 |
| David Scott Death of Agamemnon (Clytemnestra and Aegisthus approaching) 1837 watercolor British Museum |
 |
| Stefano della Bella Clytemnestra holding an axe (from a pack of 52 playing cards of famous queens) 1644 etching British Museum |
 |
| Jean Duplessi Bertaux and Jean Baptiste Patas Orestes killing Clytemnestra (after a bas-relief in the Pitti Palace, Florence) 1792 etching British Museum |
CHORUS:
Look where he comes grazing forward,
blood bubbling over his lips. Ares!
As a horizontal scream into the house
go the hunters of evil,
the raw and deadly dogs.
Not long now:
the blazing dream of my head is crawling out.
Here he comes like a stealing shadow,
like a footprint of death into the rooms,
stalking the past
with freshcut blood in his hands.
It is Hermes who guides him
down a blindfold of shadow –
straight to the finish line: not long now!
ELECTRA:
My ladies! The men
are about to accomplish the deed –
be silent and wait.
 |
| Valentine Green after Benjamin West Aegisthus discovers the body of Clytemnestra 1786 mezzotint British Museum |
 |
| John Flaxman Sketches for The Shade of Clytemnestra Awaking the Furies ca. 1793 drawing British Museum |
 |
| John Downman Study for The Ghost of Clytemnestra Awakening the Furies ca. 1781 drawing British Museum |
 |
| John Downman The Ghost of Clytemnestra Awakening the Furies 1781 oil on panel Yale Center for British Art |
CHORUS:
The curses are working.
Under the ground
dead men are alive
with their black lips moving,
black mouths sucking
on th souls of killers' feet.
Here they come,
hands soaked with red: Ares is happy!
Enough said.
ELECTRA:
Orestes, how does it go?
ORESTES:
Good, so far – at least so far as Apollo's oracle was good.
ELECTRA:
Is the creature dead?
ORESTES:
Your good mother will not insult you anymore.
– from Sophocles' Electra, translated by Anne Carson (Oxford University Press, 2001)
 |
| Carl Van Vechten Martha Graham as Clytemnestra and Bertram Ross as Orestes 1961 gelatin silver print Philadelphia Museum of Art |
 |
| Carl Van Vechten Martha Graham as Clytemnestra and Bertram Ross as Orestes 1961 gelatin silver print Philadelphia Museum of Art |
 |
| Carl Van Vechten Martha Graham as Clytemnestra and Bertram Ross as Orestes 1961 gelatin silver print Philadelphia Museum of Art |
 |
| Carl Van Vechten Martha Graham as Clytemnestra and Bertram Ross as Orestes 1961 gelatin silver print Philadelphia Museum of Art |
 |
| Carl Van Vechten Martha Graham as Clytemnestra and Bertram Ross as Orestes 1961 gelatin silver print Philadelphia Museum of Art |
 |
| Carl Van Vechten Martha Graham as Clytemnestra and Bertram Ross as Orestes 1961 gelatin silver print Philadelphia Museum of Art |
 |
| Carl Van Vechten Martha Graham as Clytemnestra and Bertram Ross as Orestes 1961 gelatin silver print Philadelphia Museum of Art |