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Electra

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From: The Concise Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
Date: 19960101
Author:M. C. HOWATSON and IAN CHILVERS

Electra.
1. Greek tragedy by Sophocles , of uncertain date but very probably produced between 418 and 410 BC. It is disputed whether it preceded or followed Euripides' Electra (see below) of perhaps 417. For the myth on which it is based see PELOPS .

Orestes arrives at Mycenae, accompanied by Pylades and an old man, Orestes' childhood attendant ( paidagogos ), to avenge the murder of his father Agamemnon, in obedience to the Delphic Oracle . The old man is sent on to tell Orestes' mother Clytemnestra that Orestes has been killed in a chariot race, and the others prepare to follow in ...

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