About Orestes   Orestes ws a child at the time of the murder of his father and his mother was on the point of killing him too, when he was snatched out of her hands by his sister Electra and sent secretly to Strophius, king of Phocis.  There began his lifelong friendship with Pylades, son of Strophius.  When Orestes is older he returns to Mycenae, and with the help of Electra and Pylades he avenges the murder of his father.  Orestes and Pylades go to the palace with news that Orestes is dead.  Clytemnestra delighted invites the pair in.  Aegisthus joins the queen and Orestes kills him then his mother.  For this deed he is driven mad by the Furies, and wanders from place to place trying to escape them.  He goes to Athens, where he appeals to Athena for deliverance from the Furies.  A special court is called, the Areopagus, to try him, and Athena casts the deciding vote for his acquittal.  He was then sent by Apollo to fetch the image of Artemis from her temple in Tauris.  Taurians had a custom of sacrificing all Greeks to Artemis, and on their arrival in Tauris Orestes and Pylades were turned over to the temple of Artemis to be sacrificed according to this custom.  The priestess of the temple was Iphigenia, sister of Orestes.  She recognizes him and they get the image of Artemis and escape to Greece.  Orestes then returns to Mycenae kills Aletes, son and successor of Aegisthus, and recovers his father's kingdom.  He marries Hermione, daughter of Menelaus and Helen.  Orestes and Hermione have a son, Tisamenus. Back to Family Tree Back to Literature Index