ORESTES
CLYTÆMNESTRA
PYLADES
ELECTRA
ÆGISTHOS
_Nurse_
_Servant_
_Chorus of Captive Women_
_ARGUMENT.—It came to pass, after Agamemnon had been slain, that
Clytæmnestra and Ægisthos ruled in Argos, and all things seemed to go
well with them. Orestes, who was heir to Agamemnon, they had sent away
to the care of Strophios of Phokis, and there he abode. Electra, his
sister, mourned in secret over her father's death, and prayed for
vengeance, but no avenger came. And when Orestes grew up to man's
estate, he went to ask counsel of the God at Delphi, and the Gods
straitly charged him to take vengeance on his father's murderers; and so
he started on his journey with his trusty friend Pylades, and arrived at
Argos. And it chanced that a little while before he came, the Gods sent
Clytæmnestra a fearful dream, that troubled her soul greatly; and in her
terror she bade Electra go with her handmaids to pour libations on the
tomb of Agamemnon, that so she might appease his soul, and propitiate
the Powers that rule over the dark world of the dead._