Electra by Sophocles | Episode 1

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Course Hero Literature Instructor Russell Jaffe provides an in-depth summary and analysis of Episode 1 of Sophocles's play Electra.
Download the free study guide and infographic for Electra here: www.coursehero.com/lit/Electr...
Set in Argos, Greece shortly after the Trojan war, Sophocles's Electra tells the story of one woman's drive for revenge.
She is haunted by the death of her father Agamemnon at the hands of her mother Clytemnestra and her mother's new lover. The pair had acted to avenge the death of her sister Iphigenia, sacrificed to ensure success in the Trojan War.
Electra in turn desires vengeance. Her fury is fanned by the arrival of her brother Orestes, who is also on the warpath.
Electra is perhaps one of the most tortured characters in all of Greek mythology. Sophocles's treatment of this classic story of familial dysfunction ties together many of the hanging threads left by other tellings of the Trojan saga in brutal and bloody fashion.
Ancient Greek tragedian Sophocles’s Electra was first performed c. 410 BCE. Sophocles was the first to use sets in Greek theater and to use props symbolically. This includes the funeral urn with which Orestes tests Electra's loyalty in Electra-one of just seven of Sophocles's roughly 120 plays to survive.
The tragedy Electra contains many enduring themes, including revenge, as a cycle of vengeance can dominate and destroy lives; and duty. Obligation to family is paramount. Justice is also explored as true justice is bound to duty and honor. Important motifs include revenge, deception, and mourning.
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[@DCapital-hm8eg]

Clytemnestra is the worst.