ARGUMENT.
It came to pass, after Agamemnon had been slain, that Clytæmnestra
and Ægisthos ruled in Argos, and all things seemed
to go well with them. Orestes, who was heir to Agamemnon,
they had sent away to the care of Strophios of Phokis, and
there he abode. Electra, his sister, mourned in secret over
her father's death, and prayed for vengeance, but no avenger
came. And when Orestes grew up to man's estate, he went
to ask counsel of the God at Delphi, and the God straitly
charged him to take vengeance on his father's murderers;
and so he started on his journey with his trusty friend
Pylades, and arrived at Argos. And it chanced that a
little while before he came, the Gods sent Clytæmnestra a
fearful dream, that troubled her soul greatly; and in her
terror she bade Electra go with her handmaids to pour libations
on the tomb of Agamemnon, that so she might appease
his soul, and propitiate the Powers that rule over the dark
world of the dead.
