Orestes

The Boy Who Escaped

When Clytemnestra and Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon, the young Orestes was spirited away — in most versions by his sister Electra or by a loyal servant — to be raised in safety at the court of Strophius in Phocis.

There he grew up alongside Pylades, Strophius's son, forging one of the most famous friendships in Greek mythology. Years passed while Aegisthus and Clytemnestra ruled Mycenae.

The Matricide

Apollo's oracle at Delphi commanded Orestes to avenge his father by killing his mother — an impossible demand that placed divine law against natural law. Returning to Mycenae in disguise, Orestes killed first Aegisthus, then Clytemnestra.

The act was simultaneously righteous and abominable. Orestes had fulfilled his duty as a son to avenge his father, but in doing so, he had committed the most terrible crime: the murder of his own mother.

The Trial

The Furies — ancient goddesses of blood vengeance — pursued Orestes relentlessly, driving him to madness. In Aeschylus's Eumenides, Athena establishes the Areopagus in Athens to try his case.

Apollo defended Orestes; the Furies prosecuted. The jury of Athenian citizens split evenly, and Athena cast the deciding vote for acquittal. The cycle of blood vengeance that began with Tantalus was finally broken — not by more killing, but by the rule of law.