Hellenic Festival of
Ancient Drama,
held annually in
the fourth-century
BC theatre at
Epidauros
Euripides’ Orestes
most recently
performed at
Epidauros in 2010
by the National
Theatre of Greece
http://www.nt.gr/en/events/ores
tis/
• Differences
– daylight performances
– playwright as director
– drama as part of a religious festival and a
competition
– drama considered fundamental to the polis
• Space and Staging
• Euripides’ Orestes – 408BC
– use of space
– working with (and against) audience expectations
The ultimate measure of a man is not where
he stands in moments of comfort and
convenience but where he stands in times of
challenge and controversy. (Martin Luther King)
Orestes (dressed as a hoplite) stabs Aegisthus, while his sister
(Electra) warns him of his mother’s approach with an axe.
Attic red-figure stamnos from Vulci, c.470BC.
Orestes grabs his
mother’s hair and
prepares to strike her
with his sword as she,
having fallen to her
knees, bares her breast
with one hand and
reaches up to him in
supplication. Above a
Fury with snakes in her
hair and in her hands
looks on. Paestan redfigure amphora,
c.340BC.
Tragedies about Orestes
– 18% of those surviving
• 458BC
Aeschylus’ Choephoroi (in which Orestes returns, kills
Clytemnestra and sees the Furies) and Eumenides (in which
Orestes is tried in Athens and acquitted)
• c.413BC
Euripides’ Electra (in which Orestes returns, kills Clytemnestra
and sees the Furies; it mentions his trial in Athens)
• c.410BC
Sophocles’ Electra (in which Orestes returns and kills
Clytemnestra; there are no Furies and no mention of a trial)
• 408BC
Euripides’ Orestes (in which Orestes has already killed
Clytemnestra and is being driven mad by Furies; he is tried in
Argos and found guilty but the trial in Athens is also mentioned)
The cast of characters before Euripides’ Orestes
Aeschylus
Priestess
Orestes of
Apollo
Pylades
Apollo
Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra’s
Aegisthus
Ghost
Electra
The Furies
Orestes’ Nurse
Athena
Slave
Athenian jurors
Athenian
women & girls
Sophocles
Orestes
Pylades
Clytemnestra
Aegisthus
Electra
Orestes’ retainer
Euripides
Orestes
Pylades
Clytemnestra
Aegisthus
Electra
Electra’s husband
Messenger
Castor and Pollux
Early C1st BC
papyrus fragment
of Euripides’
Orestes (P. Oxy.
1178).
Antiquities
Museum,
Bibliotheca
Alexandrina,
Alexandria
Papyrus G 2315, from
Hermopolis Magna,
Egypt, c.200 BC (80 x
92 mm). Collection of
Archduke Reiner,
Vienna.
Dochmiacs from a
choral stasimon of
Euripides’ Orestes
(lines 338-43, the
order of verses is
different from that of
the medieval MSS).
Melodic and
rhythmical notation is
placed above the
syllables of the text,
intermittent
instrumental notation
in the same line as
the text.
• http://www.oeaw.ac.at
/kal/agm/
A piper (auletēs) with a chorus of 7 ‘girl’ dancers
and a didaskalos (extreme left with stick/staff)
Attic red-figure calyx krater;
attributed to the Niobid Painter;
c. 470-60BC; British Museum 1856.12-13.1
Aerial view of the Acropolis (2010)
Greek Tragic Conventions:
1. All the characters wear masks.
2. Maximum of three speaking characters at
one time (there are only three actors).
3. All characters and the chorus speak/sing
verse (iambic trimeter is closest to the
cadence of normal speech, lyric metre is
reserved [in the case of actors] for
moments of high tension).
4. The chorus, after their first entrance (the
parodos) are present throughout.
5. No murders (or violence) on stage.
Actor with a
mask: crater
fragment,
from Taranto,
late 4th
century,
Martin von
Wagner
Museum der
Universitat,
Wurzburg
The (named) tragic
character
Aegisthus on the
comic stage in
‘Choregoi’ (‘The
Producers’).
Apulian, red-figure,
bell-crater, 400380 BC, New York,
Fleischman
Collection F93
(Taplin,
Comic Angels, 9.1)
Chorus and cast of a satyr play.
Attic red-figure volute crater
attributed to the Pronomos Painter,
end of C5th BC.
Naples 81673 (H3240).
Electra
Dearest one, how happy it made me feel
When you fell into that sleep. Do you want me
To hold you and to prop your body up?
Orestes
Yes, hold me. Give me some support. And wipe
The dried up foam from my sore mouth and eyes. …
Support my side with yours,
And push the matted hair out of my face.
My eyes aren’t seeing very well.
Electra
O this filthy hair, your poor suffering head –
So much time has passed since it’s been washed,
you look just like a savage.
Orestes
Put me back,
on the bed again. Once the madness leaves,
I’m exhausted… no strength in my limbs.
…
Orestes
Where… where have I jumped? Out of bed?
After the storm I see calm waters once again.
Sister, why wrap your head in your dress and cry?
Orestes and Pylades
stand by the tomb of
Agamemnon as
Electra, her hair cut
short in mourning,
approaches it with
offerings.
This is the moment just
before the brother
and sister recognise
each other.
Two Furies look down
from above.
Paestan red-figure
amphora from Nola,
c.320BC.
Plan of the
fifth
century
Theatre of
Dionysus
from
D. Taylor,
The Greek
and
Roman
Stage
Euripides tries stopping the parodos!
Electra
Here they are again
my friends who sing with me in my laments.
They’ll soon end my brother’s peaceful sleep
And melt my eyes with tears once I see him
In his mad fit. You women, dearest friends,
Move with quiet step and make no noise,
No unexpected sound. Your kindness here
Is dear to me, but if you wake him up,
What happens will be difficult for me.
Chorus Keep quiet! Silence! Let your steps be light.
Make no sound at all.
…
Chorus Do you see? His body’s moving in his robes.
Electra You wretch, you've forced him to wake up
With your chatter.
Chorus
No, I think he’s sleeping.
Electra Won’t you just go away? Leave the house.
Retrace your steps, and stop the shuffling.
Behind the orkhêstra (‘dancing place’ – where the chorus
danced and sang) was a low raised stage...

... with easy access to the orkhêstra and the eisodoi
(entrance ways to each side).

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At the rear of the stage was the skênê building...
... with a wide central door...
... for entrances and exits...

... and painted scenery panels (skênographia).

Interior tableaux were displayed on the eccyclema (aka
ekkyklema) (ekkuklêma), a trolley which could be rolled out...


... and rolled back in again.
Actors could appear on the roof of the skênê building.

Rooftop



East
Chariot
Roadway to
Argos
(including the
agora) and
Tombs of
Agamemnon
and
Clytemnestra
House of Atreus
(with the courtyard before it)
West
Pathway to
Nauplion
Orestes
Electra
Helen
The Characters by Episode
Pro. Electra Orestes Helen (and Hermione
Phrygian
slaves)
1
2
Electra Orestes
Orestes Menelaus
(and men)
Tyndareus
Pylades
3
Electra Orestes
Messenger Pylades
(Old Man)
4
Electra Orestes (Helen –
off-stage)
Pylades
5
Electra Orestes Phrygian
slave
Pylades
Ep.
Electra Orestes Menelaus
(and men)
Hermione
Pylades Apollo
Helen
More surprises about Helen…
• Helen is heard begging for her life
• We expect the ekkyklema to reveal her
corpse
• The Messenger (Phrygian Slave) reports
in song (and pidgin Greek) that she has
vanished
Darius (named)
and a Messenger:
Southern Italian
column crater (c.
400BC) by the
Darius Painter
(detail from name
vase depicting a
Persian-War
themed tragedy).
Menelaus (and
entourage)
Chorus of
Argive women
Orestes
Hermione
Pylades
Electra
Apollo
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Epilogue
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Helen
The Characters by Actor
Actor A
Actor B
Actor C
Silent
Extras
Prologue
Electra
Orestes
Helen
Hermione
Phrygian
slaves
Episode 1
Electra
Orestes
Episode 2
Menelaus
Orestes
Tyndareus
Pylades
Menelaus’
men
Episode 3
Electra
Orestes
Messenger
Pylades
Orestes’
supporters
Episode 4
Electra
Episode 5
Electra
Orestes
Phrygian
slave
Epilogue
Menelaus
Orestes
Apollo
(Helen)
Hermione
Pylades
Electra
Helen
Menelaus’
men
Alex Clark & Euripides’ Orestes
• Adapting the characters and content. Expect:
– The unexpected: Helen, Menelaus & Hermione + ???
– The substantially developed: Pylades, the imagery of setting
fire to the house of Atreus and Orestes’ threat of arson
– A trial and a guilty verdict
– The criminal justice system to be upheld
– A devastated and mentally unbalanced Orestes
– Reference to Greek myths
– A happy end for some
• Adopting Euripides’ attitude to theatrical conventions
and stage space. Expect:
–
–
–
–
Doubling of characters
Original and unexpected handling of stage space
To see inside Orestes’ mind
To wonder whether murders will be committed