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Synopsis: When Agamemnon returned from Troy, he was murdered by Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra, and Aegisthus became king of Mycenae. But Orestes 2, whose life was now in
danger, was smuggled away and given to the Phocian Strophius 1 to
bring up. Years later, following the oracle of Delphi,
Orestes 2 returned to Mycenae in company
of Pylades, and killed both his mother and Aegisthus. But having become a matricide, he was
pursued by the ERINYES, and afflicted with madness.
He was also brought to trial in Athens for this crime,
and being acquitted, he then came to Tauris (today called Crimea) to get rid of
his mental disorder. Orestes 2, along with Pylades, was made prisoner
in Tauris, but after being recognized by his sister Iphigenia, who acted as a priestess, he fled with her
back to Hellas. In time Orestes 2 inherited his father's throne, and
became the ruler of a wide territory including Mycenae, Argos, Messenia, the greater part of Arcadia, and Sparta.
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4903: Hermann Wilhelm Bissen 1798-1868: Orestes flees from the
Eumenides. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek,
Copenhagen.
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Orestes is best known for having murdered his own
mother Clytaemnestra.
"Do you think that Orestes, if he had had all his
wits about him and had known what was best for him to do, would have brought
himself to commit any act of the sort? (Socrates. Plato,
Alcibiades 143d).
Why did he commit this terrible deed? In order to avenge his
father Agamemnon, who was in turn murdered by Clytaemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. But why did she murder her husband? Because
Agamemnon let his and Clytaemnestra's daughter Iphigenia be sacrificed at Aulis. Why did Agamemnon such a thing? Because, according to the seer
Calchas, that was the only way to tame the winds that
bound the Achaean fleet at Aulis. And what was that fleet doing there? It had
gathered in order to sail against Troy. But why was it
necessary for that fleet to sail to Troy? Because the
Achaeans purposed to claim back Helen, who had been
stolen by the Trojan Paris. And why did Paris abduct Helen? Because Helen was given to Paris by Aphrodite. And why would this goddess do that? In
order to get the Golden Apple that Eris had thrown
during the wedding party of Peleus and Thetis as a
prize to be awarded to the fairest. Why did Eris throw
that apple? Because she was not invited to the party. Why was she not invited?
Zeus knows, for:
"Gods manifest themselves in many forms, bring
many matters to surprising ends: the things we thought would happen do not
happen, the unexpected God makes possible." (Women of
Phthia. Euripides, Andromache
1285).
But some have said that Clytaemnestra took a lover because
Nauplius 1 induced her to do so. And why would he do that? Because Agamemnon did not give him satisfaction for the death
of his son Palamedes who was stoned by the Achaean
army as a traitor. But why was Palamedes accused of
treason? Because he was conspired against by Odysseus, who hated him. And why did Odysseus hate him? Because Palamedes forced him to go to Troy, showing that Odysseus was
feigning madness to avoid joining the alliance. But why should Odysseus go to Troy? Because he
was bound, as all the SUITORS OF HELEN, by The
Oath of Tyndareus. And why were the suitors exacted
that oath? To prevent them, by swearing to defend Helen's husband, to fight the man who had won her hand.
The oath, which seemed at first an advantageous device, became in time a bane;
for Odysseus, who received Penelope for having the idea of exacting the oath, was
later forced by the same oath to be separated during twenty years from the
beloved wife he had won.
Fate of this family
As for Aegisthus, he had his own
dynastic reasons to murder Agamemnon. For both Atreus and Thyestes 1, fathers of Agamemnon and Aegisthus
respectively, wishing to sit on the throne of Mycenae, performed horrible deeds against each other,
their heirs inheriting the rivalry. And this family was fated to bathe in its
own blood because of the curse that Myrtilus uttered against his baneman's house
when he was treacherously slain by Pelops 1, father of Atreus and Thyestes 1.
King Agamemnon of Mycenae led the great alliance which sailed to Troy to obtain the restoration of Helen and the Spartan property that the seducer Paris had stolen, either through negotiation or by force.
As diplomacy failed, in the tenth year of the war Troy
was sacked, and Helen was given back to her husband Menelaus, Agamemnon's
brother.
Defeat at home
But Agamemnon himself never enjoyed
his military triumph, for, as it is said, his wife Clytaemnestra welcomed him not with crown or
garland but with a two-edged sword. And so, on his return to Mycenae, Agamemnon met
sedition and death in the shape of his wife and her lover. Aegisthus then reigned in Mycenae for seven years, and it is told that when he was
drunk he loved to jump on Agamemnon's grave,
shouting insults against the dead king and his children.
Zeus' comment on this case
Even as now Aegisthus, beyond that which was
ordained, took to himself the wedded wife of Agamemnon, and slew him on his
return, though well he knew of sheer destruction, seeing that we spoke to him
before, sending Hermes, that he should neither slay the man nor woo his
wife; for from Orestes shall come vengeance for Agamemnon when once he has come to
manhood and longs for his own land. So Hermes spoke, but for all his good intent he
prevailed not upon the heart of Aegisthus; and now he has paid the
full price of all." (Zeus. Homer, Odyssey
1.35).
Version I
The child Orestes 2 rescued
After becoming a murderer then, Aegisthus became king, but fearing the descent of Agamemnon, he planned to kill the dead king's son
Orestes 2, who was still a child. However, this little prince was
smuggled out of the country either by his sister Electra 2, or by his nurse
Arsinoe 4, or by an old slave who had previously been Agamemnon's tutor.
His new home
Orestes 2 was then taken to Phocis (which is the
region bordering the Gulf of Corinth west of Boeotia)
to the house of Strophius 1, son of Crisus, son of
Phocus 3, son of Aeacus and the Nereid
Psamathe 1. Strophius 1 was married to
Anaxibia 4 (also called Astyoche 6), sister of Agamemnon, and had by her a son Pylades, who being
brought up together with Orestes 2, became his most loyal friend,
later wedding Orestes 2's sister Electra 2.
Electra 2's plight
Electra 2 stayed at home,
and although she had many suitors, she was at first prevented by Aegisthus to marry a prince, for fear that her son
would revenge Agamemnon's death. But later, as Aegisthus also feared that she might bear a son in
secret to a man of noble blood, he planned to put an end to his apprehensions by
killing her. However, he was stopped by Clytaemnestra, who feared the hatred that such a
deed would arouse, and that is why Aegisthus
conceived instead the idea of marrying Electra 2 to an insignificant man. For, he
reasoned, a nobody would not go stirring up old blood asking that the debt for
Agamemnon's death should be paid. Clytaemnestra agreed to this arrangement, for as
it is said, women's love is for their lovers, not their children.
The Mycenaean peasant
But (so they say) the Mycenaean peasant who married Electra 2, knowing the details of the case
and his own position, did not approach her bed, and instead felt sorry for the
fate of both Electra 2 and her brother
Orestes 2, treating her with friendly affection.
Hopes and pains of the princess
In the meantime, she hoped for Orestes 2 to return
and punish the murderers of Agamemnon, releasing
her from what she thought to be a miserable life. For it is painful for a
princess to be dressed in simple clothes woven by her own hand, or to abstain
from feasts and holy days and dances, or to see her royal palace replaced by a
shabby cottage.
The Oracle of Apollo
When Orestes 2 was grown up, he went to Delphi and asked the oracle whether he should avenge his
father's death. And as the oracle of Apollo told him
that he should, he departed secretly to Mycenae
together with Pylades.
Meeting of Orestes 2 with his sister
Having arrived to the place where Electra 2 lived with the peasant outside the
city, Orestes 2 and Pylades, without being recognized, learned about
her desolate life. As there was nothing in the house to offer the visitors, Electra 2 sent her husband to bring the old
slave, Agamemnon's tutor, that once had saved the
life of Orestes 2 by smuggling him out of the country. And when this
old man came, he recognized Orestes 2 by a scar on his brow, and told
him that if he was to get his kingdom back he would have to kill his own mother
and Aegisthus.
Planning revenge
In order for them to perform such an exploit, the old man
provided tactical advice describing how Aegisthus
and Clytaemnestra could be approached.
Orestes 2 considered the deed they were planning as most glorious,
and his sister Electra 2 claimed for
herself the right to kill her own mother. To such a high pitch did their
enthusiasm reach while discussing the practical details of their conspiracy.
Death of Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra (I)
Orestes 2 and Pylades carried out the plan, killing
Aegisthus while he was sacrificing to the NYMPHS; and the royal guard, which was there for Aegisthus' safety, having recognized the son of Agamemnon, did not intervene but instead applauded the
usurper's murderer. After that, Clytaemnestra,
who had been told by the old man that Electra 2 had given birth to a child, came
to see her, and while meeting her children in the cottage she was killed by
Orestes 2, who held his cloak over his eyes in order not to watch
himself drive the blade into his mother's throat. For Clytaemnestra had opened her gown, thrusting forth
her breast so that Orestes 2 could clearly see that he was about to
stab the body that had given him birth.
Version IIThe plight of Electra 2 and her sister
Chrysothemis 1
However, others have not mentioned Electra 2's peasant husband, and they affirm
that she and her sister Chrysothemis 1 continued to live in the house
of their parents at Mycenae, now ruled by Aegisthus, during the time Orestes 2 was in
exile in Phocis. Electra 2, they assert,
never ceased to mourn her father, comparing herself to Niobe 2, who
entombed in stone weeps eternally (see NIOBIDS), and
hoped, having no child or husband of her own, for the return of her brother
Orestes 2. But Chrysothemis 1, fearing Aegisthus and the punishments he had in store for
those unwilling to stop complaining, thought it wiser, when strength is lacking,
to restrain her anger and obey the master of the house.
Arrival of Orestes 2 and Pylades
Orestes 2 then, guided by the oracle of Delphi, which had instructed him to punish his father's
murderers, and by stratagem, that is, without men and arms, exact the penalty of
death, came to Mycenae with Pylades and the same
tutor that had once taken him away from the city, and bringing him up to
manhood, saved his life so that he could avenge Agamemnon's death.
False news
This tutor was then sent by Orestes 2 to the palace
to tell Clytaemnestra that her son
Orestes 2, who once had promised to avenge his father's death, had
fallen from a chariot in the course of a contest during a festival at Delphi, and that his ashes would be soon brought by some
men from Phocis.
Death of Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra (II)
Disguised then as Phocian messengers, Orestes 2 and
Pylades came into the palace carrying the urn with the ashes, and having met Electra 2, they went to where Clytaemnestra was, and Orestes 2 slew
her. After that, Aegisthus came from the town into
the palace anxious to meet the Phocian messengers, who standing beside the
covered body of Clytaemnestra, invited Aegisthus to lift the veil supposedly covering the
corpse of Orestes 2. It was first when Aegisthus saw his dead wife that he understood that he
was trapped, and Orestes 2 led him to the place in the palace where
Aegisthus had murdered Agamemnon, and killed him on that same spot. For
revenge seeks to imitate the gestures of outrage and to return to the location
where the first affront occurred, turning both gestures and location into the
meaningful symbol from which it derives its deepest pleasure.
Others who got killed
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Orestes 2 pursued by the ERINYES. 3811: Carl Rahl 1812-1905:
Orest von Furien verfolgt. Augusteum,
Oldenburg.
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They also say that in the tumult Pylades killed some sons of
Nauplius 1, probably Oeax, who had come to bring Aegisthus assistance.
Version IIIMeeting of Orestes 2 with his
sister
According to another account, Orestes 2 and his
sister did not meet in a cottage or in the palace but instead when they, by
coincidence, came on the same day to pour libations at Agamemnon's tomb. Later Orestes 2, having
first presented himself as a Phocian messenger announcing his own death, came
into the palace and slew first Aegisthus and then
Clytaemnestra. She begged for her life:
"Wait son! Have pity, child, upon this breast,
which you held, drowsing away the hours, sucking, with toothless gums, the milk
that nourished you … I gave you life. Let me grow old with you." (Clytaemnestra to Orestes 2.
Aeschylus, Libation-Bearers
895).
and also warned him:
"You have no fear of a mother's curse, my son? …
Watch out, the hounds of a mother's curse will hunt you down." (Clytaemnestra to Orestes 2.
Aeschylus, Libation-Bearers
923).
But even if for a second Orestes 2 hesitated,
Orestes 2: What will I do
Pylades? I dread to kill my mother!
Pylades: What
of the future? What of Apollo's oracles, declared at Delphi, the faith and oaths we swear?
Make all mankind your enemy, not the gods. (Aeschylus, Libation-Bearers
898).
no words were able to restrain him, and he slew his
mother.
In any case, when Orestes 2, assisted by his sister
Electra 2 and his faithful friend
Pylades, had committed the horrible crime of taking, besides Aegisthus', his own mother's life, he was prostrated
by the weight of the deed he had performed. Orestes 2 spent most of
the time in bed wasted with a fierce disease, having fits of madness, and being
tortured by the ERINYES, who turn painful remorse
into the master of both heart and mind.
Menelaus arrives from Troy
One week after the matricide, Menelaus arrived from Troy at
the harbor of Nauplia. His wife Helen he sent on ahead
to join their daughter Hermione, who, during the
war, had been brought up in the palace by her aunt Clytaemnestra. And when he himself arrived, he met
Orestes 2, who had not eaten or washed, destroyed by grief, and the
victim of insane fits, during which he seemed to see the ERINYES, persecuting and lashing him. And yet he could
find some consolation in the oracle:
Orestes: My revenge was Apollo's command.
Menelaus: A command showing some
ignorance of law and right.
Orestes: What are the
gods? We don't know, but we are their slaves.(Euripides, Orestes
416).
Orestes 2 asks Menelaus
for help
But besides grief and remorse there was another torment: the
Argives were considering to punish the matricide, and after voting, to stone
Orestes 2 and his sister to death. It was to avert this threat that
Orestes 2 asked Menelaus for help,
reminding him of the assistance that he had received from Agamemnon when Helen was
abducted:
"Menelaus, all my hope rests upon
you alone … You have come home successful. I am your brother's son. Give me a
share of your well-being…And pay where it is due the debt you owe to my father.
Friends who in times of trouble are no longer friends mock the true force of
friendship with an empty name." (Orestes 2 to Menelaus. Euripides, Orestes
450).
Menelaus' reluctance
But Menelaus was not ready to give
him assistance, and just promised to beg the citizens and Tyndareus, father of both Helen and Clytaemnestra,
for mercy. For he deemed resistance impossible, as the whole city was a trap,
and armed men were everywhere. Besides, opposing Tyndareus, his wife's father and the man from whom he
expected to inherit the Spartan throne, was not, as Menelaus deemed, his wisest choice.
Orestes 2 did not appreciate his uncle's reluctance to assist
him:
"You coward! Did you once command an army? Yes, to
win a woman; not to help your friends…Traitor! Have you forgotten Agamemnon?
(Orestes 2 to Menelaus. Euripides,
Orestes
720).
The citizens condemn the murderers
During the deliberations of the assembled citizens, Talthybius,
the herald of Agamemnon at Troy, was heard making an ambiguous speech, for as it is
said, that is the way of heralds, always trying to please the winning side. Also
Diomedes 2 spoke, urging the assembly
not to sentence Orestes 2 and his sister to death, but satisfy piety
by banishing them. Menelaus did not show his face,
for as some believe, succession to the Spartan throne was his only thought. So
the full court of the Argive people, after hearing several speeches, found
Orestes 2 and his sister guilty of matricide, and voted to condemn
them to die, leaving them the choice to hang themselves, or to use a sword, or
to be killed by someone appointed by the citizens.
Pylades invents new plot
But for Pylades life was not worth if he lost his friend, and he
had no intention of saving his own skin by leaving or betraying
Orestes 2. He also thought that, having shared the killing with
Orestes 2, his duty was now to perish with him and Electra 2. But since death seemed
unescapable, he wished to ensure a share of suffering for Menelaus, and that is why the three, led by resourceful
Pylades, conceived a new plot while they were on the verge of death. And
probably because great ideas are deemed to be simple, Pylades just conceived the
following: to kill Helen, who was in the house making a
list of all the valuables, and thereby send Menelaus
raving mad.
Orestes 2 enthusiastic
Orestes 2 found this idea so brilliant that he said
that he was ready to die twice if they could bring this deed off. So they
started immediately to plan how they would attack the Trojan body-guard that
protected her, a group of chaps, who, used to polish her mirrors and set out her
scents, were not supposed to cause them any serious trouble; these they intended
to shut up in various rooms.
Contribution of Electra 2
to the plot
This murder, they thought, would be a popular one. For Helen was hated in the whole of Hellas by all those who
had lost a relative or friend in the Trojan War.
And by killing her, Pylades reasoned, Orestes 2's name of "matricide"
would be forgotten, giving place to the title "Killer of the killer of
thousands, Helen." In the midst of the enthusiasm that
this plan aroused in them, they even started hoping to escape after the murder
and avoid death. And Electra 2 came with
her own contribution to the plan: to take Hermione
as a hostage, and threat to kill her if Menelaus
would dare to make any move after Helen's death.
Plot accomplished only partially
All this was attempted. But during the confusion that ensued
when Hermione was to be captured and the body-guard
avoided, Helen escaped. So when Menelaus arrived, he had already heard that Helen was not dead, but instead he found his daughter Hermione with a sword's edge at her throat. Escape was
no longer possible, so Orestes 2 threatened to kill Hermione and set fire to the palace unless Menelaus went to the assembly and persuaded the
citizens to spare their lives.
Divine intervention
Apparently, no human being could solve this situation, and that
is why Apollo, coming down from heaven, ordered
everybody to calm down. Helen he took with him to
heaven, telling Menelaus to get a new
wife,
"For Helen's beauty was to the gods their
instrument for setting Achaeans and Trojans face to face in war. And multiplying
deaths, to purge the bloated earth of its superfluous welter of
mortality." (Apollo to Menelaus. Euripides, Orestes
1640).
to reign in Sparta, and yield to
Orestes 2 the throne of Argos and Mycenae. But others have said that when, after the Trojan War, Odysseus' son
Telemachus came to Sparta inquiring about his father, he was there
entertained by both King Menelaus and Helen. Apollo ordered
Orestes 2 to live in Parrhasia in Arcadia
for one year, and afterwards come to Athens and there
stand his trial for Clytaemnestra's
blood.
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Orestes 2 at Athena's temple.4402:
Pierre-Charles Simart 1806-1857: Oreste refugié à l'autel de Pallas. Musée des
beaux arts,
Rouen.
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Orestes 2 is said to have visited Delphi and Troezen, before
coming to Athens, where he was brought to trial by the
ERINYES, or by Tyndareus, father of Clytaemnestra, or by Erigone 1,
daughter of Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra, or by Perileos, son of
Icarius 1 and Clytaemnestra's
cousin. The votes at his trial were equal, and that is why Orestes 2
was acquitted, being helped by Athena, who presided
the first court which tried a case of homicide.
Purifications of little avail
However, Orestes 2 remained insane after the trial,
having fits of madness as before, and some have said that once he had bitten off
one of his fingers, the ERINYES ceased to torture
him, and he recovered his senses. But Orestes 2 is also said to have
sought purification by the waters of the Horse's Fount in Troezen, in the place where the earth sent up the water
when the horse Pegasus struck the ground with his hoof. Centuries after there
was still a building called the Booth of Orestes, where the descendants of those
who cleansed Orestes 2 used to dine on appointed days. In that
building, which was in front of a sanctuary of Apollo,
the Troezenians lodged Orestes 2, for before he was purified no
citizen would receive him into his home.
As his fits of madness continued, Orestes 2 inquired
at Delphi how he should be rid of his mental
disorders. The oracle then answered that he would be rid of them if he should
fetch from a temple in Tauris the statue of Artemis.
Customs in Tauris
Tauris, which today is called Crimea and is a peninsula in the
northern coast of the Black Sea, was a part of the realm of Scythia. In this country hospitality was dishonoured,
and foreigners, or whatever stranger who happened to come within the Taurian
borders, were systematically put to death and thrown into the sacred fire in the
temple of Artemis. Orestes 2 and Pylades,
following the oracle, embarked and came to Tauris. But soon after their arrival
they were seized by the Taurians, and brought to the temple of Artemis to be sacrificed.
Iphigenia's life in Tauris
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Pylades defending Orestes 2 from the
Taurians. 4615: Françoise Bouchot 1800-1842: Pylade
défendant Oreste 1822. Musée des beaux arts,
Chartres.
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The priestess of this temple was Iphigenia, sister of Orestes 2, who had not
lost her life at Aulis as some believed; for in the last moment, when Iphigenia was about to be sacrificed, she vanished and
was saved by Artemis, who substituted for her a deer
at the altar, and transported her to Tauris. In this barbarian country she lived
many years, performing the rites and sending strangers to the altar where they
were butchered by other attendants, without ever blaming the gods, for she
reasoned:
"… Men of this country, being murderers, impute
their sordid practice to divine command. That any god is evil I do not
believe." (Iphigenia.
Euripides, Iphigenia
in Tauris 390).
And as before Electra 2,
she also wept for what she believed was the lost life of her own brother
Orestes 2, the destruction of her father's house, the extinction of
her family, and her own fate.
Orestes 2 meets his sister Iphigenia
When the prisoners Orestes 2 and Pylades met the
priestess Iphigenia, by tokens and questions they
all soon understood who they were, and together made a plan to remove the statue
of Artemis.
Statue stolen
When Iphigenia was actually doing
this, and the king came and asked her why she was moving it from its inviolable
place, she answered that impure men, who had killed their mother, had come into
the temple. For that reason, she said, she was taking, along with the prisoners,
the statue of Artemis out under the pure heaven, to
be purged of blood, and then to the beach to be cleansed by the water of the
sea, which can wash clean all the foulness of mankind.
Escape
Having come to the beach, where Orestes 2's ship was
anchored out of sight, they tricked the guards and the temple attendants, and
escaped with the statue, which they brought to Athens,
although some have said that the ship of Orestes 2 was driven in a
storm to Rhodes, and that in accordance with an
oracle, the statue was dedicated there. Still others say that by a favoring
wind, the ship of Orestes 2 was borne to the island of Zminthe where
the family of Chryses 3, priest of Apollo,
lived.
Orestes 2's half-brother
Chryses 3 is the same priest, who in the last year of
the Trojan War asked the Achaeans to set free his
daughter Chryseis 3, whom they held prisoner, having his request
denied by the arrogance of Agamemnon. Afterwards,
however, the girl was released, in order to placate Apollo, who hearing the prayers of Chryses 3,
had sent a plague that decimated the Achaean army. Some say that the priest's
daughter was pregnant when she was set free, and that later she gave birth to a
boy Chryses 4, who was the son of Agamemnon.
Punishing the Taurians
Now, when Orestes 2 arrived with Iphigenia and Pylades to Zminthe, they were seized by
Chryses 4, who decided to return them to King Thoas 3 and
the Taurians. But through his grandfather Chryses 3, he learned that
he too was son of Agamemnon. So
Chryses 4, joining his forces to those of his half-brother
Orestes 2, attacked the Taurians and killed their king
Thoas 3. After that, Orestes 2 came safe to Mycenae, carrying the statue of Artemis.
In the meantime, a messenger came to Electra 2 in Mycenae falsely saying that Orestes 2 and
Pylades had been sacrificed in Tauris. But when also Aletes 1, son of
Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra, heard that the family of the
Atrides was extinct, he seized power in Mycenae, and
Electra 2 became once again the subject
of an usurper, now her own half-brother.
Meeting in Delphi
She then, in company with the messenger, traveled to Delphi in order to inquire about her brother's death. She
came there the same day that Iphigenia and
Orestes 2 arrived, and when the sisters met, the false messenger said
that Iphigenia was the murderess of her brother. So
Electra 2 seized a burning firebrand from
the altar, and would have blinded her sister Iphigenia if Orestes 2 had not appeared and
intervened.
Death of Aletes 1
After this incident they returned to Mycenae, and Orestes 2 killed
Aletes 1. He also intended to slay Aletes 1's sister
Erigone 1, but, as they say, Artemis
rescued her and made her a priestess in Attica, although the girl is also
reported to have given birth to a child Penthilus 1, son of
Orestes 2.
Hermione given twice in marriage
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Pylades, Orestes 2, and the statue of
Artemis. 9730: «Grupo de San
Ildefonso». Finales del siglo I d.C. Orestes y Pilades con la imagen de Artemisa
de Táuride. Museo Nacional del
Prado.
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Now, some say that Menelaus promised
his daughter Hermione in marriage twice, first to
Orestes 2, before the Trojan War, and
then to Neoptolemus, son of Achilles, when they were at Troy. So when the war was over, Neoptolemus came to Sparta
and demanded Hermione from Menelaus although he had already begotten sons
Amphialus 1 and Molossus by his captive concubine Andromache, former wife of Hector 1. As Orestes 2 at the time
was insane, Menelaus decided to honour the promise
he had made to Neoptolemus, and gave Hermione to him. Orestes 2, weakened on
account of his mental disorders, his exile, and his family troubles, did not
wish at the time to blame Menelaus, and instead
begged Neoptolemus to renounce his claim to marry
Hermione. When he was insolently rebuked by Neoptolemus, who abused him as a matricide and as a
victim of folly, Orestes 2, though robbed of his marriage, chose to
take a humble tone and wait.
Against Hermione's will
But others say that Hermione was
promised in marriage to Orestes 2 by Tyndareus while the Achaeans were fighting at Troy, and that Menelaus was
ignorant of this circumstance when he promised Hermione to Neoptolemus.
Hermione, they affirm, was not happy with this
arrangement and had to be dragged into Neoptolemus' palace, which was in Epirus.
Conflict between Hermione and Andromache
This is how Neoptolemus made Hermione his wife and queen, while still keeping Andromache as a concubine. As time went by and Hermione remained childless, she grew jealous of Andromache, saying that by secret spells the
concubine made the queen barren. And seeing her own position threatened, Hermione plotted against Andromache's life during Neoptolemus' absence. For while Neoptolemus was in Delphi
for the second time, wishing to make amends to Apollo
for having demanded reparation for his father's death, Menelaus came to Neoptolemus' palace decided, on behalf of his
daughter, to kill Andromache and put the life of
Andromache's child Molossus in Hermione's hands.
Andromache almost killed
Andromache sought protection in
the sanctuary of Thetis, but Menelaus captured
little Molossus and threatened to cut the child's throat if she refused to
abandon the sanctuary. Andromache found
inconceivable that famous Menelaus could act so
cowardly, and that is why she says:
"Oh Fame! How many thousands nobodies
there are whom Fame blows up
to importance and authority … Did a coward like you lead the warriors of Hellas
against Priam
to conquer Troy?" (Andromache to Menelaus. Euripides, Andromache
325).
She chose her own death, but when she had left the shrine, Neoptolemus' grandfather Peleus arrived, and with the protection, as he said, of
both gods and troops, prevented Menelaus to kill Andromache, or do any harm to her child.
Menelaus cedes
Menelaus then left the palace
declaring that as a stranger he did not intend to commit violence, but he
promised to return, for he would not submit to it either. And when her father
returned to Sparta, Hermione started fearing Neoptolemus, thinking that he would kill her at his
return for having plotted against Andromache and
the child, or perhaps make her a concubine in the house where she was
queen. Orestes 2 takes Hermione and kills his rival
But while Neoptolemus was still away,
Orestes 2 came to recover Hermione. For,
as he saw it, Hermione was living with Neoptolemus only because of Menelaus' broken promise. And when they met, Hermione herself asked him to taker her away. This is
how Hermione became the wife of
Orestes 2. Later Orestes 2, having assembled troops, came
to Delphi in order to end the life of the man who had
insulted him and robbed his wife. He first stirred up the Delphians against the
suppliant, saying that Neoptolemus had come in
order to rob Apollo's temple, and not as he declared,
on a pious pilgrimage to win the favor of the god. The Delphians then joined the
troops of Orestes 2, and screened by the foliage of the laurel-trees,
they all waited outside the temple with drawn swords. And when Neoptolemus came out, he was killed in the battle
that took place, and many, they say, were those who came with their weapons and
stones to strike and hack at him, destroying his body with countless wounds.
This was the last of the crimes that Orestes 2 felt compelled to
commit in order to recover his father's throne, his house, and his
wife.
Extension
of his kingdom
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Orestes 2 and Electra 2: loving brother and sister.
8811: Orestes og Elektra, fundet i Pozzuoli. Graesk/Romersk
1. årh. f.Kr. (Romkopi). Napoli, Museo Archeologico (Royal Cast Collection,
Copenhagen).
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King Orestes 2 ruled over a vaster territory than his
father's. For when Cylarabes died childless, leaving vacant the throne of Argos, Orestes 2 succeeded him, thus adding
this kingdom to his own. Orestes 2 also succeeded to the throne of Sparta, for the Lacedaemonians considered his claim to
the throne prior to that of Nicostratus and Megapenthes 1, these
being sons of Menelaus by one or perhaps two slave
women, whereas Orestes 2 was the son of one of the daughters of King
Tyndareus. Besides Sparta
and Argos, Orestes 2 also extended his rule
over the greater part of Arcadia, and obeying the
oracle of Delphi, he moved his capital from Mycenae to Arcadia. Messenia was held in ancient times by the line of Neleus and Nestor until some
time after the Trojan War; then
Orestes 2 annexed the region to his kingdom, and Messenia was ruled by him and his descendants down to
the return of the HERACLIDES.
First attack of the HERACLIDES
Some have said that the expedition of Hyllus 1, son
of Heracles 1, against the Peloponnesus,
took place during the reign of Orestes 2, and not during the rule of
his son Tisamenus 2, and that this was the first attempt of the HERACLIDES to return to the Peloponnesus.
Hyllus 1 was defeated at the Isthmus of Corinth, and killed by the Arcadian king Echemus.
Alliance with Phocis
Orestes 2 married his sister Electra 2 to his loyal friend Pylades, who
remained an ally; for Orestes 2 also had, among his forces, a
contingent of Phocians always ready to help him. And this alliance survived the
two friends, for it is said that the Heraclid Aristodemus, son of
Aristomachus 2, son of Cleodaeus 2, son of
Hyllus 1, son of Heracles 1,
was killed by Medon 7 and Strophius 3, sons of Pylades and
Electra 2. Aristodemus is the father of
the twins Eurysthenes 1 and Procles 2, who are at the
origin of the two royal houses of Sparta.
Death
The man who slew his mother, and risking his life on several
occasions, fought many enemies, was killed by the bite of a snake at Oresteum in
Arcadia. This city had been long ago founded by
Orestheus 2, son of impious Lycaon 2, and was first called Oresthasium
after him, and later Oresteum after Orestes 2.
Burial
As it appears, Orestes 2 was first buried in the city
of Tegea in southeastern Arcadia. But later a Spartan
stole the bones and a new grave was erected in Sparta.
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Order
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Aeschylus
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Sophocles
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Euripides
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1
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2
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3
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4
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5
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6
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7
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| The story of Agamemnon's family
and Orestes 2 in the Greek plays, arranged according to the
chronological order of events. The incidents and sequel of the revenge of
Orestes 2 is told from step 3. |
Others with identical name
Orestes 1 is the son of the river god Achelous and
Perimede 1, daughter of Aeolus 1.
Orestes 3 was an
Achaean soldier killed by Hector 1 and Ares at Troy.
Orestes 4 was a Trojan who attacked the
Achaean wall together with Asius 1, leader of the Phrygians, during
the Trojan War. He was killed by
Leonteus 1, a Lapith leader son of Coronus 1, son of
Caeneus 1, he who once was a woman called Caenis, but later was
turned into an invulnerable man by Poseidon.
Orestes 5 was one of the
leaders of the SATYRS who joined the army of Dionysus 2 in his campaign against India.
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Mates
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Offspring
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Notes
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Tisamenus 2
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Hermione was daughter of Menelaus and Helen.
Tisamenus 2 succeeded Orestes 2 on the throne, but during
his rule the HERACLIDES returned to the
Peloponnesus, and he was killed by them. His children Daimenes,
Sparton 1, Tellis, Leontomenes, and Cometes 4 settled in
Ionia (Asia Minor). |
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Erigone 1
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Penthilus 1
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Erigone 1 was daughter of Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra. Penthilus 1 is called
the bastard son of Orestes 2. He led the Aeolian colonisation in Asia
Minor, and advanced as far as Thrace sixty years after the Trojan War. According to some, Erigone 1,
who had brought Orestes 2 to trial, was so grieved because of his
acquittal that she hanged herself.
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Genealogical Charts
Names in this chart: Aegisthus,
Aerope 1, Agamemnon,
Agenor 1, Agorius, Amyclas 1, Anchinoe, Apollo, Ares, Asopus, Atlas, Atreus,
Batia 2, Belus 1, Catreus,
Cleocharia, Clytaemnestra,
Cometes 4, Corybas, Creusa 3, Cynortes, Daimenes,
Damasius, Diomede 2, Dione 3, Echelas,
Epaphus 1, Erigone 1, Europa,
Eurotas, Gaia, Gras, Harpina, Helen, Hermione, Himas,
Hippodamia 3, Ide 1, Io, Itone,
Lacedaemon, Ladon 1, Lapithus 1, Leda, Lelex 2, Leontomenes, Libya,
Lycastus 1, Lyctius, Memphis 2, Menelaus, Metope 1, Minos 1, Minos 2, Nilus, Oebalus 1, Oenomaus 1, Orestes 2, Pasiphae,
Pelops 1, Peneus, Penthilus 1,
Perieres 1, Pleione, Pluto 3, Poseidon, Sparta, Sparton 1, Stilbe, Tantalus 1, Taygete, Tellis,
Tisamenus 2, Tyndareus, Zeus. |
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