The Main Themes

1) Justice

In this play it is more than a key word. Electra represents a book of questions. What is right? What is just? Is it right to take justice in your own hands, or is it better to wait for the fate? Gods in this instance. Justice is related to words "judge" and "judgement". Are we the ones to be judges? Who has got the right to judge someone? Should Electra and Orestes judge Aegisthmus and Clymnestra. They are acting in the interests of justice and logic, even though it is not clear, if it is the right thing to do. Sophocles eventually leaves this question for his audience and readers. 

2) Revenge

Electra and Orestes are both deeply concerned about vengeance. Particularly with an idea of "eye for an eye". If someone hurts you are you supposed to hurt him back, or will you believe that all the bad what a person does will come back to him once? Can one death justify another death? When does actually a revenge end? Will it solve a problem or take the time back? Certainly when considering "eye for an eye" logic, will the whole world be blind than? It is like a chain reaction, when one murder leads to another murder. The murder of Iphigenia leads to a murder of Agamemnon, which leads to murder of Clytemnestra and Aegisthus and so on. 

Sometimes a question answers more than we think.

3) Gender

Gender role was a first fact to think about. Sophocles is known for his avocation in logic. Logically, the name of this story should be Orestes, because he was the one that was carried away and raised in a foreign country to come back one day and avenge his father. Actually he was the one who did it at the end. What was the specific preominence by Sophocles that he decided to call his treatment the Orestia story not after a man that was supposed to be the main character, but after Electra? Chrysothemis challenged Electra in the final act, when Electra said that she cannot consider killing Aegisthus herself, as she is a woman and no man.
Sophocles has explored the idea of Electra as a woman with a man's fury and heart. Nonetheless her mother behaved alike. She refused to be imprisoned on a railways of society to what a woman should do and figured out her own way. Railway trains are impartial too. But if you lay down the lines for them, that's the way they go.

Electra - Sophocles - The Whole play

After reading half of the play, I was really exhausted. After reading 3/4 of Electra I started to be enthusiastic. Why is that? Well, to me it seems that 3/4 of this play are describing Electra's grieving and expressing her sadness. And while most of her grieving took most of the book, the part, where there is finally something happening is too brief comparing to Electra's grieving part of the book. While I was reading a boring part of the book I always hoped that at the other page there will happen something crucial eventually. Unfortunately, it took me more than two days to get to the fun part.
Me personaly I did not expect Orestes to kill his own mother. Not only I find it too cruel for a man to kill his own mother intentionally, but also it is the fact that both her children were fine with that. No word of protest, no word of mercy.
Later on, when I finally got to a part, where there is something interesting going on, the characters provided a clear and logical shift of the play. It was easy to understand, easy to follow and easy to deduce what is coming next.

It is hard to believe that it is almost 2500 years since the Electra was written by Sophocles. Sophocles's masterpiece took place in the old mythological Greece, however, it is not that obvious that something changed in people's morality. I know that killing someone was a daily routine, and if you were rich and powerful it was a committed crime for which no one took responsibility in that time. The scenes and the story itself could have happened nowadays just like in Greece 410 B.C..
The play is relevant due to its feelings, scenario, characters's behavior and the end of the play. Naturally, it is different and it matters if it happened now or 410 B.C., when we look at the play in a general way, but when we examine it character after character, and a scene after scene, we can find out that the world and the people have not changed that much.

Sophocles wrote this play around 410 B.C., however Electra is set in much older Greece. Most of Sophocles's audience have identified the world of Electra as that of mythological representatives. To be more specific, we are talking about time roughly 20 years after Trojan War has ended. Although Apollo does not make an appearence himself and nor do the gods, we cannot forget about their inderict involvement in characters's minds. There are also few symbols to make us think about gods interaction; Agamemnon's sacrifice to Orestes dedication to Apollo.

The setting is not particular. It takes place in Argos, in Ancient Greek city. Most of Sophocles's works come from Greek cities. And no matter how boringly the setting is described in the book we cannot see, if there is any connection of symbolism of the setting to the importance and essence of the play.

To be able to look at Electra more deeply we have to go through the characters first.
I have already added photos of actors that would be the best possibility for the characters, if there was made a movie once.







Electra, which is the eldest daughter of Clymnestra and Agamemnon is poorly treated by her mother and her mother's new husband, Aegisthus. She spends days grieving over her father's death and she is patiently waiting for her brother, Orestes, whom will help her to avenge her father. However she is strongly devoted to the principles of honor, justice and reverence, often her grasp on her principles is questionable.

Orestes, who is the son of Clymnestra and Agamemnon is the rightful king of Argos. He was saved as a baby by Electra and was moved away to Phocia after his father's murder. After all those years of raising in a foreign country he is coming back with two other men, old slave, his faithful servant and his friend Pylades for revenge. Due to Orestes's youth he is being naïve and inexpereinced. He acts the way he does, because he was instructed by Apollo's oracle and not by emotions or intense.

Clymnestra is the queen of Argos. She was formerly married to Agamemnon, whom she murdered. Now she is living alongside Aegisthus, her new husband. She poorly treats her daughter, Electra. Her daughter's grieving and begging for justice and revenge threatens her. She loves being power and wealthiness, she also enjoys both of these gifts, however, she is haunted by her history and her hapiness rests on a minefield.

Chrysothemis is Clytemnestra's and Agamemnon's younger daughter. Even though she understand the injustice of her father's murder and mother's corruption, she will not say anything, because she realizes that there is no reason for fighting against those in power, when it is much more beneficial to side with those in control. She is hoping for her own profit and comfort.

Old Man is a slave and a faithful servant to Orestes. He was the one to carry Orestes out of the city, when his father was killed. He served as Orestes's guide, guardian and tutor. He advises Orestes what to do. He pays strict attention to timing, detail and focus.

Aegisthus is the new husband of Clymnestra. They are both responsible for Agamemnon's death. His primary interest is to eliminate all possible threats to his well being. He is also cruel to Electra and wants to lock her away.

Pylades is Orestes's friend, who came with him from Phocia. He is very silent to the play's drama.

Chorus is made up from virgins of the palace. It is Conservative and reserved.











In this play there is a lot of tension in between the characters. Basically it is drama, this could be the answer for why is there any tension at all. There is tension between Clymnestra and Electra, becuase of Clymnestra murder, the same tension between Aegisthus and Electra. Aegisthus and Clymnestra both feel the threat of Orestes and Electra that could one day end up in a revenge and their death. There is also a tension between Orestes and Electra, because Electra does not know for a long time if her brother is alive or not... The story is interwoven with tension, hatred and death. The most tense scene becomes the last scene, where Orestes comes to the house for revenge and he after killing his mother, he is waiting for Aegisthus to come. 

Sophocles

Sophocles was a Greek playwright that lived around 400 BC. He was one of the three most important Greek playwright together with Aeschylis and Euripides in the Antient Greece. When Sophocles was around a tender age of 28 he was known for winning the major theatre competition of the year and getting himself established as a real player in a theatre arena. However, he produced over 100 plays in his life, only few of these have survived. Sophocles changed the status quo of the Greek theatre. One of the biggest changes he accomplished was popularizing single, free standing plays rather than those long "old-fashioned" trilogies. He made a difference in styles and techniques between these three playwrights as well.
Interesting to notice was, to see the rivalry in  between Sophocles and Euripides. They certainly had a great respect for each other, however, their understanding and approaches to drama were radically different. Sophocles was the more conservative one. He validated mythic traditions, gods and heroes together with his works. He did like the logical plots in his stories.
One of Sophocles's greatest stories was play Electra, which was based on the famous Orestes myth. To demonstrate it more briefly this story tells about a young woman, Electra, which is waiting for her brother Orestes to arrive in order to help him avenge their's father's death by killing their mother Clymnestra and her new husband that helped to murder their father.

Another interesting thought is to see that all three of those famous playwrights of the Ancient Greece wrote a play that was dealing with the same iconic myth in a fairly diverse way. Aeschylus featuring a story of The Libation Bearers. Aeschylus's primary concern was a moral implications of a murder in one's own family. In the end Orestes is pursuit for matricide. In Euripides' Electra, where Orestes and Electra are not getting off scot-free, They have to make up for killing their mother. And than Sophocles, which has another interpretation. He choses Electra to be the main  character, unlike Euripides and Sophocles was not as concerned with morality and ethics as Aeschylus. However, it depends on the reader. Some of the critics believe that he was as concerned as Aeschylus with the moral implications and others state that a murder in this context was according to Sophocles noble and just thing to do.

Electra, brief song of the plot

Ted Pappas presents Electra to a Pittsburgh theatre. WIth basic information.

This Blog is devoted to Sophocles's masterpiece, Elektra. According to my Literature teachers, this is what we deserve to do after suffering already 4 years from English Literature. For a few months there will be few posts that will represent, analyze and help all of us understand this fascinating work of Sophocles himself.


Story of Electra takes place in Mycenae, in Ancient Greece. Before we can start talking about this magnificent story, we need a little bit of a background here. When resident king Agamemnon, returned from the Troy, his wife Clytemnestra and her new lover Aegisthus murdered him and stole the throne. Agamemnon’s and Clymnestra’s daughter Electra has smuggled her brother Orestes out of the town to safety. He was sent to grow up far away with the old slave, his servant. Orestes really grew up in a foreign land and wanted to come back and avenge his father, Agamemnon.

Orestes's servant, Paedagogus, told Orestes a lot about his father and Greece. He told him the story that long ago, when his father died, he was the one to carry him out. Since then, Paedagogus has been raising Orestes to revenge his father's death and taught him everything he needed to know.


Orestes praises Paedagogus's nobility. He is comparing him to a faithful old horse. He tells him of his plans. Orestes went to see the Delphic Oracle. Orestes asked Oracle how should he revenge his fathes murderers. Phoebus told him:
 “Take not spear nor shield nor host;
 “Take not spear nor shield nor host; “Take not spear nor shield nor host;


*(f.y.i. One of the most interesting quotes in the play)

go yourself and craft of hand

be yours to kill, with justice but with stealth.”