Iphigenia Among Taurians Summary

Iphigenia, the sister of Orestes whom Agamemnon sacrificed before his expedition to Troy, did not die, but was spirited away to the Taurians home of Artemis by the goddess. She has served Artemis ever since as the head priestess of her rite. The play begins with Iphigenia recounting some of the details of her past and telling of a dream she has recently had in which Orestes was dead. The scene shifts to Orestes and Pylades making their way into the new country. They are in Taurus to take the idol of Artemis from the temple and take it to Athens. They do not really know the purpose of this act of theft other than that Apollo commanded them to do it to stop the Erinyes.

The scene shifts back to the temple where Iphigenia is performing her ritual...