The Libation Bearers

Roles

• Electra - Teenager (13-19), Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50), Female

About this piece

Electra pours the libations on her father's grave

Summary

The Libation Bearers is the sequel to Agamemnon. In the previous play Agamemnon is killed by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegistus for having sacrificed his daughter during the Trojan war. In the Libation Bearers Clytemnestra's daughter Electra (who she keeps as a slave) and her son Orestes (who had been sent away in exile since he was a kid) unite to avenge their father's death by killing their mother and her lover. The play starts with Clytemnestra having disturbing dreams such as giving birth to a snake. Thinking that it is a sign of the god's wrath she sends her daughter to her father's grave to pour libations. In this monologue Electra is pouring the libations on her father's grave. She asks other serving women to join her as, she argues, they all share the common hatred for the ruling house. She wonders how she should pour the libations, if invoking her mother's love, invoking her father or just pour them in silence.

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