Character guide

Electra

major

Also known as Electra Dawn, Electra Bitter constraint, Electra Success, Electra Woe, Electra Hark, Electra O King Apollo, Electra Brother, Electra Thou, Electra E'en

Electra lingers in the house of her father's killers, unwed and degraded, while her mother rules beside Aegisthus. She clings to grief with a fierceness the Chorus calls fruitless, insisting that forgetting would be a second murder, and she waits obsessively for her exiled brother Orestes to return. Her refusal to bend makes her the play's engine: every confrontation over the tomb, the offerings, and the throne runs through her unappeasable memory.

Orestes

major

Also known as Aged Servant Orestes

Orestes arrives at Mycenae with his old tutor and Pylades, a stranger in his own city, standing before the palace that was stained by his father's blood. He must move between disguise and recognition, letting a false report of his death do its work while he watches his sister suffer in ignorance. His return turns Electra's long waiting into action, and his presence forces the house toward the reckoning it has been holding its breath for.

Clytemnestra

major

Clytemnestra holds the palace with Aegisthus, dispensing orders and reproaches while Electra accuses her openly in the streets. She justifies Agamemnon's death with cold logic, yet an evil dream sends her to pour libations at the tomb, betraying a conscience she will not admit. Her authority and her unease set the terms of the conflict: the children must decide whether the queen is a tyrant to be killed or a mother to be spared.

Aegisthus

supporting

Also known as King Aegisthus, Aegisthus Alas

Aegisthus shares the throne and the guilt, ruling Mycenae as if the murder were already settled history. He is kept offstage for much of the action, a looming presence whose return is awaited with dread by Electra and satisfaction by Clytemnestra. His fate is bound up with the house's curse: the play's tension depends on whether the avenger can reach him before he consolidates his grip.

Chrysothemis

supporting

Also known as Chrysothemis Sister, Sister, Chrysothemis Orestes⁠—hear

Chrysothemis moves through the same humiliated household but bends where Electra refuses, accepting the queen's orders and hoping for a quieter life. She loves her sister and fears her, caught between loyalty to their dead father and a practical instinct to endure. Her caution gives the play its central argument about how to live under tyranny, and her errand to the tomb becomes the first sign that someone else has been there.

Aged Servant

supporting

This aged servant stands at Orestes' side at the play's opening, naming the landmarks of Argos and the grim palace of Pelops' line for the young man who barely remembers home. He has kept the boy alive through years of exile and now serves as messenger, strategist, and witness to the return. His presence ties the revenge plot to the household's long history, making the past feel like something that was carefully preserved rather than merely suffered.

Pylades

minor

Orestes's faithful friend and companion, silent but present throughout the revenge plot.

Agamemnon

minor

Murdered king of Argos, father of Electra and Orestes, whose death drives the plot.

Apollo

minor

Also known as Phoebus, O Lycean Phoebus

God who commands Orestes to avenge his father, guiding the action from afar.

Zeus

minor

Also known as O Zeus

Supreme god invoked by Electra and others for justice and vengeance.

Artemis

minor

Also known as the Huntress Artemis

Goddess of the hunt, referenced in the context of sacrifice and divine will.

Menelaus

minor

Brother of Agamemnon, king of Sparta, mentioned in passing as part of the royal family.

The Greeks

minor

Collective Greek army or people, referenced as a background force.

Amphiaraus

minor

Legendary seer and warrior, briefly referenced as an example of fate.