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Electra by Sophocles Summary Paedagogus, Orestes’ old tutor, has returned to the royal palace in Mycenae. Before the play began Clytemnestra murdered Orestes’ father, Agamemnon, and now Orestes has returned to avenge his death. Orestes tells Paedagogus that the Delphic oracle has told him how he should be revenged on those who murdered his father. Orestes tells Paedagogus to falsely report Orestes’ death. In the meantime, Orestes and Pylades will visit Agamemnon’s grave, and, when they return to the palace with an urn (which they will say contains Orestes’ remains), no one will be expecting them to strike against Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. A cry is heard from inside the house, and Orestes and Paedagogus exit. Electra enters, making a long prayer to “Holy Light”. She is in constant mourning for her father’s death, hardly sleeps, dresses in unsightly and poor clothes, and refuses to stop calling on the gods to bring vengeance. The Chorus argue that she should mourn within normal limits, and no more, and Electra rejects their argument. She longs for Orestes to return to avenge her father’s death. It is impossible for her to behave moderately, she says, when she is surrounded by evil.

Chrysothemis, Electra’s sister, enters with burial offerings. She asks Electra why she is still shouting publicly about her father and her longing for vengeance. Then, Chrysothemis continues, she herself would be openly angry if she had strength. She, however, chooses to be deliberately silent – a decision which Electra then scorns. Chrysothemis argues that Electra’s fury will be the undoing of her, only for Electra to reply that she would welcome death. Chrysothemis is taking burial offerings from her mother to Agamemnon’s grave. Clytemnestra has sent the offerings after being frightened by a dream in which she saw Agamemnon revived. Electra persuades Chrysothemis not to take Clytemnestra’s offerings to the grave. The Chorus predict Justice coming and “foreshadowing a just victory”. Clytemnestra enters, surprised to see Electra walking outside, and an argument ensures between mother and daughter. Clytemnestra says that she was just to murder her husband, as he sacrificed her daughter Iphigenia. Electra then launches into a long speech, which tells another version of Iphigenia’s sacrifice, and interrogates the “eye for an eye” logic that Clytemnestra puts forward. This rant becomes increasingly more personal, with Electra even eventually telling Clytemnestra that she would have Orestes kill her if she could. Clytemnestra, left alone, makes a prayer to the gods, hoping that all will be well for her.

Paedagogus, disguised as a messenger, comes in and tells a long story about Orestes’ supposed death. Electra is devastated, and Clytemnestra torn between being delighted and mournful. Clytemnestra goes into the house with Paedagogus. Electra resolves to bring about her own death: without Orestes, she has nothing to live for. The Chorus try to comfort her. Chrysothemis enters, having found Orestes’ hair on Agamemnon’s grave, to tell Electra that Orestes has come to the palace. Electra tries and fails to persuade Chrysothemis to help her murder Aegisthus. Electra resolves to do the deed alone. Orestes enter disguised, and reveals himself to Electra, proving with Agamemnon’s signet ring that he is indeed Orestes. He then goes inside to murder Clytemnestra, and Electra goes inside the house. The Chorus begin an ode, which is interrupted by Electra running back outside. Clytemnestra is heard screaming from inside the palace, and Electra shouts encouragement to Orestes from outside. Orestes enters from the palace, and Electra asks him if all is well. Orestes replies that all is well, if Apollo prophesied well. At that, Aegisthus approaches, Orestes goes inside, and Electra greets Aegisthus. Bringing on a covered body (Orestes in disguise again), they tell Aegisthus it is the dead Orestes, though when it is uncovered, it is in fact the murdered Clytemnestra. Aegisthus is taken inside the palace to be murdered by Orestes, and – before we see or hear the deed – the Chorus end the play.

Character List Electra Electra is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the title character of the play. In Aeschylus' Oresteia Electra sings songs of mourning, prays, and goes meekly inside when it comes to the moment of Orestes' murdering Clytemnestra. Aeschylus' Electra is, in the words of Simon Goldhill, "a good girl". Sophocles' Electra is quite a different prospect. She is furiously angry and bitter about the way her mother has murdered her father and partnered with Aegisthus. She refuses to cease mourning, and is prone to huge, bellowing cries of grief and rage. She is desperate for her brother Orestes to return. Significantly, she trusts nothing and no one, and believes in deeds rather than words - which is perhaps why her own language is so painfully raw and stripped back. She is the central character of Sophocles' treatment of this story, though interestingly, not of the story itself. The other characters in the play, alway catalysts of the plot to a greater degree, seem to pale in insignificance when compared with her: for sheer force of will, and force of hatred, she is - in this play, as well as in many other extant tragedies - simply unmatchable.

Agamemnon Agamemnon was the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Electra and Orestes. He was murdered by Clytemnestra before the play began, and the play documents Orestes' vengeance on his mother for that act. He does not appear in Sophocles' Electra directly, but is still in many ways a key character.

Paedagogus A pedagogue - a tutor - as suggested by his name, now old, who looked after Orestes when he was younger. He narrates the false story of Orestes' death in a chariot race, and, as he and Orestes plan early in the play, noone recognises him as he now has grey hair. Paedagogus is not a major character in the play, though he does, at several key moments, try to push the plot out of words and towards action. It seems likely that - as he does not appear later in the play - the actor playing him doubled another role (perhaps Aegisthus).

Orestes The son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Chrysothemis. Orestes, in other retellings of this same story, is undoubtedly the principal character: certainly in Homer, and also in the Oresteia (a trilogy which, notably, bears his name!). Not so in this play. Electra is very much central to Sophocles' conception of this play, though Orestes is still important. Moreover, Orestes is important largely because he does not seem the hero we might expect from other versions of the same story. This is an Orestes who is more than prepared to use false words, so long as they get the right outcome: the means, in other words, are absolutely justified by the end. David Grene describes him as "cautious and rather colourless". Orestes returns to the House of Atreus to revenge his father's murder by killing his mother, and, at the end of this play, kills Clytemnestra and is about to kill her lover, Aegisthus.

Chorus A group of women of Mycenae, who look onto events, and attempt to advise Electra. The most unusual choral moment in the play comes when Electra interrupts their ode (of only twelve lines) by coming out of the palace, and back onstage to commentate on Orestes' murdering Clytemnestra.

Clytemnestra Mother of Orestes, Electra and Chrysothemis. Previously married to Agamemnon (before she murdered him!) and now married to Aegisthus. Clytemnestra in the Oresteia is quite a terrifying prospect: savage, murderous and totally unashamed of what she has done. Sophocles takes this savage, terrifying woman and, without reducing her fury , gives her a human streak. This Clytemnestra suffers from nightmares and, when she

appears and justifies her killing of Agamemnon (by recourse to the Iphigenia story) she seems somewhat more reasonable than Electra! Clytemnestra has a central argument in the middle of the play with Electra, whose fury knows no bounds towards her, before she is eventually murdered in her palace by Orestes.

Chrysothemis Sister of Electra and Orestes, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Chrysothemis' role is a similar one to Ismene in Antigone: she advises Electra to be cautious, not to make things worse unnecessarily, and to try and keep her feelings under wraps. Chrysothemis says at one point in the play that she feels as angry and upset as Electra does - only she doesn't go around making it quite so clear because she wants life to be as bearable as possible. She is, in the apt words of David Grene, 'timid, sensible, and unattractive', and she has disappeared from the play by the time the murder takes place.

Aegisthus Husband of Clytemnestra, and a descendant of the House of Atreus. Aegisthus only makes one appearance in this play, late towards the end, where Sophocles establishes him as a bully and a self-regarding tyrant. He taunts and mocks Orestes even when he is about to die, and before that, spends most of his time handing out brisk orders to anyone who will listen. He is not a major character in the play, but important to anyone looking closely at the circumstances which have created Electra.

Iphigenia Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, sister to Orestes, Chrysothemis and Electra. Iphigenia was sacrificed by Agamemnon, her father, to appease the wrath of the goddess Artemis - an act which provoked Clytemnestra to kill Agamemnon. She does not appear in Sophocles' Electra, but is nevertheless an important motivating factor for its events.

Pylades A friend of Orestes. Stays by his side and assists him with Clytemnestra's killing.

Themes Justice This is a key word in this play, and for this story in all of its representations. What is right? Is it just to revenge, or is it better to just to let nature - and the gods - take its course? Justice is a word closely related to "judgment" and "judge", and a key question of the play is "who has the right to judge?" Should

Clytemnestra have killed Agamemnon?

Orestes kill Clytemnestra? Should Electra be bound to kill Clytemnestra and/or Aegisthusif Orestes were dead? What is the right Should

thing to do? Many characters, Clytemnestra, Orestes, and Electra among them claim that they are acting in the interests of justice. In the end though, with no trial and no divine intervention, Sophocles finally leaves the question of justice with his audience.

Cause and effect How does one thing lead to another? What should our reaction to events be? How can a group of circumstances create specific results? These are all questions central to Sophocles' play, which is a close examination of cause and effect -- the very stuff of drama, maybe, but here problematized and questioned. The death of Iphigenia leads to the death of Agamemnon, which leads to the death of Clytemnestra; as the play ends, it seems the death of Aegisthus will follow. Moreover, Electra herself has often been read as the product of her unhappy circumstances: someone turned bitter and angry as the result of a horrible situation. It is an interesting theme to trace through the play, examining how one thing might be ascribed to its result.

Revenge Electra is deeply concerned with the idea of vengeance, particularly with an examination of "eye for an eye" logic. If someone hurts you, should you hurt them back? Does one death justify another? When - and this is a significant question for the play as a whole - does revenge end? Surely an "eye for an eye" will leave the whole world blind? One murder leads to another, and, by locating the Aegisthus murder just outside of his play, Sophocles creates the impression that the line of deaths might stretch out forever.

Gender Gender roles are given specific prominence by Sophocles from the moment he decides to call his treatment of the the man, Orestes, but after Electra.

Oresteia story not after

Chrysothemis specifically challenges Electra in their final argument that she cannot even consider killing Aegisthus herself, as she is a woman and not a man. Indeed, throughout the play, Sophocles explores the idea of Electra as a woman with a man's heart and a man's fury: like her mother before her, she refuses to behave in the way society expects a woman to behave. Sophocles explores our expectation of men and women, and interrogates the nature of both roles. Why should a man be allowed to do something that a woman is not allowed to do?

Blood and bloodlines The play explores the bloodline of the House of Atreus, and Agamemnon and Aegisthus, both of whom have a common ancestor in Atreus. It is easy to forget sometimes that when characters talk about "blood", they often

refer to "bloodline". To kill one's mother is not just a crime in blood but a crime in bloodline: it stops the continuance of the family name. Blood in Sophocles is a key idea: it is both a reality and a metaphor for the family line stretching out, backward and forward, and is thus inextricably tied to "eye for an eye" logic.

Disguise This is announced very early on as a key theme, when Orestes resolves that his words are going to be false - and that it does not matter, so long as he ultimately achieves his intention. It is an interesting logic, and the first clue toward a theme that resounds throughout the play: that the truth can easily be disguised. Everyone apart from Electra in the play could be accused of role-playing, either literally - like Paedagogus or Orestes, both of whom literally assume false roles - or metaphorically - like Chrysothemis, who despite her anger is still prepared to play the part of the meek, mild girl. This is a play which constantly juxtaposes truth and falsehood, but which never truly tells us what lies behind the mask (itself, naturally, a key symbol in the ancient theater). Trust nothing, interrogate everything.

Familial v. civic duties Very often in Sophocles, starting with Oedipus Rex, and continuing on to several of his protagonists, there is a tension between the duties one owes to one's family and the duties one owes to one's country. In this play, for example, Electra tells Clytemnestra that she in no way could ever be justified in murdering her husband, because of her wifely duty. On the other hand, Clytemnestra felt she was duty-bound to revenge her daughter. Familial duty against familial duty - and that is even before one even poses the question of whether murder can ever not be morally wrong. It is famously true of tragedy that a protagonist can find him/herself caught between two "wrong" options: whichever way he/she goes, he/she will be in the wrong according to one or another set of duties. It is well worth examining the patterns of familial and bloodline duties against broader ideas of right and wrong - and asking whether there is any "right road" that Sophocles' characters could have or should have taken....