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Elektra calls her father "noble" ( : 366), and Chrysothemis "base" ( : 367): by betraying her father she has betrayed her kin ( : 368). Elektra refuses the name of mother for Klytemnestra, and calls her instead mistress/master ( : 597). |
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Elektra shows this same noble love for one's kin to her brother Orestes. She claims his death has slain her (El. 808). She sees herself as deprived of both father and brother. She speaks of the noble and royal blood she shares with her brother, both sprung from a noble father (85859). She asks Chrysothemis to join her in her noble deed of slaying their father's murderers, saying words comparable to Ajax's (S. Aj. 47380), namely that to live basely is a base thing for nobles (El. 989), and later its reverse, that even without Orestes, she would have either lived nobly or died nobly ( : 13201). This is the ancient cry of the genos, that noble deeds and noble blood go together. Elektra says also that they would show piety and win good fame ( : 973ff., 984ff.) by such a brave act. Many have noted Elektra's nobility, e.g., Whitman, who claimed, "Elektra wears her torment as a badge of her nobility, the one proof that she is still a princess."33 |
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When Orestes reveals himself, she addresses him in terms of their race and blood (El. 1232ff.). She speaks of him in terms of pleasure, and prays he will never be removed from her. Orestes goes into the palace, describing it as a place of ancient wealth (1393). One hears Klytemnestra ask for pity for her who bore the child, but this only underlines the fact that the father was the one who generated them, and again the genos prevails ( : 141012). Vater über alles. The chorus reminds them they are still in the polis, but makes reference to the race ( : 1413). |
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The chorus praise the offspring for achieving freedom, and these words conclude the play: : 150810). |
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The children have freed the city from the tyrants who have abused their power. Words describing the acts of tyrants abound (e.g., 254 ff., 5202, 664:  , 'She looks quite the tyrant,' said of Klytemnestra). |
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Opera for Interpreting the Classics:
Conclusion |
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Strauss and Hofmannsthal, as presented by Friedrich, transfer devotion to the genos clearly into the incestuous arena, and music contributes to the sensuality, besides underlining the heroic act. We remember that Aigisthos' own loyalty to his genos may have been intensified by fact that he was |
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33 Whitman (1951) 165. |
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