Sophocles    Electra --soon after 413 BC (?) 


Identify cast and setting: 
	The play is set in Mycenae (at the 'knuckle' of the Argolid, the stubby finger south of Attica)  
  Electra and Chrysothemis are daughters of Clytemnestra, orphaned of their father Agamemnon
		 (whom Clytemnestra murdered when he returned from Troy). 
	Clytemnestra   herself is the most obvious 'tragic character' in the sense that she brings  her own doom.
	 Aegisthus, Agamemnon's cousin, is consort and co-conspirator with Clytemnestra 
	Orestes and 'Tutor' (or Pedagog): Orestes was reared to manhood in exile and now returns for vengeance. 
	the Chorus of this play are young women of Mycenae who commiserate with Electra 

What happens? (plot summary). 

What is Electra's problem? 
		What is her predicament at the outset of the play, and what new horror threatens her (380)? 

Analyze the character of Electra: what values does she  represent?
		 Focus on her defining speech at 948 ff. (p.157 Meineck)

Does Clytemnestra have any redeeming qualities? 

Analyze the character of Orestes.  
	He was traditionally regarded (since Homer) as the exemplar of the ephebe taking vengeance
	 for the father.  By Winkler's theory, he would be the real focus of the play, taking on the role 
	of kyrios (master of the house) and defender of his kin. 
(As in Trachiniae, the women are used to set up the conflicting loyalties). 

	Is there any suggestion of second-thinking or 'late learning'--recognition or 
reservations about vindictiveness--in Sophocles' characterization of Orestes? 

What is this play about--what are the central issues?