In Greek mythology Electra (also Elektra) is a princess of Mycenae, daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and sister of Orestes and Iphigenia. She is best known for helping Orestes avenge their father's murder by killing Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. She is the title figure of tragedies by Sophocles and Euripides and a central presence in Aeschylus's Libation Bearers; the Electra complex in psychology is named after her. She is distinct from Electra the Pleiad and from the Oceanid Electra.
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I.Family
Electra's parents were King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra of Mycenae. Her sisters were Iphigenia and Chrysothemis; her brother was Orestes. In the Iliad Homer is often understood to refer to her under the name Laodice among Agamemnon's daughters.
This Mycenaean Electra must not be confused with Electra daughter of Atlas (one of the Pleiades), with the Oceanid Electra, or with other same-named figures in Greek myth.
II.Murder of Agamemnon and the return of Orestes
Electra was away from Mycenae when Agamemnon returned from Troy with Cassandra and was murdered by Clytemnestra and/or Aegisthus. Motive for the queen includes the sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis. According to Pindar and later tradition, Electra (or a nurse) saved the infant Orestes from Clytemnestra and conveyed him to Strophius in Phocis, where he grew up with his cousin Pylades.
When Orestes reached manhood, Apollo's oracle at Delphi ordered him home to avenge Agamemnon. Electra and Orestes reunite — often at Agamemnon's tomb — and plan the deaths of Aegisthus and their mother.
III.In Greek tragedy
In Aeschylus's Libation Bearers Electra mourns, recognizes Orestes, and supports the revenge that the Eumenides then put on trial. Sophocles's Electra centers her long endurance under Aegisthus and Clytemnestra and the delayed recognition with Orestes. Euripides's Electra places her in a rustic marriage and darkens the matricide's moral tone; his Orestes and Iphigenia among the Taurians continue her story, including marriage to Pylades in several accounts.
Later drama, opera, and literature — from Voltaire and Hofmannsthal to O'Neill and Sartre — keep returning to Electra as the figure of filial vengeance and unresolved grief.