The Libation Bearers

Fiction | Play | Adult

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Lines 654-1076

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Character Analysis

Orestes

Orestes is the son of Agamemnon and Clytaemestra. Since Greek tragedies never used more than three actors for all speaking roles, the part of Orestes was likely played by the same actor who played the Nurse and Aegisthus. In the play, Orestes is portrayed as a young man just entering manhood. He grieves for the loss of his father Agamemnon, whom he greatly reveres. He is intent on avenging his father’s murder, even though this means he will have to kill his own mother Clytaemestra. Orestes hates his mother because she killed his father and because she banished him from Argos, denying him his rightful inheritance.

Orestes’s determination to kill his mother stems above all from a divine command he received from the god Apollo, who told him that he must avenge his father or suffer severe punishment. Though he comes across as resolute and determined in the first part of the play, a change comes over Orestes when he finally confronts his mother: Faced with what he must do, Orestes realizes that his conscience is hesitant to kill his mother, despite his hatred and despite the commands of Apollo. Orestes finally kills Clytaemestra, feeling that he has no choice, but he feels terrible guilt for his crime and realizes that his obedience to the god Apollo will not prevent him from being punished by the Furies for the murder.

Electra

Electra is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytaemestra and Orestes’s sister. When Aeschylus produced the tragedy, she was probably played by the same actor who played Clytaemestra. Electra has lived in a state of mourning ever since her mother killed her father Agamemnon. Like Orestes, she hates Clytaemestra and Aegisthus and wants them dead; her mother knows that she hates her and has reduced her to an almost servile status within the household. Electra longs for the return of her brother Orestes because she believes that he will avenge their father, and in this she is correct.

There is a special bond between Electra and her brother, with Electra realizing that Orestes has returned before anybody else, having recognized him by only the lock of hair and footprints that he has left at Agamemnon’s tomb. When Orestes reveals himself to her, Electra is overjoyed, and wastes no time in urging Orestes to murder Clytaemestra and Aegisthus. Electra, however, plays a more passive role than Orestes when it comes to avenging their father: While Orestes deceives and kills Clytaemestra and Aegisthus, Electra’s only duty is to stay out of the way.

Clytaemestra

Clytaemestra is the mother of Orestes and Electra. Having killed her husband, Agamemnon, in the first play of the Oresteia, the Agamemnon, she is now the wife of Aegisthus. Clytaemestra lives in fear of retribution for her crimes. It is because of this fear that Clytaemestra sent her son Orestes away from Argos while reducing her daughter Electra to the level of a servant. At the beginning of the play, Clytaemestra has just had a dream in which she gave birth to a snake that bit her. Believing this dream to be an omen, she sends Electra to bring offerings to the tomb of Agamemnon, hoping to propitiate the spirit of the husband she murdered.

Clytaemestra’s fear does not, however, hinder her ability to act. When she learns that Orestes has returned, she immediately calls for a weapon with which to defend herself. She begs Orestes to spare her life, finally telling him that her curse will torment him if he kills her. Bold and brave, Clytaemestra is far from maternal. When she believes Orestes to be dead, she is secretly happy (at least according to Cilissa), and when Orestes is about to kill her she curses him.

At the same time, Clytaemestra is a complex character with complex motivations. She tries to explain that her actions—including her murder of her husband and her treatment of her children—had complex motivations: She murdered Agamemnon because he had killed their eldest daughter Iphigenia, and she exiled Orestes because she thought that doing so would prevent him from avenging his father while also keeping him safe from Aegisthus. Orestes is not inclined to listen to her, and Clytaemestra ultimately dies together with Aegisthus.

Chorus

The Chorus is made up of Argive servant women in the service of Clytaemestra. These are the “libation bearers” of the title of the play. At the beginning of the play, Clytaemestra sends the Chorus with Electra to pour libations—ritual drink offerings—at the tomb of Agamemnon.

The Chorus is loyal to Electra and Orestes and shares their desire for revenge. Above all, the Chorus hopes that the deaths of Clytaemestra and Aegisthus will restore justice and order to Argos, whose royal family has been tearing itself apart with bloodshed for several generations. They support Orestes’s plot to murder his mother, though by the end of the play, they come to realize that Orestes’s actions have not solved anything: By killing his mother and her lover, Orestes has only prolonged the vicious cycle of violence and retribution while bringing punishment down upon himself.