Orestes

In a lyric exchange with the Chorus, Electra asks them to stand guard. They accept their posts, keeping her informed as they anticipate Helen’s murder. From within the palace, Helen’s screams for help are heard. The Chorus implores Zeus to help their friends. Hearing Helen continue to scream, Electra and the Chorus sing encouragement for Pylades and Orestes.

Electra sees Hermione approaching, concerned by her mother’s screams. Electra claims it is because she and Orestes have been ordered to kill themselves. Hermione is distressed, and Electra asks her to ask Helen to appeal to Menelaus to intercede on Orestes and Electra’s behalf. Hermione rushes into the palace to do so, and Electra calls Orestes and Pylades to seize Hermione, who cries out for help. Electra enters the palace.

The Chorus sings about the need to “raise a shout” to drown out the sound of screaming from the palace, which will bring the Argives to the rescue (185, italics in original). A Phrygian slave runs out of the palace, singing about escaping the Argive sword, lamenting the fall of Troy, and describing how Orestes and Pylades carried out the murder and the seizure of Hermione. The song ends with the Phrygian slave lamenting that Menelaus brought Helen home “all in vain” (188).

The Chorus Leader announces that Orestes is exiting the palace with his drawn sword. He threatens the Phrygian slave, who agrees that Helen deserved to die. Orestes sends the slave back into the palace, having successfully stopped the cries he fears would have called attention to Helen’s murder, and reaffirms his commitment to killing Hermione if necessary.

The Chorus sings, deliberating whether to send for help or stay silent. Deciding to remain silent, they notice smoke rising from the house. The Chorus Leader announces Menelaus’s approach and urges Orestes to secure the palace doors. Menelaus says that Helen has not died but “disappeared, vanished / into thin air” (190). He orders his men to break down the doors so that he can rescue Hermione and kill Orestes and Pylades, who at that moment appear with Electra on the palace roof holding a sword to Hermione’s throat. Orestes warns him to stay back.

Orestes reaffirms his intention to kill Hermione. Menelaus asks why killing Helen was not enough, and Orestes tells him that “heaven stole her and robbed me of the pleasure” (191). Menelaus accuses him of mockery, and Orestes says that he wishes he had killed her and threatens to burn down the house. A back and forth ensues between the two, with Orestes demanding that Menelaus persuade the Argives to let himself, Electra, and Pylades go. Menelaus worries for the wife he “brought home to die,” while Orestes complains that Menelaus has showed him neither help nor pity (193). Menelaus says that he is trapped, and Orestes orders Electra and Pylades to set the house on fire. Menelaus calls for help to the men of Argos.

Apollo and Helen appear above the palace. Apollo announces that Zeus has delivered Helen from death, since she is his daughter, and she will remain with the gods. The Trojan War happened to lighten earth from “her heavy burden of humanity” (194). Menelaus is expected to remarry. Orestes must go into exile for a year, then proceed to Athens to “render justice for your mother’s murder / to the three Eumenides” (194). He will be tried and acquitted by gods, after which he is to marry Hermione. Electra and Pylades must also marry, and Menelaus will be king of Sparta and must allow Orestes to rule Argos. Apollo also pledges to reconcile Argos with Orestes, since he himself ordered the murder of Clytemnestra. Orestes and Menelaus obey, their quarrel ended by Apollo’s order.