Electra

The brother of Electra, an infant Orestes was given to Paedagogus by Electra who feared Clytemnestra would target her younger sibling after murdering Agamemnon. An older Orestes is destined to return and avenge his father by killing his mother and stepfather. All of the characters are aware of this prophecy—especially Clytemnestra, who is anxious about her son’s return after dreaming of Agamemnon reclaiming the throne of Mycenae. When Paedagogus arrives with news that Orestes perished in a chariot accident, Clytemnestra feels great relief. By contrast, Electra exclaims, “I am at the end. I exist no more” (913). These responses showcase different familial ties, as Clytemnestra only feels love for Orestes because she birthed him whereas Electra depends on her brother for life. Without his triumphant return, justice will not be enacted and she will be condemned to an eternity of suffering. Yet, Orestes dies in words alone, the fabricated death giving way to his own resurrection.

Orestes’s words seemingly allow him to transgress life and death. Whenever he reveals his true identity as Orestes, thus resurrecting himself, he is associated with light imagery. Early on, he declares that he will “break on [his] enemies like a star” (93). Once he reveals himself to Electra, she proclaims, “Oh love, you break on me like light!” (1638). Electra is baffled, as the man before her has suddenly transformed from a stranger into her beloved brother, prince of Mycenae. Orestes speaks like a prophet once more when he shows Clytemnestra’s corpse to Aegisthus. By speaking with authority, Orestes refuses Aegisthus any chance of escaping his death. Orestes showcases the power of speech to influence others’ perception and manipulate reality.

The mother of Electra, Orestes, and Chrysothemis, Clytemnestra murders Agamemnon upon his return from the Trojan War. She is infuriated that her husband took their daughter Iphigenia’s life to protect his brother’s family. Clytemnestra views her children as hers alone, as Agamemnon did not experience the pain of childbirth. Believing she is owed recompense for losing a daughter, she feels no remorse for her murder and claims it openly. Upon learning of Orestes’s “death,” she says, “To give birth is terrible, incomprehensible. / No matter how you suffer, / you cannot hate a child you’ve born” (1042-1044). In the play, motherhood is reduced to the pain which accompanies childbirth, a pain which appears to relieve the queen of her motherly duties yet still allows her to claim her children. Electra exposes her mother’s superficiality, stating, “I don’t think of you as a mother at all. / You are some sort of punishment cage / locked around my life” (803-805).

Clytemnestra’s superficiality is put on full display when she prays to Apollo: She states that the palace and its wealth suit her. It is clear that Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon in an effort to remove his bloodline from the throne of Mycenae, so that she may enjoy such riches by herself. Selfish and unethical, Clytemnestra directly opposes Electra’s sense of justice.

The new husband of Clytemnestra, Aegisthus is presented as occupying the rightful place of Agamemnon through the queen’s dream (relayed to Electra): “Then she saw him take hold of his scepter / and stick it in the hearth— / his own scepter from the old days, / that Aegisthus carries now” (572-575). Aegisthus is meant to replace Agamemnon’s bloodline as ruler of Mycenae, yet it is this very bloodline who restores order (with Electra’s refusal to accept her father’s death and Orestes’s return from death). The king does not appear in the play until the final scene, where he is murdered by Orestes in the same place that Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon.

Also referred to as Old Man, Paedagogus was charged with an infant Orestes by Electra shortly after Agamemnon’s murder. He provides wisdom to Orestes and Electra, continually reminding them to not dwell on speech but rather, to take action when the time is ripe. He prompts Orestes to enact the plan given to him by the oracle of Delphi instead of comforting Electra. As words and actions are in constant tension throughout the play, Paedagogus serves as a reminder that too much speech can prevent crucial intervention.

The sister of Electra and Orestes, Chrysothemis has attempted to assimilate into her mother’s new kingdom. While she sympathizes with Electra’s desire to avenge their father, she finds the latter’s constant lamenting to be self-indulgent and ultimately pointless. Chrysothemis prides herself on being rational, yet this trait also makes her incapable of taking action against her mother. She tells Electra, “In rough waters, lower the sail, is my theory. / Why pretend to be doing, / unless I can do some real harm?” (448-454). When Electra believes Orestes to be dead, she asks Chrysothemis to take up her brother’s deed—but she declines on the grounds that to act now would be to act out of emotion. Chrysothemis’s character is redeemed when she joins Electra in hoping their brother will return after allegedly seeing him at their father’s grave.

The Chorus is a reoccurring group of individuals in all Greek plays. They are narrators who comment on characters and plot points, help set the scene, and typically narrate action scenes in which there is no dialogue. In Electra, the Chorus directly interacts with the characters but seems to lack omnipotence (i.e., the Chorus attempts to convince Electra of the uselessness of her suffering and to not react to violence with more violence). The Chorus deviates from typical form when Electra begins narrating Clytemnestra’s murder, silencing them: “My ladies! The men / are about to accomplish the deed— / be silent and wait” (1860-1862). With Electra, Sophocles presents a Chorus which deviates from its traditional role, having them act more so like another character while still retaining plot armor.