on the ground. She gave birth to me.
Electra says that their mother had put her hand on her chin in supplication: "I beg you!" then she dropped to the ground. Electra says that she then dropped the sword.
Chorus: Wretched woman, how could you bear to look upon the murder of your mother as she breathed out her life before you?
Orestes says that he covered his eyes as he drove his sword into his mother's neck.
Electra: I urged you on. I urged you on. I held the sword as you plunged it in.
Orestes: [To Electra] take this cloak and cover the body of our mother with it. [To the corpse of Clytemnestra] You carried you own death in your womb.
Chorus: This is the end of all this family's sorrows.
Castor and his twin brother, Polydeuces, appear deus ex machina above the hovel
Chorus ask who has appeared.
Castor addresses Orestes. He tells him that they are the Dioscuri, sons of Zeus, brothers of his mother; that they have observed the murder of their sister; that justice may seem to have been done but the act was not; that Apollo may be their lord and wise but what he told Orestes to do was not; Apollo knows the truth but the oracles were lies; but they are compelled to accept what has happened. He tells Orestes to face the future and the fate that Zeus has decreed: Orestes is to give Electra to Pylades as wife, but he himself is to leave Argos and go into exile. He should not enter the city as the murderer of his mother. The Furies will torment him during his wanderings. When he reaches Athens he is to embrace the statue of Athena Pallas. She will prevent the snakes of the Furies from touching him with her gorgon-faced shield. Castor tells Orestes there is a hill in Athens, known as the Mount of Ares. There he must stand trial for the murder of his mother. It is a holy court, trusted by men and the gods. Here men cast their votes honestly. When they are equal votes for and against him will result. But here the law is: where equal votes are cast the defendant must be acquitted. This will save him from the penalty of death. Apollo will take the blame entirely upon himself since it was he who had ordered that the murder should take place. The Furies themselves will disappear into a chasm beside the hill. This will become a holy shrine for mortals. After this Orestes is to go to Arcadia to a city which will be named after him [Orestheion] to live.
Castor continues by saying that the citizens of Argos will bury Aegisthus. As for Clytemnestra's body, Menelaus will take it for burial. He has only just arrived back at Napflion after Troy. The real Helen spent the duration of the Trojan War in Egypt under the protection of Proteus: a fake apparation of her was sent to Troy by Zeus to stir up strife and slaughter amongst humans. Let Pylades take his virgin wife to Phocis, his home: he is also to take the Peasant Farmer with him and make him a rich man. Let Orestes leave Argos: he must cross the Corinthian Isthmus and proceed to Athens. Once he has completed the term defined by law for blood-guilt he will become free of his sufferings.
[The remainder of play is chanted]
The Chorus and Electra ask permission to approach the Dioscuri. They are given permission. Electra is told once more that it is Apollo who must take the blame; she is blameless. The Chorus why can't the Furies be turned away by the gods.
Castor says that doom is compelling, and that they must follow doom. [To Electra] You shared in the act, you must share in its fate. The curse that was on your fathers fell upon you two. [To all] She is not going suffer pain, merely have to leave Argos with a husband and find a home beyond its borders. She needs no pity.
Orestes: I must leave the homeland of my fathers, and suffer the judgement of foreigners for matricide.
Castor [to Orestes]: You will reach Athens.
Electra and Orestes hug each other. They will not see each other again.
Orestes [to Pylades]: May good luck be with you. Marry my sister.
Castor: Marriage will fill both Pylades' and Electra's mind. Quick, Orestes, be off to Athens for the Furies are coming to hunt you. Escape! We two must rush to Sicily to rescue the fleet. We champion none who have sinned, but only those who have tried to uphold what is just and holy, and have held these virtues dear in their lives.
Castor says that doom is compelling, and that they must follow doom. [To Electra] You shared in the act, you must share in its fate. The curse that was on your fathers fell upon you two. [To all] She is not going suffer pain, merely have to leave Argos with a husband and find a home beyond its borders. She needs no pity.
Orestes: I must leave the homeland of my fathers, and suffer the judgement of foreigners for matricide.
Castor [to Orestes]: You will reach Athens.
Electra and Orestes hug each other. They will not see each other again.
Orestes [to Pylades]: May good luck be with you. Marry my sister.
Castor: Marriage will fill both Pylades' and Electra's mind. Quick, Orestes, be off to Athens for the Furies are coming to hunt you. Escape! We two must rush to Sicily to rescue the fleet. We champion none who have sinned, but only those who have tried to uphold what is just and holy, and have held these virtues dear in their lives.
Chorus: Farewell . The mortal who can fare well, unbroken by trouble he may meet along the way, leads a most blessed life.
Exeunt
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H. M. Roisman; C. A. E. Luschnig (9 October 2012). Euripides' Electra: A Commentary. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-8630-6.
Laura K. McClure (17 January 2017). A Companion to Euripides. Chapter 12 Electra: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 166–. ISBN 978-1-119-25750-9.
Rush Rehm (2020). Euripides: Electra. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-350-09567-0.
Euripides; (Charles Haines Keene) (1893). The Electra. G. Bell & Sons. pp. 9–.
Desmond J. Conacher (15 December 1967). Euripidean Drama: Myth, Theme and Structure. Chapter 11 - The Electra: University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. pp. 292–. ISBN 978-1-4426-3759-7.
Evert van Emde Boas (2017). Language and Character in Euripides' Electra. Oxford University Press. . ISBN 978-0-19-879360-1.
Crowell's handbook of classical drama p. 125-7 Electra by Euripides
Rosa Andújar; Thomas R. P. Coward; Theodora A. Hadjimichael (5 February 2018). Paths of Song: The Lyric Dimension of Greek Tragedy. Hyporchematic Footprints in Euripides' Electra: De Gruyter. pp. 265–. ISBN 978-3-11-057591-0. PDF
Rosivach, Vincent J. “The ‘Golden Lamb’ Ode in Euripides' Electra.” Classical Philology, vol. 73, no. 3, 1978, pp. 189–199. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/268330.
Spectacle and Parody in Euripides' Electra by N. G. L. Hammond
Davies, M. “Euripides' Electra: The Recognition Scene Again.” The Classical Quarterly, vol. 48, no. 2, 1998, pp. 389–403. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/639830.
Raeburn, David. “The Significance of Stage Properties in Euripides' 'Electra'.” Greece & Rome, vol. 47, no. 2, 2000, pp. 149–168. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/826930.
Gellie, George. “TRAGEDY AND EURIPIDES' ‘ELECTRA.’” Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, no. 28, 1981, pp. 1–12. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/43635139.
Halporn, James W. “The Skeptical Electra.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. 87, 1983, pp. 101–118. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/311253.
Verheij, M.J.O. “Hospitality & Homicide: Violation of Xenia in Euripides' ‘Electra.’” Mnemosyne, vol. 69, no. 5, 2016, pp. 760–784. Fourth Series, www.jstor.org/stable/24772109.
BAKOGIANNI, ANASTASIA. “ELECTRA: ANCIENT AND MODERN ASPECTS OF THE RECEPTION OF THE TRAGIC HEROINE.” Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies. Supplement, no. 113, 2011, pp. iii-250. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44215133.
MARSHALL, C. W. “Theatrical Reference in Euripides' ‘Electra.’” Illinois Classical Studies, 24/25, 1999, pp. 325–341. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23065375.
Morwood, J. H. W. “The Pattern of the Euripides Electra.” The American Journal of Philology, vol. 102, no. 4, 1981, pp. 362–370. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/294324.
Sheppard, J. T. “The Electra of Euripides.” The Classical Review, vol. 32, no. 7/8, 1918, pp. 137–141. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/700228.
England, E. T. “The Electra of Euripides” The Classical Review, vol. 40, no. 3, 1926, pp. 97–104. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/699982.
Willink, C.W. “The Second Stasimon of Euripides' ‘Electra.’” Illinois Classical Studies, vol. 30, 2005, pp. 11–21. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23065292
Tarkow, Theodore A. “THE SCAR OF ORESTES: OBSERVATIONS ON A EURIPIDEAN INNOVATION.” Rheinisches Museum Für Philologie, vol. 124, no. 2, 1981, pp. 143–153. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41245040
Dramatic Innovations of Euripides in" Phoenissae,"" Electra" and" Orestes"
A Alexiou - 1998 - theses.gla.ac.uk
J. Robert C. Cousland; James James Rutherford Hume (2009). The Play of Texts and Fragments: Essays in Honour of Martin Cropp. New Music's Gallery of Images: The Dithyrambic First Stasimon of Euripides' Electra: BRILL. pp. 95–. ISBN 90-04-17473-7.
Walsh, G. (1977). The first stasimon of Euripides' Electra. In T. Gould & C. Herington (Authors), Greek Tragedy (Yale Classical Studies, pp. 277-290). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511933738.012 http://bit.ly/3mJoThS
Rosivach, Vincent J. “The ‘Golden Lamb’ Ode in Euripides' Electra.” Classical Philology, vol. 73, no. 3, 1978, pp. 189–199. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/268330.
Zeitlin, Froma I. “The Argive Festival of Hera and Euripides' Electra.” Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, vol. 101, 1970, pp. 645–669. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2936074
O'Brien, Michael J. “Orestes and the Gorgon: Euripides' Electra.” The American Journal of Philology, vol. 85, no. 1, 1964, pp. 13–39. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/293490
Harder, M. A. “‘Right’ and ‘Wrong’ in the ‘Electra’'s.” Hermathena, no. 159, 1995, pp. 15–31. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23041078
Halporn, James W. “The Skeptical Electra.” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, vol. 87, 1983, pp. 101–118. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/311253
King, Katherine Callen. “The Force of Tradition: The Achilles Ode in Euripides' Electra.” Transactions of the American Philological Association (1974-), vol. 110, 1980, pp. 195–212. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/284217
Greek Versions
Teubner - Euripides - Electra
Electra : Euripides - Internet Archive D.J. Conacher - Aris & Phillips Classical Texts
Euripides, Electra - Perseus Digital Library
H. M. Roisman; C. A. E. Luschnig (9 October 2012). Euripides' Electra: A Commentary. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-8630-6.
Ηλέκτρα by Euripides - Project Gutenberg
Fabulae: Volume II (March 11, 1982 edition) | Open Library
Euripides with an English commentary by F.A. Paley (Electra p.317) - Internet Archive
Translations
Electra. Translated into English rhyming verse with explanatory notes by Gilbert Murray : Euripides -Internet Archive
Euripides, Electra - Perseus Digital Library
Elektra : Euripides - Internet Archive
The Internet Classics Archive - Electra by Euripides
The Electra by Euripides - Project Gutenberg
Medea and other plays (Electra p. 81) - Oxford World Classics
Medea, and other plays (Electra p, 105) - Penguin Classics (Phillip Vellacott)
Euripides V (Electra p. 1) - The Complete Greek Tragedies edited David Grene and Richard Lattimore
Electra (Euripides) - Wikisource
L010 Euripides Vol, II Electra - Internet Archive - Loeb Classical Library
Audio/Visual
Elektra 1962 (Michael Cacoyannis) - YouTube https://bit.ly/38xY3Ea
L010 Euripides Vol, II Electra - Internet Archive - Loeb Classical Library
Audio/Visual
Elektra 1962 (Michael Cacoyannis) - YouTube https://bit.ly/38xY3Ea
Electra, Euripides - YouTube - Center for Hellenic Studies
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