The Revenge of Orestes
Orestes returns to avenge Agamemnon by killing Aegisthus and Clytemnestra, only to become pursued for the murder of his own mother.
The Story
Orestes was still young when Agamemnon was killed.
He was removed from danger and raised away from Mycenae.
Years later he returned.
His purpose was revenge.
Agamemnon had been murdered by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, and the demands of family honour required Orestes to punish the killers.
Electra, his sister, remained closely associated with the memory of their father.
In the major tragic traditions she recognised or assisted Orestes when he returned.
Orestes killed Aegisthus.
Then came the far more terrible task.
He killed Clytemnestra.
By avenging his father, Orestes had murdered his mother.
The act solved one obligation only by creating another violation.
The Erinyes, ancient powers associated with vengeance for blood crimes within the family, pursued him.
Orestes fled.
The cycle of retaliation that had defined the House of Atreus now seemed impossible to end.
Every murder demanded another murder.
In Aeschylus' Oresteia, the solution comes through a transformation in justice itself.
Orestes reaches Athens.
Athena establishes a formal trial.
The case is judged rather than answered by another private act of revenge.
Orestes is acquitted.
The Erinyes are given a new honoured place within the civic order.
The story therefore moves beyond the fate of one family.
The ancient system of blood vengeance is replaced by communal judgment and law.
The curse of the House of Atreus finally begins to lose its power.
Key Figures
Why It Matters
Orestes' story is one of Greek mythology's clearest examinations of competing moral duties. Avenging his father makes him guilty of killing his mother, forcing the myth to confront whether inherited revenge can ever produce justice.
Traditions & Variations
The most influential surviving version is Aeschylus' Oresteia, but Sophocles, Euripides and other traditions tell the story differently. The role of Electra, Apollo and the Erinyes varies between treatments.