Electra in the context of "Clytemnestra"

⭐ In the context of Clytemnestra, Electra is considered…

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⭐ Core Definition: Electra

In Greek mythology, Electra, also spelt Elektra (/əˈlɛktrə/; Ancient Greek: Ἠλέκτρα, romanizedĒléktrā, lit.'amber'; [ɛː.lék.traː]), is a princess of Mycenae and the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. Famously, Electra and her brother Orestes attack and kill Clytemnestra to avenge their father's murder.

She is the titular main character of two Greek tragedies: Electra by Sophocles and Electra by Euripides. She is also the central figure in plays by Aeschylus, Alfieri, Voltaire, Hofmannsthal, Eugene O'Neill, and Jean-Paul Sartre. She is a vengeful soul in The Libation Bearers, the second play of Aeschylus' Oresteia trilogy.

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👉 Electra in the context of Clytemnestra

In Greek mythology, Clytemnestra (/ˌkltəmˈnɛstrə/, UK also /kltəmˈnstrə/; Ancient Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα, romanizedKlutaimnḗstra, pronounced [klytai̯mnɛ̌ːstraː]), was the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and the half-sister of Helen of Troy. With Agamemnon, she was the mother of Orestes and Electra.

Clytemnestra appears as a character in multiple ancient Greek works, including the Homeric epics and plays by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. She is infamous for murdering Agamemnon and the Trojan princess Cassandra, whom Agamemnon had taken as a war prize, when they returned from Trojan War. However, in Homer's Odyssey and Iliad, her role in Agamemnon's death is unclear and her character is significantly more subdued.

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Electra in the context of Agamemnon

In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (/æɡəˈmɛmnɒn/ ; Ancient Greek: Ἀγαμέμνων Agamémnōn) was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Iphigenia, Iphianassa, Electra, Laodike, Orestes and Chrysothemis. Legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area. Agamemnon was killed upon his return from Troy by Clytemnestra, or in an older version of the story, by Clytemnestra's lover Aegisthus.

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Electra in the context of Kratos (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Kratos (Ancient Greek: Κράτος, lit.'power, strength') also known as Cratus or Cratos, is the divine personification of strength. He is the son of Pallas and Styx. Kratos and his siblings Nike ('Victory'), Bia ('Force'), and Zelus ('Glory') are all the personification of a specific trait. Kratos is first mentioned alongside his siblings in Hesiod's Theogony. According to Hesiod, Kratos and his siblings dwell with Zeus because their mother Styx came to him first to request a position in his regime, so he honored her and her children with exalted positions. Kratos and his sister Bia are best known for their appearance in the opening scene of Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound. Acting as agents of Zeus, they lead the captive Titan Prometheus on stage. Kratos compels the mild-mannered blacksmith god Hephaestus to chain Prometheus to a rock as punishment for his theft of fire.

Kratos is characterized as brutal and merciless, repeatedly mocking both Hephaestus and Prometheus' advocacy against the use of unnecessary violence. He defends Zeus' oppressive rule and predicts that Prometheus will never escape his bonds. In Aeschylus' Libation Bearers, Electra calls upon Kratos, Dike ("Justice"), and Zeus to aid her brother Orestes in avenging the murder of their father Agamemnon. Kratos and Bia appear in a late fifth-century BC red-figure Attic skyphos of the punishment of Ixion, possibly based on a scene from a lost tragedy by Euripides. They also appear in late eighteenth and nineteenth-century Romantic depictions and adaptations of the binding of Prometheus.

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Electra in the context of Orestes

In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (/ɒˈrɛstz/; Ancient Greek: Ὀρέστης [oréstɛːs]) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra and Iphigenia. He was also known by the patronymic Agamemnonides (Ἀγαμεμνονίδης), meaning "son of Agamemnon." He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness, revenge, and purification, which retain obscure threads of much older works. In particular Orestes plays a main role in Aeschylus' Oresteia.

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Electra in the context of Iphianassa (daughter of Agamemnon)

In the Iliad, Iphianassa (/ˌɪfiəˈnæsə/; Ancient Greek: Ἰφιάνασσα, romanizedIphiánassa, lit.'strong queen') is an obscure and controversial daughter of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, sister to Laodice and Chrysothemis, sometimes considered identical to Iphigenia.

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Electra in the context of Laodice (Greek myth)

In Greek mythology, Laodice (/leɪˈɒdəˌsi/; Ancient Greek: Λαοδίκη, romanizedLaodíkē, lit.'justice of the people' [la.odíkɛː]) may refer to the following figures:

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Electra in the context of Chrysothemis

In Greek mythology, Chrysothemis or Khrysothemis (/krɪˈsɒθɪmɪs/; Ancient Greek: Χρυσόθεμις, "golden law") is a name ascribed to several female characters in Greek mythology.

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Electra in the context of Campanian vase painting

Campanian vase painting is one of the five regional styles of South Italian red-figure vase painting fabricated in Magna Graecia. It forms a close stylistic community with Apulian vase painting.

Campania produced red-figure vases in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The sand-coloured to light brown clay (lighter than other South Italian clays) of Campania was covered with a slip that developed a pink or red tint after firing, creating an appearance very similar to that of Attic vases. The popular white or bright paints were visually especially striking on this. Women are usually by the use of white paint to depict their skin. The Campanian painters preferred smaller vessel types, but also hydriai and bell kraters. The most popular shape is the bail-amphora. Many typical Apulian vessel shapes, like volute kraters, column kraters, loutrophoroi, rhyta and nestoris amphorae are absent, pelikes are rare. The repertoire of motifs is limited. Subjects include youths, women, thiasos scenes, birds and animals, and often native Samnite warriors. The backs often show cloaked youths. Mythological scenes and depictions related to burial rites play a subsidiary role. Naiskos scenes, ornamental elements and polychromy are adopted after 340 BC under Lucanian influence. The bell-shaped flowers used as ornaments are very different from the ornaments used in other South Italian styles. At 4,000 known vases, the Campanian style is the second most common in the region (after Apulian).

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