Electra

Not to be confused with Electra, the daughter of Agamemnon, Euripides’ tragedy Electra or Michael Cacoyannis’s 1962 film Electra.

Sophocles’ Electra dramatizes Orestes’ revenge for the murder of Agamemnon, the same story as Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers and Euripides’ Electra. It is set before the palace of Agamemnon at Mycenae, where, years after Clytemnestra and Aegisthus killed Agamemnon, Orestes returns with his friend Pylades and the old tutor (the Pedagogue) who had once carried him out of the country (lines 1–22). Orestes explains the plan that Apollo’s oracle has approved: he must act alone and by stealth, and the tutor will bring Clytemnestra the false news that Orestes has died in a chariot race (lines 23–76). A cry is heard inside, and it is Electra, who comes out to lament her father and her long-absent brother (lines 77–120). The Chorus, the women of the place, tries to comfort her (lines 121–250), and her sister Chrysothemis comes with funeral offerings that Clytemnestra has sent to Agamemnon’s tomb because of a frightening dream (lines 328–471). Clytemnestra and Electra quarrel (lines 516–659). The tutor then arrives and tells his false story of Orestes’ death, and Clytemnestra is relieved, while Electra is devastated (lines 660–870). Chrysothemis rushes in with a lock of hair she found on the tomb, but Electra tells her that Orestes is dead and asks her to help kill Aegisthus; Chrysothemis refuses (lines 871–1057). Orestes arrives with an urn said to hold his ashes, and Electra’s lament over it leads him to reveal himself (lines 1098–1226). Orestes and Pylades go into the palace and kill Clytemnestra (lines 1398–1421). Aegisthus returns, is told that the Phocian strangers have brought the body of Orestes, and lifts the cloth from the corpse to find Clytemnestra. Orestes takes him inside to be killed in the place where Agamemnon died (lines 1429–1510).

Date and Historical Background

The story of Orestes’ revenge was a popular subject, and three tragedies on the same events survive: Aeschylus’ Libation Bearers (part of the Oresteia, which according to the ancient hypothesis to Agamemnon was staged in the archonship of Philocles, 458 BC), Sophocles’ Electra and Euripides’ Electra. No ancient source gives a date for Sophocles’ play, and the text names no datable event, so its date is uncertain. Whether it was staged before or after Euripides’ play is also unknown.

Characters and Setting

Characters

• Pedagogue, the old tutor who saved Orestes as a child
• Orestes, son of Agamemnon
• Pylades, Orestes’ friend, who says nothing in the play
• Electra, sister of Orestes
• Chrysothemis, sister of Orestes and Electra
• Clytemnestra, mother of Orestes
• Aegisthus, husband of Clytemnestra
• Chorus of women of Mycenae

Setting

The palace of Agamemnon at Mycenae. Apollo is honoured before the house: Clytemnestra prays to him there, and Electra prays to Apollo Lycaeus before the killing (lines 634–659, 1376–1383).

Summary of Electra

Prologue

The Pedagogue shows Orestes the places of Argos: the market place of Apollo Lycaeus, the temple of Hera and Mycenae rich in gold, and the house of the sons of Pelops. Long ago, after the murder of Agamemnon, he took the child Orestes from Electra, carried him away to safety, and brought him up to be the avenger (lines 11–14, 1348–1351). The sun is rising and the plan must be laid quickly (lines 15–22). Orestes praises the old man’s loyalty and tells his plan (lines 23–76). When he went to the Pythian oracle to ask how to avenge his father, Phoebus told him to do it alone and by stealth, without the aid of arms or large numbers. The tutor will therefore enter the palace as a stranger sent by Phanoteus, the greatest of Aegisthus’ allies, and swear that Orestes has been killed at the Pythian games, thrown from his chariot. Meanwhile Orestes and Pylades will crown the tomb of Agamemnon with libations and a lock of hair, and will then return with a bronze urn, hidden in the bushes, as though it held his ashes. Orestes argues that a false report that he is dead may in the end help him to live and shine “like a star” upon his enemies (lines 56–66), and he prays to his native gods that he may cleanse the land (lines 67–72). A cry of “ah, me, ah, joyless me” is heard from inside the house (line 77). Orestes wonders if it is Electra, but the Pedagogue tells him to follow the god’s commands first and pour libations to his father (lines 78–85). They leave.

Electra comes out of the house and greets the light of the sun. She says that she mourns her father every night, a father struck on the head with an axe by her mother and Aegisthus “as woodmen chop an oak” (lines 86–99), and she will never stop crying out, like the nightingale (lines 100–109). She calls on the house of Hades and Persephone, on Hermes, on the Curse and on the Erinyes, and begs for vengeance and for her brother (lines 110–120).

Parodos (Entrance Song)

The Chorus enters and asks Electra why she wastes away in unending mourning for Agamemnon, who was ensnared by her mother’s wiles. They also say that no weeping will bring back a dead man from the pool of Hades (lines 121–144). Electra answers that she is like the mourning nightingale, and calls Niobe divine because she weeps forever (lines 145–152). The Chorus replies that she is not the only one to suffer, as her sisters Chrysothemis and Iphianassa live, and so does Orestes, who will one day return to rule (lines 153–163). Electra says she waits for him without hope, because he promises and never comes (lines 164–172). The Chorus tells her to trust in Zeus and in Time (lines 173–184), and recalls the murder of Agamemnon at his banquet, when the bronze-jawed axe was brought down (lines 193–200). Electra curses her father’s killers (lines 201–212). The Chorus urges her to say no more, but she says she is forced by necessity, and that without vengeance “shame and reverence will vanish from all humanity” (lines 213–250).

First Episode

Earlier the Chorus had told her that, “like a true-hearted mother”, it was trying to keep her from adding misery to misery (lines 232–235); now it says it has come out of care for her, and that if she is right, it will follow her (lines 251–253). Electra replies with a long speech about her daily sufferings (lines 254–309). She lives with her father’s murderers. She sees Aegisthus on her father’s throne, wearing his robes and pouring libations where he killed him. She sees her mother sharing a bed with Aegisthus and celebrating the day of the murder with dance and with monthly sacrifices, and her mother reproaches her for stealing Orestes away. When the Chorus learns that Aegisthus is away in the country, they ask whether Orestes is coming: “He says he will come, but although he promises he never does what he says” (lines 310–319).

Chrysothemis arrives from the house carrying funeral offerings (lines 324–327). She asks her sister why she keeps up her “vain indulgence in futile anger”, says she herself is also grieved, but that those in power must be obeyed (lines 328–340). Electra answers that Chrysothemis has been taught by her mother, and that she hates in words but not in deeds (lines 341–368). The Chorus tries to calm them (lines 369–371). Chrysothemis reveals that Aegisthus intends to shut Electra in a covered chamber beyond the borders of the land as soon as he comes home (lines 372–386). Electra replies: “Then for this, may he arrive quickly!”, because she would be able to get away from them all (lines 387–403).

The offerings are for Agamemnon’s tomb, sent by Clytemnestra because of a dream (lines 404–414). Chrysothemis reports what she was told: Agamemnon came back to the light, took the scepter that Aegisthus now carries and planted it at the hearth, and from it grew a flourishing branch that overshadowed the land of Mycenae. Clytemnestra told it to the Sun (lines 417–430). Electra tells her not to take her mother’s offerings to the tomb but to bury them or keep them for Clytemnestra herself, and instead to offer a lock of her own hair and Electra’s, with her girdle, and to pray that Agamemnon may come as a helper against his enemies and that Orestes may live to trample on them (lines 431–463). The Chorus approves, and Chrysothemis agrees, asking them to keep silent (lines 464–471).

In the first stasimon the Chorus says that Justice will come, that the dream is a good sign, and that the Erinys will come against the criminals. It looks back to the chariot race of Pelops and the drowning of Myrtilus, from which this house has never been free of sorrows (lines 472–515).

Second Episode

This long episode (lines 516–1057) can be read in four scenes.

Electra and Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra comes out with her attendants, carrying offerings for Apollo, and says to Electra that she runs loose when Aegisthus is away (lines 516–523). She defends the murder of Agamemnon: Justice took hold of him, because he sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to please Menelaus (lines 524–551). Electra replies that this is untrue (lines 552–609). She tells the story that Agamemnon once shot a stag in the grove of Artemis and boasted about it, and that Artemis then held the fleet at Aulis until he sacrificed his daughter, which he did under compulsion and not for Menelaus (lines 563–576). She adds that if blood is to be paid for blood, Clytemnestra would be the first to die, and that she shares a bed with the man who helped to kill Agamemnon (lines 577–594). Clytemnestra threatens that Aegisthus will deal with her on his return (lines 622–629). She then turns to the altar of Apollo and prays, in a low voice so that Electra cannot hear, that the vision she saw may turn out well for her, and that she may go on governing the house of Atreus unharmed (lines 630–659).

The News from Phocis

The Pedagogue enters and asks whether this is the palace of Aegisthus, and tells Clytemnestra that he brings good news from Phanoteus the Phocian: “Orestes is dead, to put it briefly” (lines 660–676). He gives a long account of Orestes’ victories at Delphi and of the chariot race in which Orestes was dragged by the reins after hitting the turning-post, his body burned immediately afterwards, with the ashes on their way in a small bronze urn (lines 680–763). Clytemnestra is torn between grief and relief (lines 766–787). She says that being rid of Orestes, who made her afraid night and day, means she can live in peace, and Electra calls on Nemesis (lines 788–796). Clytemnestra takes the Pedagogue into the house and leaves Electra outside (lines 797–803).

Kommos for Orestes

Electra says that Clytemnestra left with a laugh instead of weeping, and that she herself has lost her last hope (lines 804–822). She will lie down at the gates and die if anyone in the house is angry with her. In a lyric exchange with the Chorus, the women remind her of Amphiaraus, who is still powerful beneath the earth, and she answers that for her no avenger is left (lines 823–870).

Electra’s Vow

Chrysothemis comes in “pursued by joy” and says Orestes is with them (lines 871–890). She had seen milk poured on the tomb, garlands, and a freshly cut lock of hair, and she was certain they were from Orestes (lines 892–919). Electra says that Orestes is dead, from the man who was present when he died (lines 920–937). She then asks Chrysothemis to help her kill Aegisthus herself, promising glory among citizens and the end of their servitude (lines 938–989). The Chorus advises forethought (lines 990–991). Chrysothemis refuses, because they are women, with less strength than their enemies (lines 992–1014). Electra says that she will do it herself, and the sisters part: “I admire you for your prudence. For your cowardice I hate you” (lines 1017–1057).

In the second stasimon the Chorus praises Electra’s devotion to her father and wishes that she may see her enemies beneath her (lines 1058–1097).

Third Episode

Orestes enters with Pylades, asking the Chorus for the house of Aegisthus, and says that men of Phocis have a report of Orestes from the aged Strophius (lines 1098–1113). Electra, who thinks it is proof of the rumour, begs to hold the urn (lines 1115–1125). She delivers a long lament over it, recalling how she saved him as a child and how the ashes have come back to her instead of the brother she sent away (lines 1126–1170). The Chorus tells her that Orestes was mortal and that death is a debt all must pay (lines 1171–1173). Orestes cannot speak and shows pity (lines 1174–1202), then gently takes the urn from her, saying the remains are not his and the living have no tomb (lines 1203–1219). When Electra asks “What are you saying, boy?”, he replies that he is alive “if there is life in me” and shows their father’s signet ring (lines 1220–1223). Electra cries out in joy, calls to the Chorus to see Orestes (lines 1224–1235) and has to be told to be quiet; Orestes reminds her that Ares dwells in women too, and says he has no time for her stories (lines 1236–1300). Electra promises to behave as he wishes, and to lament as if for the false disaster (lines 1301–1321).

The Pedagogue comes out and scolds the two for their loud talk, and tells them to go in, as the house has only Clytemnestra in it (lines 1326–1371). Electra recognizes him as the man who saved Orestes (lines 1346–1363). Orestes and Pylades go in after praying at the shrines of his father’s gods (lines 1372–1375). Electra, left outside, prays to Apollo Lycaeus for help (lines 1376–1383).

In the third stasimon the Chorus says that Ares stalks forward, that the hounds of vengeance have gone inside, and that Hermes, son of Maia, leads the avenger to his goal (lines 1384–1396).

Exodos (Exit Song)

Electra comes out and tells the Chorus that the men will do the deed in a moment, and that Clytemnestra is decking the urn for burial (lines 1398–1402). Clytemnestra’s voice is heard from inside: “My son, my son, have pity on your mother!” Electra answers that Clytemnestra had no pity for Orestes or for his father (lines 1411–1412), When Clytemnestra cries that she is struck, Electra calls out, “Strike twice, if you have the strength!”, and when she is struck again, “Would that Aegisthus were struck with you!” (lines 1404–1418). Orestes and Pylades return and Orestes says all is well in the house, “if Apollo’s oracle spoke well” (lines 1424–1428).

The Chorus sees Aegisthus coming, and the two young men go back inside (lines 1429–1438). Aegisthus asks where the Phocian strangers are, and Electra tells him they have shown the body and he may identify the corpse himself (lines 1442–1457). He orders the gates opened for all the people of Mycenae to see (lines 1458–1463). A shrouded corpse is revealed, with Orestes and Pylades standing near it, and Orestes tells him to lift the cloth. Aegisthus sees the face of Clytemnestra and understands that Orestes is speaking to him (lines 1466–1482). Electra tells Orestes not to let him speak but to kill him quickly and give his body to such buriers as he deserves, out of their sight (lines 1484–1490). Orestes drives him into the house to die in the place where Agamemnon was killed: “Do not give orders, but go to where you struck down my father” (lines 1491–1507). The Chorus ends the play with a short song that the house of Atreus has at last come to freedom (lines 1508–1510).

A Brief Analysis

The three surviving versions of the story make a useful comparison, mainly for the portrayal of Clytemnestra, Electra and Orestes, although it is not known which of the two later plays came first.

In Sophocles, Clytemnestra is not weak. She defends the murder at length by pointing to the sacrifice of Iphigenia (lines 525–551), prays to Apollo about her dream, and is torn between grief and relief when she hears of Orestes’ death (lines 766–787). The order of the killings is reversed in comparison with Aeschylus, so that the final scene is the entrapment of Aegisthus and not the death of Clytemnestra (lines 1398–1510).

Orestes is controlled and decisive. He sets out the plan and the justification (lines 23–76), and he is careful to keep Electra quiet when he reveals himself (lines 1236–1300). Yet even he hedges when the deed is done: “if Apollo’s oracle spoke well” (line 1425).

The focus of the play is Electra, whose life is defined by the death of her father. She refuses her sister’s advice to accept her situation (lines 328–404, 992–1057), clings to the single aim of vengeance even after she hears that Orestes is dead, and in that moment resolves to act herself (lines 947–989, 1017–1020). Her argument is that without vengeance “shame and reverence will vanish from all humanity” (lines 236–250).

Sources

Sophocles, Electra, lines 1–1510 (Greek text and English translation at the Perseus Digital Library); the ancient hypothesis to Aeschylus’ Agamemnon for the date of the Oresteia.

See Also: Orestes, Electra, Sophocles, Libation Bearers