View source for Electra

{{Short description|Figure from Greek mythology}}
{{About|the well-known mythological character from the Trojan Cycle|other Greek mythological characters|Electra (Greek mythology)|other uses|}}
[[Image:1869 Frederic Leighton - Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon.jpg|thumb|upright|''Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon'', [[Frederic Leighton]] c. 1869]]
'''Electra''', also spelt '''Elektra''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|l|ɛ|k|t|r|ə}};<ref>{{cite book |title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary |url=https://archive.org/details/longman-pronunciation-dictionary/page/253/mode/2up |first=John C. |last= Wells |publisher=Longman |location=Harlow, England |year=2000 |origyear=1990 |edition=new |isbn=978-0-582-36467-7 |page=253}}</ref> {{langx|grc|Ἠλέκτρα|Ēléktrā|[[amber]]}}; {{IPA-el|ɛː.lék.traː|}}), is one of the most popular [[Greek mythology|mythological]] characters in [[tragedies]].<ref name="evans79">Evans (1970), p. 79</ref> She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, ''[[Electra (Sophocles play)|Electra]]'' by [[Sophocles]] and ''[[Electra (Euripides play)|Electra]]'' by [[Euripides]]. She is also the central figure in plays by [[Aeschylus]], [[Vittorio Alfieri|Alfieri]], [[Voltaire]], [[Hugo von Hofmannsthal|Hofmannsthal]], and [[Eugene O'Neill]].<ref name=evans79 /> She is a vengeful soul in ''[[Oresteia#The Libation Bearers|The Libation Bearers]]'', the second play of Aeschylus' ''[[Oresteia]]'' trilogy. She plans out an attack with her brother to kill their mother, [[Clytemnestra]].

In [[psychology]], the [[Electra complex]] is named after her.

==Family==
Electra's parents were King [[Agamemnon]] and Queen [[Clytemnestra]]. Her sisters were [[Iphigenia]] and [[Chrysothemis]], and her brother was [[Orestes (mythology)|Orestes]].  In the ''[[Iliad]]'', [[Homer]] is understood to be referring to Electra in mentioning "Laodice" as a daughter of Agamemnon.<ref>[http://www.enotes.com/occc-encyclopedia/agamemnon "Agamemnon" in ''Oxford Companion to Classical Civilization'', as quoted at eNotes.com]</ref>

==Murder of Agamemnon==
[[Image:Orestes Elektra Hermes Louvre K544.jpg|thumb|[[Orestes (mythology)|Orestes]], Electra and [[Hermes]] at the tomb of [[Agamemnon]], [[lucania]]n red-figure [[pelike]], {{circa}} 380–370 BC, [[Louvre]] (K 544)]]
Electra was absent from [[Mycenae]] when her father, King Agamemnon, returned from the [[Trojan War]]. When he came back, he brought with him his war prize, the [[Troy|Trojan]] princess [[Cassandra]], who had already borne him twin sons. Upon their arrival, Agamemnon and Cassandra were murdered, by either Clytemnestra herself, her lover [[Aegisthus]], or both. Clytemnestra had held a grudge against her husband for sacrificing their eldest daughter, [[Iphigenia]], to the goddess [[Artemis]] in exchange for a fair wind so that he could set sail for Troy. In some versions of this story, Iphigenia was saved by the goddess at the last moment.

Eight years later, Electra returned home from [[Athens]] at the same time as her brother, [[Orestes]]. (''[[Odyssey]]'', iii. 306; X. 542). According to [[Pindar]] (''Pythia'', xi. 25), Orestes was saved either by his old nurse or by Electra from being killed by his mother, and was taken to [[Phanote]] on [[Mount Parnassus]], where King [[Strophius]] took charge of him. When Orestes was twenty, the [[Pythia|Oracle of Delphi]] ordered him to return home and avenge his father's death.

==Murder of Clytemnestra==

According to [[Aeschylus]], Orestes recognized Electra's face before the tomb of Agamemnon, where both had gone to perform rites to the dead, and they arranged how Orestes should accomplish his revenge.<ref name=fagles188>Fagles (1977), p. 188</ref> Orestes and his friend [[Pylades]], son of King Strophius of Phocis and Anaxibia, killed Clytemnestra and Aegisthus (in some accounts with Electra helping).

Before her death, Clytemnestra cursed Orestes. The [[Erinyes]] or Furies, whose duty it is to punish any violation of the ties of family piety, fulfill this curse with their torment. They pursue Orestes, urging him to end his life. Electra was not hounded by the Erinyes.

In ''[[Iphigeneia in Tauris]]'', Euripides tells the tale somewhat differently. In his version, Orestes was led by the Furies to Tauris on the Black Sea, where his sister [[Iphigenia]] was being held. The two met when Orestes and Pylades were brought to Iphigenia to be prepared for sacrifice to [[Artemis]]. Iphigeneia, Orestes, and Pylades escaped from Tauris. The Furies, appeased by the reunion of the family, abated their persecution. Electra then married Pylades.<ref>Luke Roman, Monica Roman, ''Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman Mythology'', Infobase Publishing, 2010, p.143.</ref>

==Adaptations of the Electra story==
[[Image:Electra and Orestes - Project Gutenberg eText 14994.png|thumbnail|upright=1.5|Electra and [[Orestes (mythology)|Orestes]], from an 1897 ''Stories from the Greek Tragedians'', by Alfred Church]]

===Plays===
* The ''[[Oresteia]]'', a trilogy of plays by [[Aeschylus]]
* ''[[Electra (Sophocles)|Electra]]'', play by [[Sophocles]]
* ''[[Electra (Euripides)|Electra]]'', play by [[Euripides]]
* ''[[Orestes (play)|Orestes]]'', play by [[Euripides]]
* ''Electra'', a lost play by [[Quintus Tullius Cicero]] of which nothing is known but the name and that it was "a tragedy in the Greek style"
* ''Electra'' (1901) a play by [[Benito Pérez Galdós]]
* ''[[Elektra (Hofmannsthal play)|Elektra]]'', a 1903 play by [[Hugo von Hofmannsthal]], based on the Sophocles play
* ''[[Mourning Becomes Electra]]'', 1931 play by [[Eugene O'Neill]], based on Aeschylus
* ''[[Electra (Giraudoux play)|Electra]]'', 1937 play by [[Jean Giraudoux]]
* ''[[The Flies]]'', a 1943 play by [[Jean-Paul Sartre]], modernizing the Electra myth by introducing the theme of [[existentialism]]
* ''[[Electra (Pound)|Electra]]'' (started in 1949, first performed 1987), a play by [[Ezra Pound]] and Rudd Fleming
* ''Electra, or The dropping of the masks'' (1954) a play by [[Marguerite Yourcenar]]
* ''Electra'' and ''Orestes'', plays by [[Adrienne Kennedy]], 1972
* ''Electra'' (1974) a play by Robert Montgomery, directed by [[Joseph Chaikin]]
* ''[[Electra (Kišs)|Electra]]'', 1995 drama by [[Danilo Kiš]]
* ''[[Electricidad (play)|Electricidad]]'', 2004 play by [[Luis Alfaro]], modern adaptation of Electra based in the Chicano barrio
* ''Electra/Orestes'', 2015 play by Jada Alberts and [[Anne-Louise Sarks]]
* ''Small and Tired,'' 2017 play by Kit Brookman
* ''Pitribhumi'', 2021 play by Sandarbha
* ''Electra'', 2021 play by Tadashi Suzuki

===Opera===
* ''[[Elektra (opera)|Elektra]]'', by [[Richard Strauss]], with libretto by [[Hugo von Hofmannsthal]], based on his own play
* ''[[Electra (Theodorakis)|Electra]]'', by [[Mikis Theodorakis]]
* ''[[Mourning Becomes Electra]]'', by Marvin David Levy, based on [[Eugene O'Neill]]'s play
* ''[[Idomeneo]]'', by [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]], where she plays the role of rejected lover/villain
* ''Electra'', opera by [[Johann Christian Friedrich Haeffner]], Libretto by [[Adolf Fredrik Ristell]] after [[Nicolas Francois Guillard]]
* ''[[Électre]]'', [[tragédie lyrique]] by [[Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne]], set to a libretto by [[Nicolas-François Guillard]]

===Films===
* ''[[Electra (1962 film)|Electra]]'', a film by [[Michael Cacoyannis]], starring [[Irene Papas]], based on Euripides
* ''[[Mourning Becomes Electra (film)]]'', a film by [[Dudley Nichols]], starring [[Rosalind Russell]] and [[Michael Redgrave]]
* ''[[The Forgotten Pistolero]]'', a [[Spaghetti Western]] by [[Ferdinando Baldi]] starring [[Leonard Mann]] and [[Luciana Paluzzi]]
* ''[[Ellie (1984 film)|Ellie]]'', a film which transfers the story to a Southern U.S. locale
* ''[[Szerelmem, Elektra]]'' (Elektra, My Love), film by [[Miklós Jancsó]], starring [[Mari Törőcsik]]
* ''[[Filha da Mãe]]'' and ''[[Mal Nascida]]'', both by Portuguese film director [[João Canijo]]
* ''[[elektraZenSuite]]'', medium-length film by [[Alessandro Brucini]], based on texts by Aeschylus, Sophocles, William Shakespeare, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Sylvia Plath, and the Zen Buddhist monk Takuan Soho
* ''[[Elektra (2010 film)|Electra]]'', film by [[Shyamaprasad]], starring [[Nayanthara]], [[Skanda Ashok]], [[Manisha Koirala]] and [[Prakash Raj]], based on Euripides

===Literature===
* Elektra (Laodice) is the unnamed protagonist and speaker in [[Yannis Ritsos]]'s long poem ''Beneath the Shadow of the Mountain''. This poem forms part of the cycle colloquially referred to as the ''New Oresteia''.
* Electra is the eponymous narrator of her story in the book 'Electra' by [[Henry Treece]]. (Bodley Head, 1963: Sphere Books., 1968).
* ''Electra on [[Azalea]] Path'' is the title of [[Sylvia Plath]]'s poem published in 1959, in reference to the [[Electra Complex]]
* A central character in [[Donna Leon]]'s [[crime fiction]] series is a present-day young woman named Elettra (the Italian form of "Electra"), who is highly resourceful and who bears some resemblance to the mythological character.
* ''House of Names'', by [[Colm Tóibín]]. A retelling of the story of Agamemnon's death and the resulting events. (Simon and Schuster, May 9, 2017. 275 pages<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=znXGDgAAQBAJ|title = House of Names: A Novel|isbn = 9781501140211|last1 = Toibin|first1 = Colm|date = 9 May 2017| publisher=Simon and Schuster }}</ref>)
* '' Elektra, ''a novel by [[Jennifer Saint]] that tells the parallel story of Elektra's life, along with her mother Clytemnestra, and Cassandra of Troy

==See also==
*[[130 Elektra]] - asteroid named after Electra.

'''Bibliography'''
* {{cite book |last=Evans |first=Bergen |date=1970 |title=Dictionary of Mythology |location=New York |publisher=Dell Publishing |isbn=0-440-20848-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Vellacott |first=Philip |date=1963 |title=Euripides: Medea and Other Plays |location=London |publisher=Penguin Classics |isbn=0-14-044129-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/medeaotherplays00euri }}
* {{cite book |last=Fagles |first=Robert |date=1977 |title=Aeschylus: The Oresteia |location=London |publisher=Penguin Classics |isbn=978-0-14-044333-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/oresteiaaesc00aesc }}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Cite NIE|wstitle=Electra|year=1905 |short=x}}
*{{commons category-inline|Electra}}
* {{librivox book | title=Electra | author=SOPHOCLES}}

{{Iphigenia}}
{{Electra}}

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[[Category:Matricides]]
[[Category:Children of Agamemnon]]
[[Category:Princesses in Greek mythology]]
[[Category:Children of Clytemnestra]]