OresteOrestes

Orestes is a prominent figure in Greek mythology, most famously known as the son of Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae, and his wife Clytemnestra. His story is central to the Oresteia, a trilogy of Greek tragedies by Aeschylus, and also appears in plays by Sophocles and Euripides.

Following the murder of his father Agamemnon by Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus upon Agamemnon's return from the Trojan War, the young Orestes was spirited away to Phocis. There, he was raised by Strophius and his wife Cilix. In his adulthood, Orestes returned to Mycenae, driven by a divine command from Apollo and a desire for revenge.

With the help of his sister Electra, Orestes avenged his father's death by killing both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. This act, however, brought him under the relentless pursuit of the Erinyes, or Furies, who were tasked with punishing matricide and other heinous crimes. Orestes fled, seeking purification and absolution from his guilt.

His journey led him to Athens, where he was tried for the murder of his mother. The trial, depicted in Aeschylus's Eumenides, was presided over by Athena and involved a jury of Athenian citizens. Orestes was ultimately acquitted, marking a transition in Athenian justice and the pacification of the Furies, who were transformed into benevolent deities. Orestes eventually married Hermione, the daughter of Menelaus and Helen, and ruled over Mycenae.