# Orestes — The Libation Bearers character guide

> Orestes in The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Orestes Strophe, Orestes Listen, Orestes Ho, little Orestes, Ho

**First appearance:** 0001-the-libation-bearers

## Snapshot

Exiled son of Agamemnon returns in traveler's rags to a father's grave, carrying a tress of hair and an oath sworn in Phôkis.

## Who they are

Raised in the hills of Phôkis by Strophius after being plundered and cast out in childhood, Orestes comes home a stranger to the very house he must save. He has sworn to divide his hair between the river Inachos and his murdered father's tomb, and he clings to that oath as the one thing enemies could not take. His dilemma is the play's engine: accept a blood-price and live comfortably, or, like a wild bull driven from the herd, demand a life for a life. He chooses the harder path, and the cost is written into his own mind.

## Relationships

### [Electra](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters/electra)

_family_

Siblings reunited in shared grief and a plot for revenge against their mother.

### [Clytemnestra](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters/clytemnestra)

_family_

Mother and son locked in a deadly conflict over the murder of Agamemnon.

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

_family_

Dead father whose murder drives Orestes' quest for vengeance.

### [Zeus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters/zeus)

_psychological_

Orestes appeals to Zeus for justice and support in his divine mission of revenge.

### [Apollo](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters/apollo)

_professional_

Apollo commands Orestes to avenge his father and promises divine protection.

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

_friendship_

Loyal companion who stands by Orestes during the murder plot.

### [Cassandra](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters/cassandra)

_psychological_

Cassandra's prophetic warnings about the house of Atreus foreshadow Orestes' fate.

### [Loxias](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters/loxias)

_professional_

Loxias (Apollo) is the god who commands and guides Orestes' revenge.

### [Hermês](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters/hermes)

_professional_

Hermes is invoked by Orestes as a guide and helper in his mission.

### [Althaea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters/althaea)

_psychological_

Althaea is used as a mythological parallel to Clytemnestra's maternal betrayal.

### [Strophius](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters/strophius)

_family_

Strophius is Orestes' uncle who sheltered him in exile.

### [Skylla](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters/skylla)

_psychological_

Skylla is referenced as a mythological example of a treacherous woman, paralleling Clytemnestra.

## In the story

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/chapters/endnotes)

Roused to fury by Electra's account; later shows reckless fluency, bitterness, and eventual madness.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters/orestes
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters