Euripides’ Orestes
Teacher’s Guide | Classical Reference Library
Richer Resources Editorial Team
Purpose of This Guide
Euripides’ Orestes begins after the murder of Clytaemnestra, when her children Orestes and Electra face punishment rather than vindication. The play questions whether an appeal to Apollo, loyalty to family, or a vote of the people can resolve a cycle of violence. Its shifting alliances, bitter arguments, and startling ending offer rich opportunities to examine responsibility, justice, political rhetoric, and the instability of heroic ideals.
Historical and Literary Context
First produced in Athens in 408 BCE, Orestes revisits the House of Atreus near the end of the Peloponnesian War. Agamemnon was murdered by Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus; his children Orestes and Electra subsequently killed their mother. Euripides begins several days after that act. Students familiar with Aeschylus’ Oresteia can compare the dramatists’ markedly different treatments of divine commands and civic justice. The play’s depiction of a volatile public assembly also invites discussion of political persuasion without requiring a one-to-one allegory of Athenian events.
Plot at a Glance
In Argos, Orestes is tormented by the Furies after killing Clytaemnestra; Electra nurses him while both await a public decision about their fate. Helen has returned from Troy, and Menelaus arrives, but he hesitates to help his nephew and niece. Tyndareus, Clytaemnestra’s father, demands punishment. Orestes defends his act as obedience to Apollo, yet the Argive assembly condemns the siblings to death. Their friend Pylades joins them in a desperate plan: kill Helen and seize her daughter Hermione as a hostage to compel Menelaus to intervene. Helen mysteriously disappears; a frightened Phrygian servant recounts the assault. As Orestes threatens Hermione and the palace, Apollo appears, explains Helen’s divine removal, and orders a settlement: Orestes will face trial in Athens and eventually marry Hermione, while Electra will marry Pylades.
Principal Figures
Orestes — Agamemnon’s son, afflicted by guilt and divine persecution after matricide.
Electra — His sister, fiercely loyal and exposed to the same sentence.
Pylades — Orestes’ friend, whose steadfast loyalty becomes entangled with escalating violence.
Menelaus — Agamemnon’s brother, unwilling to risk himself decisively for the siblings.
Helen — Menelaus’ wife, blamed by others for the suffering associated with Troy.
Hermione — Daughter of Helen and Menelaus, drawn into the conflict as a hostage.
Tyndareus — Father of Clytaemnestra, arguing for legal punishment of her killers.
Apollo — The god whose command Orestes invokes and whose intervention ends the crisis.
Chorus — Argive women who respond to the siblings’ distress and uncertainty.
Major Themes
Justice and revenge — A divine command, a family obligation, and a civic sentence point in different directions.
Guilt and suffering — Orestes’ illness makes the aftermath of violence visible even when he claims justification.
Political judgment and persuasion — Public debate can seek justice yet remain vulnerable to anger and manipulation.
Loyalty and complicity — Electra and Pylades remain devoted to Orestes, but solidarity does not guarantee wise action.
Heroism under pressure — Familiar legendary figures appear evasive, vindictive, or desperate rather than exemplary.
Divine intervention — Apollo’s final settlement stops the action without necessarily resolving its moral contradictions.
Dramatic Techniques
Electra’s opening account places the audience inside the aftermath rather than at the original murder. Orestes’ changing physical and emotional condition makes his suffering theatrical. Extended debates test competing definitions of justice. A messenger reports the assembly’s decision, emphasizing how speech shapes political outcomes. The Phrygian servant’s vivid, unsettling account introduces tonal instability as violence turns chaotic. Apollo’s appearance as a deus ex machina imposes order abruptly and invites audiences to question whether an imposed ending equals moral resolution.
Teaching Objectives
Students should be able to (1) explain the mythological events preceding the play; (2) trace Orestes’ changing position from defendant to aggressor; (3) compare the claims of Orestes, Tyndareus, and Menelaus; (4) evaluate the assembly’s decision and the role of persuasion; (5) assess Electra’s and Pylades’ loyalty; and (6) discuss the significance of Apollo’s intervention.
A Flexible Teaching Sequence
- Review Agamemnon’s death and the killing of Clytaemnestra, distinguishing prior myth from the action onstage.
- Read Electra’s opening and Orestes’ first appearance; identify evidence of suffering and competing explanations.
- Stage the arguments between Orestes, Tyndareus, and Menelaus, noting appeals to kinship, law, and the gods.
- Examine the messenger’s account of the assembly and evaluate the speakers’ reasoning.
- Follow the plan involving Helen and Hermione; ask when threatened people become threats to others.
- Compare the crisis immediately before Apollo appears with the settlement he commands.
Passages Worth Close Reading
Electra’s opening — How does the play frame events already familiar from the myth?
Orestes’ distress — Does suffering establish innocence, guilt, or neither?
Tyndareus’ argument — How does he distinguish legal punishment from private revenge?
The assembly report — Which speakers persuade, and by what means?
The Phrygian servant’s account — How does the play shift between terror and theatrical excess?
Apollo’s commands — Which conflicts are settled, and which moral questions remain?
Core Discussion Questions
- What reasons does Orestes give for killing his mother?
- Why does Tyndareus reject those reasons?
- How does Menelaus balance family duty against political risk?
- Is the Argive assembly presented as a trustworthy judge?
- When does Pylades’ friendship become morally troubling?
- How does Orestes’ plan against Helen and Hermione change our view of him?
- Does Apollo restore justice or merely end the crisis?
Classroom Approach
Organize a hearing on the Argive assembly’s sentence. Assign students the roles of Orestes, Tyndareus, Menelaus, Electra, and independent citizens. Require each speaker to identify the law or moral principle being defended, the evidence available, and the consequences of a verdict. After the hearing, reveal or revisit the siblings’ later plan against Helen and Hermione. Ask whether subsequent actions should change the evaluation of their earlier case, and why.
Interpretive Cautions
The play depicts matricide, threats against a young woman, and plans for further killing. Treat these acts seriously even when the dialogue is theatrically extravagant. Avoid equating Orestes’ suffering with a modern clinical diagnosis. The assembly’s conduct may invite political comparison, but it should not be reduced to a simple condemnation of democracy. Apollo’s ending should be discussed as an interpretive problem rather than accepted automatically as moral approval.
Note to the Educator
This guide accompanies the Richer Resources Publications edition of Euripides’ Orestes, translated by Ian Johnston. Encourage close attention to who makes each claim, what that speaker stands to gain, and what the drama itself permits the audience to conclude. A printable PDF version of this resource is available by email.
