Author Description

Some have argued that Euripides' innovative tendencies reach their zenith in "Orestes" and there are certainly many innovative dramatic surprises in the play, such as the way in which he not only freely chooses mythical variants to serve his purpose, but also brings myths together in entirely new ways and freely adds to the mythic material. For example, he brings the mythic cycle of Agamemnon-Clytemnestra-Orestes into contact with the episodes of the Trojan War and its aftermath, and even has Orestes attempt murder on Menelaus' wife, Helen. Indeed, Nietzsche is quoted as saying that myth died in Euripides' violent hands.