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Euripides · c. 480-406 BC

Orestes

Ὀρέστης
Ancient Sources / Euripides / Orestes

Read our guide to Orestes

Orestes was staged in 408 BC. It is set in Argos six days after Orestes killed his mother Clytemnestra: he lies tormented and sick, Electra tends him, and the city is about to vote on whether the two of them must die. When Menelaus fails to help, Orestes and Pylades plot to murder Helen and seize Hermione, and the play ends in a violent standoff that only Apollo can resolve. The sections follow the play's own units (prologue, parodos, episodes, choral songs and exodos) and keep the standard line numbers of the Greek text.

Read from the start
Text
Greek original with English translation, 28 passages, about 15200 words in English.
Translator
Edward P. Coleridge (1891)
Edition
Greek text: Gilbert Murray (ed.), Euripidis Fabulae, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913, as digitised by Perseus. English: Edward P. Coleridge, The Plays of Euripides, London: George Bell and Sons, first published 1891 (Bohn's Classical Library; the Perseus header records a later printing)
Cite as
Euripides, Orestes 1 (by line number)

Contents · 28 passages

  1. 1–70Prologue: Electra tells of the house of Atreus and Orestes' illness624 words
  2. 71–135Prologue: Helen asks Electra to take offerings to Clytemnestra's tomb634 words
  3. 140–210Parodos: the Chorus enters softly; Electra guards the sleeping Orestes410 words
  4. 211–267First episode: Orestes wakes and hears that Menelaus has come561 words
  5. 268–315First episode: Orestes' fit passes; he blames Apollo and Electra vows to stay442 words
  6. 316–379First choral song; Menelaus arrives at the palace458 words
  7. 380–447Second episode: Orestes tells Menelaus of his plight776 words
  8. 448–490Second episode: Tyndareus arrives in mourning433 words
  9. 491–543Second episode: Tyndareus accuses Orestes and tells Menelaus to abandon him476 words
  10. 544–629Second episode: Orestes defends the matricide; Tyndareus goes to rouse Argos847 words
  11. 630–681Third episode: Orestes pleads with Menelaus for help504 words
  12. 682–728Third episode: Menelaus will only try persuasion404 words
  13. 729–785bFourth episode: Pylades arrives; he has been banished by his father765 words
  14. 786–843Fourth episode: Orestes goes to the assembly; choral song on the house of Atreus504 words
  15. 844–901Fifth episode: a Messenger reports the Argive assembly's decision522 words
  16. 902–959Messenger speech: the debate and Orestes' sentence445 words
  17. 960–1012Electra's dirge for the house of Pelops355 words
  18. 1013–1068Sixth episode: Orestes and Electra say farewell552 words
  19. 1069–1130Sixth episode: Pylades refuses to leave; they plan to kill Helen636 words
  20. 1131–1203Sixth episode: the case for killing Helen; Electra proposes seizing Hermione732 words
  21. 1204–1245Sixth episode: the ambush is set390 words
  22. 1246–1312The Chorus keeps watch; Helen is attacked within the palace459 words
  23. 1313–1352Seventh episode: Hermione is lured into the trap366 words
  24. 1353–1425The Phrygian slave: his escape and his account begins443 words
  25. 1426–1502The Phrygian slave: Helen's disappearance573 words
  26. 1503–1548Eighth episode: Orestes questions the Phrygian and spares him531 words
  27. 1549–1620Ninth episode: Menelaus returns; Orestes threatens Hermione from the roof755 words
  28. 1621–1693Exodos: Apollo appears and settles the quarrel630 words

More by Euripides

English translation by Edward P. Coleridge (1891). Original text: Greek text: Gilbert Murray (ed.), Euripidis Fabulae, Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1913, as digitised by Perseus. English: Edward P. Coleridge, The Plays of Euripides, London: George Bell and Sons, first published 1891 (Bohn's Classical Library; the Perseus header records a later printing).

Greek text and translation from the Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Perseus Digital Library); translation public domain. Introductions, summaries and notes © GreekMythology.com.