Euripides: Electra

Euripides turned to the fall of the house of Atreus to reflect on the way we justify unending cycles of violence.

His Electra opens well after the death of Agamemnon at the hands of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. Having been married away to a peasant farmer, a disempowered and resentful Electra reconnects with Orestes, who lands in Argos with his tutor and his friend, Pylades. Together, they must decide whether to avenge their father's murder or let his killer, their mother, remain unpunished

Euripides is unsparing in his portrayal. There is no divine command, no tidy resolution—only two deeply flawed people contemplating a terrible deed.

Please read ahead and be prepared to discuss Euripides’ Electra in detail.