ELECTRA-STUDY GUIDE
Order of Events
❖ The Peasant introduces the play and gives context to the situation- ie that Orestes is exiled and
Electra was forced to marry him
❖ Electra laments her life but she and the Peasant have a mutual respect as they are seen to look
after their home/farm together
❖ Orestes and Pylades have their first appearance after they have arrived in Argos and visited
Agamemnon’s grave. They are looking for Electra
❖ After Electra mourns even more over her situation, The Chorus try to cheer her up by inviting
her to take part in the festival of Hera but to no avail
❖ When Electra sees Orestes and Pylades she is unsure of who they are so she runs away but
Orestes (concealing his identity) claims that he has news of her brother who is alive
❖ Electra explains that Agamemnon got no proper burial, she has cut her hair to mark her grief
and that she is now married to the peasant, who although is below her is still an honorable man
❖ The Peasant joins Electra and she tells him the news that Orestes is alive, and he tries to offer
the two men xenia but Electra snaps at him because she is very aware of the difference in status
there is between them and their guests.
❖ Electra agrees to show xenia but asks that her husband bring The Old Man (who saved Orestes’
life years ago by sending him away from Aegisthus) so that he can hear the news
❖ He arrives with provisions and treats Electra like his daughter, he says that he passed
Agamemnon’s grave which looked like someone had already been there, hypothesising that
perhaps Orestes had returned- Electra says this is absurd
❖ The Old Man recognises Orestes by the scar on his eyebrow and uses this as evidence to
convince Electra of the man’s true identity. The two siblings reunite
❖ They make plans for revenge and offer a prayer to Zeus. Electra says that if Orestes dies trying
to carry out the murder of Aegisthus then she will kill herself too.
❖ The Messenger later confirms that Orestes has killed Aegisthus by joining in with the sacrifices
and shattering his spine with a sword.
❖ Electra is overjoyed, presenting Pylades and Orestes with wreaths before delivering her bitter
‘eulogy’ to Aegisthus, showing the extent of her hatred for the man
❖ Clytaemnestra soon appears, she tries to justify her actions of killing Agamemnon but Electra
openly criticises her.
❖ She convinces her mother to go inside and make sacrifices for her (non-existent) son but she and
Orestes murder her.
❖ Clytaemnestra’s pleas for mercy make Electra drop her sword but Orestes drives a knife into her
neck. They are overcome with guilt and they then wrap a cloak round her lifeless body.
❖ Castor and Polydeuces appear, deified, telling them that although Clytaemnestra’s death was
just, their act of matricide was not. They instruct Electra to marry Pylades and leave for Phocis,
Pylades must make the peasant a rich man and Orestes must leave Argos
❖ The two embrace and part ways forever.
Order of Events
❖ The Peasant introduces the play and gives context to the situation- ie that Orestes is exiled and
Electra was forced to marry him
❖ Electra laments her life but she and the Peasant have a mutual respect as they are seen to look
after their home/farm together
❖ Orestes and Pylades have their first appearance after they have arrived in Argos and visited
Agamemnon’s grave. They are looking for Electra
❖ After Electra mourns even more over her situation, The Chorus try to cheer her up by inviting
her to take part in the festival of Hera but to no avail
❖ When Electra sees Orestes and Pylades she is unsure of who they are so she runs away but
Orestes (concealing his identity) claims that he has news of her brother who is alive
❖ Electra explains that Agamemnon got no proper burial, she has cut her hair to mark her grief
and that she is now married to the peasant, who although is below her is still an honorable man
❖ The Peasant joins Electra and she tells him the news that Orestes is alive, and he tries to offer
the two men xenia but Electra snaps at him because she is very aware of the difference in status
there is between them and their guests.
❖ Electra agrees to show xenia but asks that her husband bring The Old Man (who saved Orestes’
life years ago by sending him away from Aegisthus) so that he can hear the news
❖ He arrives with provisions and treats Electra like his daughter, he says that he passed
Agamemnon’s grave which looked like someone had already been there, hypothesising that
perhaps Orestes had returned- Electra says this is absurd
❖ The Old Man recognises Orestes by the scar on his eyebrow and uses this as evidence to
convince Electra of the man’s true identity. The two siblings reunite
❖ They make plans for revenge and offer a prayer to Zeus. Electra says that if Orestes dies trying
to carry out the murder of Aegisthus then she will kill herself too.
❖ The Messenger later confirms that Orestes has killed Aegisthus by joining in with the sacrifices
and shattering his spine with a sword.
❖ Electra is overjoyed, presenting Pylades and Orestes with wreaths before delivering her bitter
‘eulogy’ to Aegisthus, showing the extent of her hatred for the man
❖ Clytaemnestra soon appears, she tries to justify her actions of killing Agamemnon but Electra
openly criticises her.
❖ She convinces her mother to go inside and make sacrifices for her (non-existent) son but she and
Orestes murder her.
❖ Clytaemnestra’s pleas for mercy make Electra drop her sword but Orestes drives a knife into her
neck. They are overcome with guilt and they then wrap a cloak round her lifeless body.
❖ Castor and Polydeuces appear, deified, telling them that although Clytaemnestra’s death was
just, their act of matricide was not. They instruct Electra to marry Pylades and leave for Phocis,
Pylades must make the peasant a rich man and Orestes must leave Argos
❖ The two embrace and part ways forever.
