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Summary
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Summary
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Orestes comes back to Argos after years in exile. He teams up with his sister Electra at their father's tomb, then disguises himself to get inside the palace and kill both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. The killing feels like justice — Agamemnon was murdered in his own home — but Orestes has just killed his mother. The Furies, ancient spirits of vengeance, immediately begin to pursue him. The play ends not with triumph but with Orestes fleeing, haunted.
Orestes arrives at Agamemnon's tomb with his friend Pylades. He leaves an offering of hair and then hides when he sees a group of women approaching. The women are slaves carrying libations sent by Clytemnestra, who has had a nightmare about nursing a snake that drew blood. Orestes recognizes his sister Electra among them. Orestes reveals himself to Electra. The two siblings mourn their father together and call on his spirit for support. This scene at the tomb is the emotional and strategic center of the play: they commit to revenge and ask the gods, especially Apollo, to sanction what they are about to do. Orestes disguises himself as a traveler from Phocis and goes to the palace. He tells Clytemnestra that Orestes is dead. She sends for Aegisthus, and Orestes kills him first, then kills Clytemnestra when she begs for her life. The chorus of slave women does not mourn her. Orestes stands over the bodies and tries to justify what he has done. He holds up the robe Clytemnestra used to trap Agamemnon as evidence of her crime. But even as he speaks, he begins to see the Furies, snake-haired women invisible to everyone else, closing in on him. He flees toward Delphi to seek Apollo's protection. The play does not resolve the moral question it raises. Orestes did what the god commanded, but he also killed his mother. Both things are true at once, and the Furies make sure he cannot forget it.
What happens first
The play opens at the tomb of Agamemnon in Argos. Orestes has returned from exile in Phocis, where he was sent as a child after his father's murder. He comes with his companion Pylades. At the tomb, Orestes cuts a lock of his hair as an offering and prays to his father's spirit. When he sees a procession of women approaching, he steps aside to watch.
How the pressure builds
The women are slaves from the palace, carrying libations on Clytemnestra's orders. Clytemnestra has been shaken by a nightmare in which she nursed a snake that bit her and drew blood mixed with milk. The dream frightened her enough to send offerings to Agamemnon's tomb, an act that shows guilt more than grief. Among the slave women is Electra, Orestes's sister, who has been living in the palace under conditions closer to servitude than royalty.
Where the story turns
Electra prays at the tomb, asking for an avenger to come. She notices the lock of hair Orestes left and recognizes it as similar to her own. Then she sees his footprints. Orestes steps forward and reveals himself. The siblings have not seen each other since childhood, and the reunion is cautious at first, then certain. They grieve together over Agamemnon's death and the state of the house.
What starts to collapse
The three of them, Orestes, Electra, and the chorus of slave women, perform a long ritual invocation at the tomb. They call on Agamemnon's spirit, on Zeus, and on Apollo. Orestes explains that Apollo himself commanded this revenge and warned that terrible things would happen if he refused. The god's command gives Orestes a framework for what he is about to do, but it does not make the act simple.
How it ends
Orestes forms his plan. He and Pylades will approach the palace disguised as travelers from Phocis and claim that Orestes is dead. Clytemnestra receives them and, playing the role of a grieving mother, invites them in. She sends a slave woman named Cilissa to fetch Aegisthus. The chorus intercepts Cilissa and tells her to bring Aegisthus without his bodyguards.
Why it matters
Aegisthus arrives alone and is killed by Orestes inside the palace. A servant runs out to warn Clytemnestra. She calls for a weapon, then faces Orestes directly. She bares her breast and appeals to the bond between mother and child. Orestes hesitates. Pylades, who has been silent the entire play, speaks for the first and only time: he reminds Orestes that Apollo's command outweighs every other obligation. Orestes kills her.
The moments you will actually pull into your answer.
Clytemnestra sends libations after her nightmare
She dreams of a snake nursing at her breast and drawing blood. The dream scares her badly enough to send offerings to Agamemnon's tomb. This shows her guilt is active, not buried.
Electra recognizes Orestes by his hair and footprints
Before he reveals himself, Electra notices that the lock of hair left at the tomb matches her own and that the footprints nearby match her brother's. The recognition scene shows how long they have been apart and how much depends on this reunion.
The kommos at the tomb
Orestes, Electra, and the chorus perform an extended ritual mourning song together, calling on Agamemnon's spirit. This is where the revenge is formally committed to, with the dead father as witness.
Pylades breaks his silence
When Orestes hesitates before killing Clytemnestra, Pylades delivers the only lines he speaks in the play. He says Apollo's word must be honored above all else. The moment is brief and decisive.
Orestes displays the robe
After the killings, Orestes holds up the robe Clytemnestra used to entangle Agamemnon in the bath. He uses it as physical evidence of her crime. But even as he makes his case, the Furies begin to appear.
Questions that are actually worth answering.
Is Orestes justified?
Apollo commanded the killing and Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon. Does that make Orestes's actions right? Where does divine command end and personal responsibility begin?
What does Clytemnestra's nightmare reveal?
The dream of the snake comes from her own mind. What does it suggest about her inner state? Does the play treat her guilt as something she can suppress or something that will always surface?
Why does Pylades matter?
He speaks exactly once. What does it mean that the deciding voice at the moment of Orestes's hesitation belongs to a character who has said nothing until that point?
How does the chorus function?
The slave women are not neutral observers. They actively help Orestes by redirecting Cilissa. What does their involvement say about justice, loyalty, and who gets to act in this world?
Does the play offer any resolution?
Orestes completes the revenge but immediately becomes a fugitive from the Furies. What does the ending suggest about whether revenge can ever actually settle a debt?
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