Aeschylus, Choephori [The Libation-Bearers]

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This, the second drama in Aeschylus’

Oresteia

trilogy which was produced in 458 B.C.E., derives its name from the chorus of slave women who are bringing libations to Agamemnon’s grave as the play opens. Some considerable time has elapsed since the events dramatized in the first play of the trilogy,

Agamemnon

: the return from the Trojan campaign of the victorious commander of the Greek forces only to be lured into his palace and there treacherously slain by his adulterous wife Clytemnestra and her lover, Agamemnon’s cousin Aegisthus. In the earlier play Clytemnestra had made a lame excuse to her perplexed husband for the absence of their son Orestes: she had claimed she had had to spirit him away to a relative in northern Greece for safekeeping. And twice towards the play’s close…

1702 words

Citation: Podlecki, Anthony. "Choephori". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 April 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=370, accessed 19 March 2024.]

370 Choephori 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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