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The Oresteia is a trilogy of tragedies about the end of the curse on the House of Atreus, written by Aeschylus.
It is the only surviving trilogy of ancient Greek plays, although the fourth satyr play that would have been performed with it has not survived. The plays were originally performed at the Dionysia festival in Athens in 458 BC, where they won first prize.
Agamemnon details the return of Agamemnon, King of Argos, from the Trojan War to his death. Waiting at home for him is his wife, Clytaemnestra, who has been planning his death as revenge for the sacrifice of their daughter, Iphigeneia. Furthermore, in the ten years of Agamemnon's abscence, Clytaemnestra has entered an adulterous relationship with Aegisthus, Agamemnon's cousin and the scion of a dispossessed branch of the family, who is determined to regain the throne he believes should rightfully belong to him.
The play opens to Clytaemnestra awaiting the return of her husband, having been told that the mountaintop beacons have given the sign that Troy had fallen. A servant stands on top of the roof, reporting that he has been crouching there "like a dog" (kunothen) for years, "under the instruction of a man-hearted woman." He laments the fortunes of the house, the promises to keep silent: "A huge ox has stepped onto my tongue." However, when Agamemnon arrives in his chariot, he has on board as a slave and concubine, the prophetess CassandraCassandra was a pseudonym of William Connor, long standing British journalist In Greek mythology, Cassandra ("she who entangles men") (also known as Alexandra was a daughter of King Priam of Troy and his queen Hecuba, who captured the eye of Apollo and so. This, of course, serves to anger Clytemnestra further.
The main action of the play is the agon between Clytaemnestra and Agamemnon. She attempts to persuade Agamemnon to step on a purple (sometimes red) tapestry or carpet to walk into the their home. The problem is that this would be indicative of hubrisHubris is exaggerated pride or self-confidence often resulting in retribution. Hubris in ancient times Hubris is a common theme in Greek tragedies and mythology, whose stories often featured protagonists suffering from hubris and subsequently being punish on Agamemnon's part, and he does not wish to do this. Eventually, (the reasons why are highly debated) Clytaemnestra does convince Agamemnon to enter the oikos , where she kills him in the bath: she casts a snare on him and as he struggles to free himself she hacks him with two strokes of a pelakos .
Whilst Clytemnestra and Agamemnon are offstage, Cassandra discusses with the chorus whether or not she ought to enter the palace, knowing that she too will be murdered. Cassandra is a daughter of King Priam of Troy. She has been cursed by Apollo to possess the gift of prophecy, but at the same time that her prophecies would not be believed by those who heard them, although they were true. In Cassandra's speech, she runs through many gruesome images of the history of the House of Atreus, and eventually chooses to enter the house knowing that she cannot avoid her fate. A platform is soon rolled out displaying the gruesome dead bodies of Agamemnon and Cassie, and Aegisthus struts out and delivers an arrogant speech to the chorus.
The Libation Bearers is the second play of the Oresteia. It deals with the reunion of Agamemnon's children, ElectraThis article is about the Greek mythological personalities, for other meanings see Electra (disambiguation). In Greek mythology, several persons were named Electra (also spelled Elektra : # Daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, mother of Dardanus, Iasion and Ha and OrestesOrestes in Greek legend, was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. According to the Homeric story Orestes was absent from Mycenae when his father returned from the Trojan War and was murdered by his wife's lover Aegisthus. Eight years later Orestes retur and their revenge.