What is the story of Electra?
Electra, (Greek: “Bright One”) in Greek legend, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, who saved the life of her young brother Orestes by sending him away when their father was murdered. When he later returned, she helped him to slay their mother and their mother’s lover, Aegisthus.
What happens to Electra at the end?
Despite her pleas, Orestes and Electra kill her (offstage) by pushing a sword down her throat: although the murder is ultimately committed by Orestes, Electra is equally guilty because she urges him on and even holds the sword with him.
Why is Electra important?
She is the embodiment of a central theme of the play, namely, how revenge affects its perpetrator. major conflictElectra’s intense desire to exact revenge from her mother for her father’s death conflicts with the play’s central and underlying question of whether that revenge is indeed just and warranted.
Who dies at the end of Electra?
Clytemnestra maintains that it was a just murder, done as revenge for Agamemnon’s sacrifice of their daughter, Iphigenia. Electra holds that the sacrifice was necessary, and that, regardless of this detail, Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon out of lust for Aegisthus.
Why is Electra a tragedy?
Electra is the tragic hero in this story, the has a number of “tragic flaws” that will lead to her downfall at the end of the story. She has a strong, blind desire for vengeance. She demonstrates immense self-pity. She is very jealous.
What Electra means?
Elektra is a female given name. Its Greek origin ( Ἠλέκτρα, Ēlektra) means “amber”, and thus “shining”, “incandescent”. Names with similar meanings are Lucy and Svetlana. Variants are Ela, Elka, Elke, Elek, Elektrine.
Where does Electra live in Sophocles Electra?
Mycenae
Set in the city of Argos a few years after the Trojan War, the play tells of a bitter struggle for justice by Electra and her brother Orestes for the murder of their father Agamemnon by Clytemnestra and their stepfather Aegisthus….Electra (Sophocles play)
| Electra | |
|---|---|
| Setting | Mycenae, before the palace of the Pelopidae |
Who is the tragic hero of Electra?
In Euripides” play Electra we find that our protagonist, the Electra of the title, exhibits well the characteristics of a tragic hero: she is descended from Agamemnon, king of the Greek, and possesses a hamartia, or tragic flaw, which eventually leads her to face a punishment nearly worse than death.
Who wrote the opera Elektra?
Hugo von Hofmannsthal
Elektra/Librettists
Why is Electra a tragic hero?
Who is Elektra’s sister?
Chrysothemis
Family. Electra’s parents were King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. Her sisters were Iphigeneia and Chrysothemis, and her brother was Orestes.
When did Sophocles write the story of Electra?
“Electra” (Gr: “Elektra”) is a tragedy by the ancient Greek playwright Sophocles, probably dating from quite late in his career, around 410 BCE or later. It is based on the story of Electra and her brother Orestes, and the vengeance they take on their mother Clytemnestra and step-father Aegisthus for…
Who are Pylades and the old man in Electra?
Pylades, Orestes, and the Old Man, Orestes’s keeper, arrive at Mycenae at daybreak. They have come to exact revenge for the murder of Agamemnon, Orestes’s father, as instructed by an oracle of Apollo.
Who are the parents of Electra and Orestes?
It is based on the story of Electra and her brother Orestes, and the vengeance they take on their mother Clytemnestra and step-father Aegisthus for the murder of their father Agamemnon in the aftermath of the Trojan War. It is considered one of Sophocles ’ most successful dramas.
What does Electra propose to her sister Chrysothemis?
Electra proposes to her sister that it is now up to them to kill their hated step-father Aegisthus, but Chrysothemis refuses to help, pointing out the impracticability of the plan. When Orestes arrives at the palace, carrying the urn supposedly containing his own ashes, he does not recognize Electra at first, nor she him.