Background
Agamemnon, King of Mycenae, and his wife Clytemnestra have four children: Iphigenia, Electra, Chrysothemis and Orestes. When the Greek fleet is ready to set sail for Troy, a calm keeps the ships in port. Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to appease the goddess Artemis so that she will create favourable winds for his journey. Clytemnestra will never forgive her husband for this. During Agamemnon’s absence fighting for Troy, Clytemnestra enters into a relationship with Aegisthus. When Agamemnon returns home, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus feign a joyous welcome. They then murder the defenceless man with an axe as he sits in his bath. After her father is murdered, Electra succeeds in bringing her young brother to safety. She herself nurses one thought: to avenge the murder.
Image: Heribert Friedl