Ἠλέκτρα
Electra
Sophocles · Date unknown, probably c. 420–410 BC
Electra has waited years in the palace for her brother Orestes to avenge their father. He returns with a false report of his own death, and they kill their mother and Aegisthus.
Persons, in order of appearance
- Πα.Paedagogus
- Ορ.Orestes
- Ηλ.Electra
- Χο.Chorus
- Χρ.Chrysothemis
- Κλ.Clytemnestra
- Αι.Aegisthus
Translations
- R. C. Jebbprose · 1883–1900 · aligned by line · with Jebb's Greek
- F. Storrverse · 1913 · aligned by speech · with Storr's Greek
Greek texts
- Dain & Mazon, Sophocle, vol. 21958
- F. Storr, Sophocles, vol. 21913
- R. C. Jebb, Sophocles: The Plays and Fragments, part 6, The Electra1894
Cite as Soph. El. 1–1510
Full synopsis (tells the ending)
Since Agamemnon's murder Electra has lived in the palace at Mycenae as her mother's enemy, unmarried, in mourning, waiting for her brother. Orestes arrives with a plan: an old servant will report to Clytemnestra that he is dead, killed in a chariot race at Delphi. Electra hears the story too and believes it, and is holding what she thinks is the urn with his ashes when the stranger beside her tells her who he is. Orestes kills Clytemnestra inside the house while Electra urges him on from the door, then leads Aegisthus in to his death.
Drawing: Line drawing after the 1813 plate of a red-figure vase (Laborde, Collection des vases grecs de M. le comte de Lamberg I, pl. VIII); cut out and retraced.