Oresteia, trilogy of tragic dramas by the ancient Greek dramatist Aeschylus, first performed in 458 BCE. It is his last work and the only complete trilogy of Greek dramas that has survived,The Oresteia tells the story of the house of Atreus. The first play, Agamemnon, portrays the victorious return of that king from the Trojan War and his murder by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus. At the play’s end Clytemnestra and her lover rule Árgos. The work has extraordinary, sustained dramatic and poetic power. Particularly notable are the fascinating richness of Clytemnestra’s deceitful words and the striking choral songs, which raise in metaphorical and often enigmatic terms the major themes—of theology, politics, and blood relationships—that are elaborated throughout the trilogy.
