Libation Bearers is the second play in Aeschylus’s Oresteia trilogy, first performed in 458 BCE. It follows Orestes, the son of Agamemnon and Clytaemestra, as he returns to Argos to avenge his father's murder. Clytaemestra, who killed Agamemnon with her lover Aegisthus, is set to be killed by Orestes in retribution. Orestes and his sister Electra plot the murder, and Orestes, with his companion Pylades, secretly enters the palace, kills Clytaemestra and Aegisthus, and wraps them in the shroud of Agamemnon. Despite fulfilling his duty, Orestes is tormented by guilt and fear, haunted by the Furies, and flees to seek refuge at Apollo’s shrine, leaving the cycle of vengeance unresolved. The play delves into themes of justice, retribution, and familial duty.
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