Electra, (Greek: “Bright One”) in Greek legend, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra
Who is Electra forced to marry?
Iphigeneia, Orestes, and Pylades escaped from Tauris. The Furies, appeased by the reunion of the family, abated their persecution. Electra then married Pylades.
Why is Electra a tragedy?
The play Electra is a Greek tragedy about the heroism of Electra as she battles to take revenge against their father's death . Electra was the daughter of the king and queen of Mycenae, Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. ... Electra manages to save Orestes from the murderous hand of Aegisthus, extended toward her brother as well.
Why does Electra hate her mother?
Electra, they sing, has been betrayed and abandoned by her sister, left alone by the deaths of her father and brother, and is mistreated by her wicked mother. It celebrates her undying sense of virtue and her inability and unwillingness to live either amongst evil or with shame.
What happens at the end of Electra?
They hide her corpse under a sheet and present it to Aegisthus when he returns home, claiming it to be the body of Orestes. When Aegisthus lifts the veil to discover his dead wife, Orestes reveals himself, and the play ends as Aegisthus is escorted off to be killed at the hearth , the same location Agamemnon was slain.
What is Electra the god of?
ELEKTRA (Electra) was the Okeanid-nymph wife of the sea-god Thaumas and the mother of Iris the Rainbow and the storm-wind Harpyiai (Harpies). Elektra was perhaps the cloud-nymph of the amber-trim, Greek êlektron, of storm-clouds illuminated by the beams of the returning sun.
What is Electra famous for?
Electra, (Greek: “Bright One”) in Greek legend, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, who saved the life of her young brother Orestes by sending him away when their father was murdered. When he later returned, she helped him to slay their mother and their mother's lover, Aegisthus.
What does the name Electra mean?
Elektra is a female given name. Its Greek origin ( Ἠλέκτρα, Ēlektra) means “ amber” , and thus “shining”, “incandescent”. Names with similar meanings are Lucy and Svetlana.
Who dies at the end of Electra?
Clytemnestra maintains that it was a just murder, done as revenge for Agamemnon's sacrifice of their daughter, Iphigenia. Electra holds that the sacrifice was necessary, and that, regardless of this detail, Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon out of lust for Aegisthus.
Who is the old man that Electra speaks to?
Pylades . Pylades is Orestes's silent friend who accompanies him and the Old Man to Mycenae to exact revenge for Agamemnon's death. He is the mute witness to the play's drama in much the same way that the audience is.
Who is the tragic hero in Electra?
In Euripides” play Electra we find that our protagonist, the Electra of the title, exhibits well the characteristics of a tragic hero: she is descended from Agamemnon , king of the Greek, and possesses a hamartia, or tragic flaw, which eventually leads her to face a punishment nearly worse than death.
Why is Electra the main character?
Electra is the play's protagonist , and she is the sister of Orestes, Iphigenia, and Chrysothemis as well as the daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. ... The character of Electra also serves to highlight the sexist nature of ancient Greek society.
What is Electra's tragic flaw?
Profound Suffering. Electra is the tragic hero in this story, the has a number of “tragic flaws” that will lead to her downfall at the end of the story. She has a strong, blind desire for vengeance . She demonstrates immense self-pity.
What is poured on Electra and Orestes?
She pours a libation to her father , and calls to Orestes to come to her aid. ... The chorus then joins in the libations, praying to Agamemnon that he protect them and Electra from evil but not Clytamnestra, who should feel his wrath.
Is Elektra a tragedy?
Electra, Elektra, or The Electra (Ancient Greek: ΗΛΕΚΤΡΑ, Ēlektra) is a Greek tragedy by Sophocles . Its date is not known, but various stylistic similarities with the Philoctetes (409 BC) and the Oedipus at Colonus (401 BC) lead scholars to suppose that it was written towards the end of Sophocles' career.
What happened to Electra Greek mythology?
Electra was the daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra of Mycenae in Greek mythology. ... When Agamemnon returned from the Trojan War along with his consort Cassandra, he was murdered by his wife and her lover , who was also his cousin.
