Is Clytemnestra Depicted In Sophocles Electra

Electra by Euripides plot is the same as Sophocles’ Electra for it tells a story about Electra and her brother Orestes wanting to get revenge on their mother Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus, for killing their father Agamemnon. The events that led to the actions in this play was Clytemnestra killing her husband, to avenge her daughter Iphigenia, Agamemnon and his concubine Cassandra after they returned from the Trojan War. The play’s setting unlike Sophocles’ does not take place entirely in their palace in Argos but on a farm. Euripides takes a more realistic and morbid approach to the play giving the characters more depth especially when it comes to their actions. Electra in this play is more cynical in her expectations from people this is shown in the beginning of the play when she saw Orestes coming up to her home her first thoughts …show more content…
In Sophocles’ Electra, Orestes only felt the penalty for killing his mother because of the furies influence, but in Euripides’ portrayal he and Electra both feel the drawback in their actions. Orestes even hesitates before killing his mother because deep down he knows that his actions are wrong, but with the influence of Electra he commits them anyway. Clytemnestra and Aegisthus are more spiteful toward Electra in Euripides’ version because instead of threatening her and treating her poorly, like they did in Sophocles’ version, they send her away and force her to marry someone beneath her so that her children could never take advantage of their noble name. Aegisthus is killed in a different manner where he invites Orestes to a sacrifice and Orestes lures him in stables reveals himself and kills him with his own knife. Clytemnestra is killed in much more vulgar way lured out to Electra’s farm believing that she just gave birth, instead she is confronted with the knowledge that Electra wants to kill her and in fact