Euripides V | Short Essay Answer Key

Short Essay Answer Key

1. What happened to Agamemnon? What does the exposition tell us happened with Orestes and Electra?

When Agamemnon returned to Argos from the Trojan war, his wife Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus, killed him. Aegisthus wanted to kill the son, Orestes, but Agamemnon's servant saved the boy. Aegisthus feared Agamemnon's daughter Electra would marry a noble man and bear a son who would revenge Agamemnon, so he married Electra to the poor farmer.

2. What is Electra doing when she first enters the play? What does her farmer chide her for?

Electra enters, carrying a water jar on her head. The farmer chastises her for performing servile tasks, telling her that there's no need for her to degrade herself. Electra thanks the farmer for all his kindness; she wishes to work and keep house for the kind man.

3. Why and with whom has Orestes returned...
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