Electra

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 450

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Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue, Lines 1-444

Lines 445-691

Lines 692-1466

Lines 1467-1859

Exodus, Lines 1860-2008

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

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Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Locks of Hair

The locks of hair left by each royal sibling at Agamemnon’s tomb are a collective symbol of their bloodline. Orestes is told by the oracle of Delphi to pay libations to his father by cutting off a piece of his hair. As expected of Electra and Orestes’s intimate bond, the former gives their sister Chrysothemis similar advice. Electra encounters her sister as she is leaving to pay libations to Agamemnon on their mother’s behalf. The headstrong princess states that it is “unholy / to bring that woman’s libations / to our father: she is the enemy” (593-595). She cuts a lock of her hair and tells her sister to do the same. The placement of each lock of hair at Agamemnon’s tomb represents the strength of his bloodline, the unbreakable bonds between siblings (despite Chrysothemis’s caution). This collective show of respect also symbolizes the sisters’ eventual reunion with Orestes. Upon returning from the tomb, Chrysothemis tells Electra that she saw Orestes: “And there it was. / Right there on the edge. / A lock of hair, fresh cut. / As soon as I saw it, a bolt went through me— / almost as if I saw his face, / I suddenly knew!” (1197-1202). The three siblings’ locks of hair express an allegiance to one another and their father without words.

Scepter

Agamemnon’s scepter appears in Clytemnestra’s dream, where she watches her late husband reclaim his scepter and reign over Mycenae. The scepter becomes symbolic of not only kingship, but Agamemnon’s rule specifically. Aegisthus is portrayed as wrongly occupying the role of king, having taken Agamemnon’s scepter (and wife). In Chrysothemis’s retelling of her mother’s dream, Agamemnon “[...] take[s] hold of his scepter / and stick[s] it in the hearth— [...] And from the scepter sprang a branch / in full climbing leaf / which cast a shadow over the whole land of Mycenae” (572-578). Agamemnon’s reclaiming of the scepter from Aegisthus represents his bloodline’s eventual reclaiming of the throne for years to come. The branch and leaf which stem from the scepter represent Agamemnon’s fruitful rule over Mycenae—given life once more by Orestes’s determination.

Ashes

In the fabricated tale of Orestes’s death, he is burned and turned into ashes. When initially devising his plan, Orestes tells Paedagogus, “Then we’ll be back / with that bronzplated urn / (you know, the one I hid in the bushes). / Oh yes, we’ll fool them / with this tale of me dead” (73-77). When relaying the fabricated tale to Clytemnestra and Electra, Paedagogus says, “They burned him at once on a pyre / and certain Phocians are bringing / the mighty boy back / just ashes, / a little bronze urn— / so you can bury him in his father’s ground” (1022-1027). Convincing Clytemnestra that Orestes will return in an urn allows the prince, alive and well, to enter the house unrecognized. Putting his Trojan Horse-like plan into motion, Orestes returns holding what others believe to be his own ashes. Upon receiving the ashes, Electra comments on the morbid nature of her brother’s return: “I sent you out, I get you back: / tell me / how could the difference be simply / nothing?” (1505-1509). The ashes come to symbolize not only Orestes’s death, but his subsequent resurrection, as he eventually reveals his true identity to all of the characters. Furthermore, as the son of Agamemnon and heir to the throne of Mycenae, Orestes’s ashes also represent the death of his father and the restoration of his rule.