# Electra — Electra character guide

> Electra in Electra by Sophocles.

**Role:** 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

**First appearance:** 0002-electra

## Snapshot

Agamemnon's daughter, who refuses to stop mourning or stop accusing, keeping the murdered king's memory alive like an open wound in the palace.

## Who they are

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.

## Relationships

### [Orestes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/orestes)

_family_

Siblings bound by a shared mission of vengeance against their mother and stepfather for their father's murder.

### [Chrysothemis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/chrysothemis)

_family_

Sisters with opposing views on justice and resistance, leading to tension and emotional conflict.

### [Aegisthus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/aegisthus)

_rivalry_

Electra despises Aegisthus as her father's killer and the tyrant ruling her household.

### [Pylades](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/pylades)

_friendship_

Trusted ally of Electra's brother, respected by Electra for his loyalty to their cause.

### [Agamemnon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/agamemnon)

_family_

Father and daughter, with Electra's grief and rage over his murder defining her entire existence.

### [Artemis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/artemis)

_psychological_

Goddess associated with Electra's suffering and the sacrificial past of the family, invoked in lament.

### [Menelaus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/menelaus)

_family_

Uncle and niece, with Electra viewing Menelaus as a potential ally who ultimately fails to help.

### [Orestes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/orestes)

_family_

Siblings bound by a shared mission of vengeance against their mother and stepfather for their father's murder.

### [Chrysothemis](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/chrysothemis)

_family_

Sisters with opposing views on justice and resistance, leading to tension and emotional conflict.

### [Pylades](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/pylades)

_friendship_

Trusted ally of Electra's brother, respected by Electra for his loyalty to their cause.

### [Aegisthus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/aegisthus)

_rivalry_

Electra despises Aegisthus as her father's killer and the tyrant ruling her household.

### [Orestes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/orestes)

_family_

Siblings bound by a shared mission of vengeance against their mother and stepfather for their father's murder.

## In the story

### [Dramatis Personae](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/chapters/dramatis-personae)

Listed as daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters/electra
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/electra_se/characters