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The very first words of the play are spoken with the Watchman sitting on the roof of the palace of Agamemnon at Argos, Greece. The matter is, Agamemnon is not there. (For more information on the Trojan War, check out this site, or read all about it at our "Thorough Overview.") Then, just as the Watchman is telling us just how far his entire life stinks, he sees that a sign fire burning in the space; this usually means that Troy has been seized.

The Watchman goes off to alarm Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife. In no time all of Argos is buzzing with activity, with lots of sacrifices being offered to the gods. In the second scene, the Chorus, a collection of elderly guys, gathers in front of the palace of Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife, that has been taking good care of things while Agamemnon has been gone.

They wish to know what all the fuss is all about. Then they sing a song about the root of the Trojan War and how, on his way there, Agamemnon sacrificed his and Clytemnestra's daughter Iphigenia to convince the goddess Artemis to deliver him great winds. When the Chorus completes its song, Clytemnestra appears beyond the palace and tells them the fantastic news of the war end, and the way she knows it. (She gives a long description of the series of signal fires leading from Troy, in contemporary Turkey, to Argos.) Then she heads back in the palace. The Chorus is still somewhat skeptical about the information.

Then, but a Herald appears to declare that Agamemnon will be there soon. Then, sure enough, Agamemnon rolls up in his chariot. Beside him at the chariot is Cassandra, a Trojan princess that he has taken prisoner. Clytemnestra appears beyond the palace to welcome her husband. She orders slave-women to roll out a purple cloth for Agamemnon to stroll on, therefore that he will not need to touch the floor on his way from the chariot to the palace. Agamemnon is reluctant to do this purple cloth was quite expensive back then, and he's worried the gods will probably be offended if heor she as a mortal, commits this extravagant action.

After Agamemnon walks across the cloths into the palace, the Chorus members sing a song about the way they are vaguely fearful, but don't know the reason why. When they are done, Clytemnestra comes back from the palace and informs Cassandra to come in. Eventually, Clytemnestra gives up attempting to persuade her and heads into the palace. When the Chorus attempts to persuade her to go into the palace, Cassandra, that has not opened her mouth thus far, starts wailing horribly about the way she's about to be murdered. Cassandra, who has prophetic powers, shows the past and the future.

What she sees within the past is a grisly crime perpetrated by Agamemnon's father, Atreus. When Atreus was mad in his brother Thyestes for sleeping with his wife, he butchered Thyestes's kids and fed them to him. Eventually, Cassandra says that she accepts her passing, and heads in the palace.A brief time later, the Chorus finds two shouts coming from the palace: it's Agamemnon stating he has been murdered. The Chorus members possess a confused argument with one another; initially, some members advocate prompt action, however they wind up choosing to wait till they know all the facts. Clytemnestra boasts that she murdered Agamemnon to avenge their daughter Iphigenia.

At the exact same time, she states that she isn't responsible for the killing because she was only carrying out the curse which had been put on the household by Thyestes, a generation past. Then (talk of the devil), that must appear on point, but Thyestes's son, Aegisthus! Aegisthus is currently Clytemnestra's lover; it ends up that he plotted with her to kill Agamemnon in revenge for what Atreus (Agamemnon's father) did to his own brothers and sisters. The Chorus is evidenced with this, and they are about to struggle Aegisthus before Clytemnestra steps in. The play ends with the Chorus wanting for Agamemnon's son, Orestes, to return from exile and avenge Agamemnon. Clytemnestra informs Aegisthus to dismiss them; she leads him into the palace, stating that they will be combined leaders in Argos.

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