Aeschylus' death

Figure in Greek mythology

For other uses, see Orestes (disambiguation).

In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; Ancient Greek: Ὀρέστης[oréstɛːs]) was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and the brother of Electra.

He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness, revenge, and purification, which retain obscure threads of much older works.^[1][2] In particular Orestes plays a main role in Aeschylus' Oresteia.

Etymology

The Greek name Ὀρέστης, having become "Orestēs" in Latin and its descendants, is derived from Greek ὄρος (óros, "mountain") and ἵστημι (hístēmi, "to stand"), and so can be thought to have the meaning "stands on a mountain".^[3]

Greek literature

Homer

In the Homeric telling of the story,^[4] Orestes is a member of the doomed house of Atreus, which is descended from Tantalus and Niobe.

He is absent from Mycenae when his father, Agamemnon, re