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Electra, 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. Electra then married Orestes’.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Electra’s compelling story and complex character have captivated audiences for centuries, leading to numerous theatrical adaptations and portrayals in film. Her tragic tale of revenge and familial betrayal resonates with audiences, ensuring her enduring presence in the world of performing arts.
- Elektra’s Story
- Was She Real?
- Who Has Played Elektra?
- What Was Elektra like?
- How Was The Oresteia Preserved?
- Are There Modern Productions?
To understand Elektra (also known as Electra), daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, you need to know that her family is cursed. Her story is tragic. Elektra’s father is Agamemnon and her mother is Clytemnestra. She has a brother, Orestes, and a sister, Iphigenia. After war and betrayal, Orestes, with Elektra’s urging, kills their mother. But, as...
The earliest Greek language records her family, so Elektra has been around “for as long as the Greek’s have been writing,” says Hart. Her family is one of the major families of Greek epics. Elektra became immortalized through Libation Bearers, the second play of The Oresteiaby Aeschylus. The trilogy was first put on stage in 458 BC at the Festival ...
Elektra is a great character to play. “She is seen to be a Greek model. There wasn’t such thing as a female hero, but there were a lot of really strong powerful female women and Elektra is one of them,” says Hart. She has been portrayed many, many times. But under Sophokles’ direction, a very famous actor named Polos became known for playing Elektr...
Devastated by her father’s death, she was a wild and empathetic character. She wasn’t civilized in a soft, feminine, graceful way because she was consumed with anger and revenge. For her, there was no relief from her rage. She’s often portrayed with short hair, which would have been cut as part of her mourning of her father. She lived in poverty an...
Less than 10% of the original Greek plays have survived. It is thought that many plays were lost when the Great Library of Alexandria burned in 48 BC.What has survived is thanks to the diligence of Byzantine monks and scribes who copied them in manuscript form for their poetic heritage and quality, and also to teach Greek. “We owe Byzantine Greek t...
Yes! Cowboy Elektra is coming to the Getty Villa in January. However, going back to the 1960s, Greek movie star Irene Papas played Elektra in Electra, the film by Greek director Michael Cacoyannis. “It’s one of her greatest roles,” says Hart. Another great, contemporary take on Elektra is seen in Electricidad, a play by Luis Alfaro, that takes plac...
Mar 30, 2020 · Electra is a Greek tragedy written by the playwright Euripides c. 420 BCE. It retells the classic myth concerning the plotting of Electra and her brother Orestes to kill their mother and her lover. This version of the story should not be confused with the play of the same name by his fellow playwright, Electra by Sophocles.
- Donald L. Wasson
Jun 27, 2018 · Electra in Art, Literature, and Everyday Life. Electra appears in Greek playwright Aeschylus's play the Oresteia, first performed in 458 bce. Modern versions of Electra appear in the play Mourning Becomes Electra, written by Eugene O'Neill in 1931, and the 1909 opera Elektra by Richard Strauss.
Electra, in Greek mythology, was the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, sister of Orestes, Chrysotemis and Iphigenia. She is the main character in a play of the same name by Sophocles and another by Euripides, in addition to the parody by Aeschylus.
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Electra by Euripides. First produced in the mid-410s, Euripides’ Electra is an intertextual (and, thus, rather anti-tragical) parody of previous versions and dramatizations of the same myth. Set in a peaceful, rustic environment, the play is introduced by a rare guest in Ancient tragedy, an ordinary farmer, who, quite extraordinarily ...
