Orestes
Orestes Author: Euripides
First Performance: 408 BC, Athens
First English Translation: 1780
Genre: Greek drama in verse
Setting: Before the palace at Mycenae, some years after the Trojan War
Cast: 7m, 3f, extras, chorus (f)
Orestes, having avenged the death of his father Agamemnon by murdering his mother, has descended into madness and feels himself pursued by the avenging Furies. He sinks into sleep and is tended by his sister Electra. Menelaus, Agamemnon's brother, arrives, questions Orestes, and promises to support him. Orestes and Electra are taken before the Argive tribunal to be arraigned for matricide. Treacherously, Menelaus withdraws his support, and brother and sister are condemned. Spurred on by Orestes' friend Pylades, Orestes plots to take revenge on Menelaus and engineer their escape by murdering...
[The entire page is 348 words long]
Join eNotes
The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:
eNotes Pass
