Orestes Pursued by the Furies by William-Adolphe Bouguereau
Orestes Pursued by the Furies Source: Wikimedia Commons Some of the most gruesome and frightening stories in Western literature come from ancient Greek literature. As Halloween season continues, I want to bring you a painting that represents one of the darkest stories in Greek canon: the tale of Orestes. In Greek mythology and literature, Orestes is the son of the legendary King Agamemnon (of The Iliad ) and Queen Clytemnestra. As the story is told by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus, Clytemnestra swore vengeance against Agamemnon for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia. When Agamemnon returned home after the end of the Trojan war, Clytemnestra and her lover murder Agamemnon and seize control of his kingdom. Years later, Orestes returns home bent on seeking revenge for his father’s death. Spurred on by the god Apollo, Orestes and his sister Electra conspire to kill their mother, and Orestes eventually succeeds in killing Clytemnestra and her lover. However, the murder of a family members...