Orestes_Pursued_by_the_Furies

Orestes Pursued by the Furies

Orestes Pursued by the Furies

Event from Greek mythology

Orestes Pursued by the Furies is an event from Greek mythology that is a recurring theme in art depicting Orestes.

Orestes Pursued by the Furies by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1862 (Also known as The Remorse of Orestes)

Background

In the Iliad, the king of Argos, Agamemnon, sacrifices his daughter Iphigenia to Artemis to assure good sailing weather to travel to Troy and fight in the Trojan War. In Agamemnon, the first play of Aeschylus's Oresteia trilogy, Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus, murder Agamemnon upon his return home as revenge for sacrificing Iphigenia. In The Libation Bearers, the second play of the Orestia, Agamemnon's son Orestes returns home to take revenge on his mother for murdering his father. Orestes ultimately does murder his mother, and afterward is tormented and chased offstage by The Furies, beings who personify vengeance.[1]

In art

Orestes being tormented by the Furies has been depicted by a number of artists, including the following:

1921, by John Singer Sargent

References

  1. [1]
    Aeschylus (1984). The Oresteia. Robert Fagles, William Bedell Stanford. New York. ISBN 0-14-044333-9. OCLC 9895300.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)


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