Orestes
Orestes killed his mother to avenge his father — then was acquitted by Athena's court.
The Legend of Orestes
Son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, Orestes was smuggled out of Mycenae as a child after his mother murdered his father upon his return from Troy. Apollo's oracle at Delphi commanded him to avenge Agamemnon by killing Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. He obeyed, aided by his sister Electra and his faithful companion Pylades. The Furies then hounded him across Greece for matricide. He fled to Athens, where Athena convened the first murder trial on the Areopagus. The jury split; Athena cast the deciding vote for acquittal, transforming the Furies into the Eumenides and ending the curse of the house of Atreus.
Parents
Agamemnon and Clytemnestra
Children
Tisamenus
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Areopagus took its authority from this trial — the first in Western literature.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Alcmaeon
🗡 herovengeance
Son of Amphiaraus who killed his own mother Eriphyle on his father's orders and was driven mad by the Erinyes.
Clytemnestra
🗡 heroQueen who murdered Agamemnon
Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon on his return from Troy, driven by rage over Iphigenia's sacrifice.
Electra
🗡 heroAvenger of Agamemnon
Daughter of Agamemnon who plotted with her brother Orestes to avenge their father's murder by killing their mother Clytemnestra.
Aegisthus
🗡 herovengeance
Son of Thyestes who murdered Agamemnon to avenge his father, ruling Mycenae with Clytemnestra for seven years.
Agamemnon
🗡 heroKing of Mycenae
Agamemnon led the Greek coalition against Troy but was murdered upon return by his wife Clytemnestra.
Tenes
🗡 heroPurity, Betrayal, Apollo
Prince of Colonae and first ruler of Tenedos, killed by Achilles despite his divine protection by Apollo.
Oedipus
🗡 heroKing who fulfilled the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother
The tragic king of Thebes who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, fulfilling a prophecy he had spent his life trying to avoid.
Haemon
🗡 heroNone recorded
Son of Creon and fiancé of Antigone who died beside her in defiance of his father
Chrysippus
🗡 heroNone recorded
A son of Pelops whose abduction by Laius of Thebes brought a curse upon the house of Laius and introduced the theme of transgression that haunted the Oedipus cycle
Laius
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Thebes whose attempt to cheat fate led directly to the Oedipus tragedy
Thyestes
🗡 herocurse
Brother of Atreus who seduced his sister-in-law and was tricked into eating his own children at the feast of Atreus.
Acastus
🗡 herovengeance
King of Iolcus and Argonaut who tried to murder Peleus through treachery on Mount Pelion — a tale of false accusation and sacred hospitality violated.