Electra 80527 225451897 2008-07-13T19:39:18Z Wikiborg 13798 õ → ő {{otheruses}} [[Image:Orestes Elektra Hermes Louvre K544.jpg|thumb|right|220px|[[Orestes (mythology)|Orestes]], Electra and [[Hermes]] at the tomb of [[Agamemnon]], [[lucania]]n red-figure [[pelike]], ca. [[-380|380]] – [[-370|370 BC]], [[Louvre]] (K 544)]] [[Image:1869 Frederic Leighton - Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Electra at the Tomb of [[Agamemnon]], [[Frederic Leighton]] c.1869]] [[Image:Electra and Orestes - Project Gutenberg eText 14994.png|thumbnail|300px|right|Electra and [[Orestes (mythology)|Orestes]], from an 1897 ''Stories from the Greek Tragedians'', by Alfred Church]] {{Commonscat|Electra}} In [[Greek mythology]], '''Electra''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]:Ηλέκτρα) was a daughter of [[Agamemnon]] and [[Clytemnestra]], and was a sibling to [[Iphigeneia]], [[Chrysothemis]] and [[Orestes]]. She is the main character in the Greek [[tragedy|tragedies]] ''[[Electra (Sophocles)|Electra]]'' by [[Sophocles]] and ''[[Electra (Euripides)|Electra]]'' by [[Euripides]] and has inspired various other works. == Overview == ;'''The Murder of Agamemnon''' Electra was absent from [[Mycenae]] when her father, King Agamemnon, returned from the [[Trojan War]] to be murdered by [[Aegisthus]], Clytemnestra's lover, and/or by Clytemnestra herself. Aegisthus and Clytemnestra also killed [[Cassandra]], Agamemnon's war prize, a prophet priestess of Troy. Eight years later Electra was brought from [[Athens]] with her brother, [[Orestes (mythology)|Orestes]]. (''[[Odyssey]]'', iii. 306; X. 542). According to [[Pindar]] (''Pythia'', xi. 25), Orestes was saved by his old nurse or by Electra, and was taken to [[Phanote]] on [[Mount Parnassus]], where King [[Strophius]] took charge of him. In his twentieth year, Orestes was ordered by the [[Delphi|Delphic]] [[oracle]] to return home and avenge his father's death. ;'''The Murder of Clytaemnestra''' According to [[Aeschylus]], Orestes met Electra before the tomb of Agamemnon, where both had gone to perform rites to the dead; a recognition took place, and they arranged how Orestes should accomplish his revenge. [[Pylades]] and Orestes killed Clytemnestra and Aegisthus (in some accounts with Electra helping). Afterwards, Orestes went and pleaded with Dionysus, the god of wine, to make him, in some ways, crazy. He was pursued by the [[Erinyes]], or Furies, whose duty it is to punish any violation of the ties of family piety. Electra, however, was not hounded by the Erinyes. Orestes took refuge in the temple at [[Delphi]]. Even though [[Apollo (god)|Apollo]] (to whom the Delphic temple was dedicated) had ordered him to do the deed, he was powerless to protect Orestes from the consequences of his actions. At last [[Athena]] (also known as Areia) received him on the [[Acropolis, Athens|Acropolis]] of [[Athens, Greece|Athens]] and arranged a formal trial of the case before twelve [[Attica, Greece|Attic]] judges. The Erinyes demanded their victim; he pleaded the orders of Apollo; the votes of the judges were equally divided, and Athena gave her casting vote for acquittal. In ''[[Iphigeneia in Tauris]]'', Euripides tells the tale somewhat differently. He claims that Orestes was led by the Furies to Tauris on the Black Sea, where his sister [[Iphigeneia]] was being held. The two met when Orestes and Pylades were brought to Iphigeneia to be prepared for sacrifice to [[Artemis]]. Iphigeneia, Orestes and Pylades escaped from Tauris, and the Furies, sated by the reunion of the family, abated their persecution. ;'''Marriage''' Later, Pylades and Electra fell in love and married. Pylades was the son of King Strophius (who had cared for Orestes while he hid from his mother and her lover), and had helped Orestes and Electra kill Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. According to Euripides, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus had previously given Electra in marriage to a peasant, believing that her children would be less likely to take revenge if they were not of noble birth, but the peasant respected her and declined to consummate the marriage. == Psychology == The psychological concept of the [[Electra complex]] is named after her. == Adaptations of the Electra story == * The ''[[Oresteia]]'', a trilogy of plays by [[Aeschylus]] * ''[[Electra (Sophocles)|Electra]]'', play by [[Sophocles]] * ''[[Electra (Euripides)|Electra]]'', play by [[Euripides]] * ''[[Electra (Giraudoux)|Electra]]'', play by [[Jean Giraudoux]] * ''[[Elektra (Kiš)|Electra]]'', drama by [[Danilo Kiš]] * ''[[The Flies]]'', a play by [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], modernizing the Electra myth around the theme of [[existentialism]]. * ''[[Elektra (play)|Elektra]]'', a play by [[Hugo von Hofmannsthal]], based on the Sophocles play. * ''[[Mourning Becomes Electra]]'', play by [[Eugene O'Neill]], based on Aeschylus * ''[[Electra (1962 film)|Electra]]'', film by [[Michael Cacoyannis]], starring [[Irene Papas]], based on Euripides. * ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'', [[opera]] by composer [[Richard Strauss]], with libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, based on his own play. * ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'', [[opera]] by [[Mikis Theodorakis]]. * ''[[Ellie (movie)]]'', B-movie which transfers the story to a Southern U.S. locale. * ''[[Szerelmem, Elektra]]'' (aka Elektra, My Love), film by [[Miklós Jancsó]], starring [[Mari Törőcsik]]. * ''[[Electricidad]], play by [[Luis Alfaro]], modern adaptation of Electra based in the Chicano barrio * ''Mourning Becomes Electra'', [[opera]] by Marvin David Levy, based on Eugene O'Neill's play * ''Infamante Electra'' (2005) a play by Benjamín Galemiri * ''Molara'' (2004) a play by Yael Farber [[Category:Greek mythology]] [[Category:Mortal parents of demigods in Classical mythology]] [[bs:Elektra]] [[bg:Електра]] [[ca:Electra]] [[cs:Élektra]] [[da:Elektra]] [[de:Elektra (Mykene)]] [[el:Ηλέκτρα (μυθολογία)]] [[es:Electra]] [[fa:الکترا]] [[fr:Électre (Atride)]] [[gl:Electra]] [[hr:Elektra]] [[is:Elektra]] [[it:Elettra (mitologia Agamennone)]] [[he:אלקטרה]] [[lt:Elektra (mitologija)]] [[hu:Élektra]] [[nl:Elektra (mythologie)]] [[ja:エーレクトラー]] [[pt:Electra]] [[ru:Электра]] [[simple:Elektra]] [[sh:Elektra]] [[fi:Elektra]] [[sv:Elektra]] [[tr:Elektra]] [[uk:Електра]]