First, a bit of background. Conquering Agamemnon slew his daughter, Iphigenia, in return for a fair wind to Troy. This rather miffed his wife, Clytemnestra, who bashed his head in with an axe when he came swaggering home. Her retribution laid a religious duty on their son, Orestes, to avenge his dad by slaying his mum, which, in its turn, put a bit of a crimp in his social calendar.
Sophocles’ play opens during a lull in the butchery. Orestes, now in exile, throws Clytemnestra off her guard by releasing details of his death. The details consist of an urn containing his ashes delivered to the palace. The arrival of the deceitful vessel prompts a fit of agonised hysterics in his sister, Electra, who loathes her mother, for obvious reasons, and who has spent years pining and weeping on the palace doorstep, praying that Orestes will show up, heavily armed and in a bad mood.
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