Aigisthos

Aigisthos rules Argos beside Clytemnestra, and the Chorus of loyal slave women regard him as a usurper who keeps his grip through intimidation. He is the man Orestes could have bought off with a large blood-price and lived comfortably beside—the option the play keeps on the table to make the hero's refusal meaningful. His presence turns the household into occupied territory, so that every libation at the grave and every whispered oath is also a political act. He is the target the whole first half of the play quietly aims at.