Electra (Cyclopedia of Literary Characters)
At a glance:
- Author: Euripides
- First Published: 413
- Type of Work: Play
- Type of Plot: Tragedy
- Time of Work: After the fall of Troy
- Setting: Argos
- Genres: Drama, Character study, Tragedy
- Subjects: Mothers, Parents and children, Murder or homicide, Mistaken or secret identity, Obsession, Women, Revenge, Kings, queens, or royalty, Gods or goddesses, Fratricide, parricide, or filicide, Rites or ceremonies, Prophecy or prophets, Greek or Roman times, Greece or Greek people, Trojan War
- Locales: Greece, ancient, Argos, ancient
Characters Discussed
Electra (ee-LEHK-truh), the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. On his return from the Trojan War, Agamemnon was slain by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, her lover, who now rules in Argos. For his own safety, Orestes, Electra’s brother, was smuggled out of the kingdom. Electra remained, was saved from death at the hands of Aegisthus by Clytemnestra, and was married to a poor farmer by Aegisthus. The farmer, out of respect for the house of Agamemnon, has never asserted his marital rights. In her first appearance, Electra is thus a slave princess, unwashed...
[The entire page is 929 words long]
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