After receiving an ultimatum from Apollo, Orestes must decide if he’d rather face the wrath of the gods, or the earthly consequences for his actions When Orestes returns home to Agos after hearing of his father’s death, he has a quest and a secret. Since he had been banished from the kingdom by his mother when he was young, he must pay respects to King Agamemnon in disguise. At the grave site he is reunited with his sister, Electra. Both scorned by Clytemnestra, the siblings share in their hatred of their mother and Orestes confides in Electra about his plot. When explains the Oracle of Apollo sent him to get vengeance for Agamemnon’s murder, Electra agrees to help kill Clytemnestra and her lover, Aigisthos. Together they pray to their father, Agamemnon, asking his spirit to assist in getting revenge of his murder. Though Orestes received a blessing from the God Apollo, he must face many obstacles in order to achieve his plot. First, to be accepted in the palace, he must convince Clytemnestra and Aigisthos that he is just a traveler. He protects his identity pretending to be just a traveler and tricks Clytemnestra into believing that her banished son has died. Still, even as his plot slowly comes to fruition, Orestes must consider the emotional and moral toll of murder, and which harbinger of karma might decide to punish him. With high stakes and rich drama, The Libation Bearers follows a family cursed with the quest and thirst for vengeance, falling into an unforgiving cycle of bloodshed. As the second installment of Aeschylus’ famed Oresteian trilogy,
The Libation Bearers
acts as both a stand-alone piece and a participant in the only surviving Greek trilogy. With complex characters and thrilling drama, Aeschylus’ The Libation Bearers remains to be remarkable and intriguing to a modern audience. This addition of The Libation Bearers by the famed Greek playwright Aeschylus is now presented with an eye-catching new cover design and is printed in a modern font. With these accommodations, The Libation bearers is accessible to a contemporary audience.
