Aeschylus Choephori (Libation Bearers)

Choephori is the second play of the Oresteia - the oldest surviving classical tragedy. The play opens as Orestes, Agamemnon’s son, returns from exile with his friend Pylades and dedicates a lock of his hair on his father Agamemnon’s tomb. His sister Electra and the Chorus of Trojan Women come to offer libations at the tomb, and in a deeply moving scene brother and sister recognize one another. They swear to avenge their father’s death, as they have been directed to do by Apollo. Disguised as strangers, Or