The Libation Bearers
by Aeschylus · Χοηφόροι
Assigned by 3 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 458 BCE
- Form
- Tragedy
- Language
- Greek
- Length
- Short · 80 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Demanding3 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendThe Oresteia, translated by Robert FaglesPenguin Classics, 1984Vivid and readable, with a long introduction and notes; contains all three plays of the trilogy.
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The middle play of the Oresteia. Years after Agamemnon's murder, his son Orestes returns from exile and meets his sister Electra at their father's grave, where she has been sent by Clytemnestra to pour libations after a frightening dream. Brother and sister recognise each other and, with the chorus of slave women, pray for vengeance. Orestes enters the palace disguised as a stranger bearing news of his own death, kills Aegisthus, and then, after a moment's hesitation, his mother. As he displays the bodies the Furies appear, visible to him alone, and he flees.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns The Libation Bearers are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
