|
Orestes
Orestes in Greek mythology, the only son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon and brother of Electra and Iphigenia. After the slaying of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, Orestes, still a boy, was sent to live in exile. Since it was the duty of the senior male in the house to punish the murderers, ...
Read more
|
|
|
Orestes Augustus Brownson
Orestes Augustus Brownson , 1803-76, American author and clergyman, b. Stockbridge, Vt. Largely self-taught, he became a vigorous and influential writer on social and religious questions. He was a Presbyterian, but left that church to become first a Universalist and then a sort of free-lance ministe...
Read more
|
|
|
Hermione
Hermione , in Greek mythology, the only daughter of Helen and Menelaus . When Helen eloped with Paris, Hermione was abandoned to the care of Clytemnestra. She later married Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles. In Euripides' Andromache, she is carried off by Orestes who marries her after he has c...
Read more
|
|
|
Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra , in Greek mythology, the daughter of Leda and Tyndareus. Homer described her as the noble-minded wife of Agamemnon, persuaded to infidelity by the tyrant Aegisthus. However, the Greek tragedians, most specifically Aeschylus, depicted her as remorseless and vengeful. She was the mother ...
Read more
|
|
Agamemnon
Agamemnon , in Greek mythology, leader of the Greek forces in the Trojan War; king of Mycenae (or Argos). He and Menelaus were sons of Atreus and suffered the curse laid upon Pelops . Agamemnon married Clytemnestra, and their children were Iphigenia, Electra, and Orestes. To win favorable winds for...
Read more
|
|
|
Electra
Electra , in Greek mythology. 1 Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. After her mother and Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon, Electra, eager for revenge, longed only for the return of her brother, Orestes . The reunion and vengeance of the brother and sister were dramatized by the three great traged...
Read more
|
|
Furies
Furies or Erinyes , in Greek and Roman religion and mythology, three daughters of Mother Earth, conceived from the blood of Uranus, when Kronos castrated him. They were powerful divinities that personified conscience and punished crimes against kindred blood, especially matricide. They were usua...
Read more
|
|
|
Aegisthus
Aegisthus , in Greek mythology, according to most legends the incestuous offspring of Thyestes and his daughter Pelopia. At Thyestes' behest Aegisthus revenged the murder of his brothers by killing his uncle Atreus . Later, he was known as the lover of Clytemnestra and aided her in the murdering of...
Read more
|
|
|
Neoptolemus
Neoptolemus , in Greek legend, son of Achilles. In the Trojan War he proved himself brave but cruel. He killed Priam at the altar of Zeus and threw Astyanax, son of Hector, from the wall of Troy. After the war he took Andromache as a slave to his kingdom in Epirus. Later he abandoned her for Hermion...
Read more
|
|
|
Iphigenia
Iphigenia , in Greek legend, daughter of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. When the Greek ships were delayed by contrary winds at Aulis en route to the Trojan War, Calchas informed Agamemnon that Artemis demanded the sacrifice of his daughter Iphigenia. Agamemnon reluctantly agreed, and, despite Clytemnes...
Read more
|
