The Chorus Character Analysis in Electra

The chorus is a group of Mycenean women. The chorus serves mainly to console Electra and advance and enrich the plot, but they also highlight the sexist nature of ancient Greek society and provide evidence that grief and mourning do not end simply because others say they should. The chorus is sympathetic to Electra’s plight, but they repeatedly encourage her to stop mourning. It won’t bring Agamemnon back, they say, and it “offers no release from suffering’s chains.” Electra’s grief, however, is uniquely her own, and it doesn’t respond to the chorus’s reasoning. The chorus also implores Electra to stop publicly mourning because in doing so, she knowingly angers Aegisthus, and they think that Electra should not “fight with the strong.” In this way, the chorus upholds their society’s sexist belief that Electra must be weak because she is woman. Electra, of course, proves them wrong, and the chorus celebrates her newfound freedom at the end of the play.

The Chorus Quotes in Electra

The Electra quotes below are all either spoken by The Chorus or refer to The Chorus. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Grief, Mourning, and Morality Theme Icon

CHORUS:
But how, how will dirges and prayers
Help to summon your father back,
Up from the Lake of Death which none escapes?
No, in your limitless grief you are fatally
Parting from reason for pain without remedy.
This sighing offers no release from suffering’s chains.
So why, why court such senseless anguish?

ELECTRA:
None but a fool forgets their
Parents grievously gone to the underworld.

Related Characters: Electra (speaker), The Chorus (speaker), Agamemnon, Clytemnestra

Page Number and Citation: 137-146

Explanation and Analysis:

Here, the chorus is attempting to comfort Electra and bring an end to her suffering, but she cannot be consoled. This passage is significant because it reflects both the personal nature of mourning (especially when a parent is involved) and Electra’s hypocrisy in lamenting her father’s death and celebrating her mother’s. The chorus implies that Electra’s suffering and grief are emotions that she can simply turn off at will, and they claim that her mourning is useless since it can’t bring Agamemnon back to life. They expect her to stop grieving because doing only adds to her pain, but Sophocles Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti

The shame of your present wretched state,
Is all of your own making.
Your trials are worse than they need to be.
Your sullen soul keeps breeding wars
Which cannot be won. Don’t fight with the strong.
How can you come near them?

Related Characters: The Chorus (speaker), Agamemnon, Aegisthus, Electra, Clytemnestra

Page Number and Citation: 215-220

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote appears as the chorus tries to console Electra, and it is significant because it again highlights the fact that grief cannot be abandoned simply because others say so. This quote also illustrates Sophocles’s theme of gender and the sexist assumption that women are weak and ineffectual. To the chorus, and to many others in the play, Electra’s persistent and public lamentations are unbecoming a proper Greek woman. Society has established acceptable mourning periods, and Electra’s grief has far exceeded this timeframe. Her profound grief makes others uncomfortable, and it angers Aegisthus and Clytemnestra and only makes their abuse Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure.

Women, all these laments of mine must make
Me seem so very embittered. I feel ashamed.
I’m forced to do it, though. You must forgive me.
A woman of noble birth could not act otherwise.
When she sees the troubles that haunt her father’s house
Not fading away but growing day and night.

Related Characters: Electra (speaker), The Chorus, Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Aegisthus, Pelops, Atreus, Iphigenia

Page Number and Citation: 254-260

Explanation and Analysis:

Here, Electra is speaking to the chorus about her profound grief, and her words underscore the theme of gender in Electra. Additionally, this quote is evidence that Electra’s grief has made her behave in ways that she otherwise considers to be inappropriate or unethical. Electra worries that her grief makes her “seem so very embittered,” but Electra is bitter, and she has every right to be. Both her sister and her father are dead, and her brother is hiding in exile. Furthermore, she is forced to live with the very people who killed her father, and they treat her like Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut

When Pelops in past ages
Won the race with his chariot,
What never-ending sorrow
Struck this land!
When Myrtilus, his helper,
Was drowned beneath the ocean
Tossed headlong from his chariot,
He cursed the race of Pelops
And died in great anguish.
Since that day
This palace has been haunted
By suffering and anguish.

Related Characters: The Chorus (speaker), Pelops, Myrtilus, Atreus, Agamemnon, Orestes, Electra, Iphigenia

Page Number and Citation: 504-515

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote occurs during the first choral song, and it more fully explains the curse of the House of Atreus and implies that the same curse is responsible for Agamemnon’s murder and his children’s ongoing pain. Pelops (who was, according to myth, Agamemnon’s grandfather) entered a chariot race with the king of Pisa to win the hand of the king’s daughter in marriage. Pelops bribed Myrtilus, the king’s charioteer, to sabotage the king’s chariot and tip the race in Pelops’s favor. Myrtilus agreed, and Pelops went on to win the race, but afterward, Pelops’s plan began to unravel. Stories as Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum a

CHORUS LEADER [to ELECTRA]:
I see she’s fuming with anger. She looks to me
No longer concerned whether she’s in the right.

CLYTEMNESTRA:
Why should I feel any concern for her
When she has hurled these insults against her mother?
She’s old enough to know better. Utterly shameless!
Don’t you believe she’d stoop to anything?

ELECTRA:
Let me assure you, however it looks to you,
I am ashamed of my actions and very aware
Of being untrue to myself. But your hostility
And cruel treatment force this behaviour on me.
Shameful ways are learned by shameful example.

Related Characters: The Chorus (speaker), Aegisthus, Electra, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon

Page Number and Citation: 610-621

Explanation and Analysis:

This quote appears during a heated argument between Clytemnestra and Electra over Agamemnon’s murder, and it is significant because it continues to highlight how Electra’s grief and her hatred for her mother and Aegisthus make her behave in ways that she otherwise considers unethical or immoral. Here, the chorus points out that Clytemnestra is “fuming with anger” at her daughter’s behavior, and that she is “no longer concerned” with being right. Both women, the chorus implies, have become so consumed by their hatred that neither is even bothering to think through the implications of what they’re saying. Clytemnestra essentially admits Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi solu

Yes, women, if Electra had any sense at all,
She wouldn’t have thrown all caution to the winds
Before giving tongue. What are you trying to do?
Why are you putting on this audacious front
And calling on me to follow? Don’t you see?
You’re not a man, but a woman. You haven’t the strength
To conquer your foes. Their star is rising daily,
While our fortunes are ebbing away to nothing.
Who could plot to murder a man as strong
As Aegisthus and then emerge from the fray unscathed?

Related Characters: Chrysothemis (speaker), Electra, The Chorus, Aegisthus

Page Number and Citation: 993-1002

Explanation and Analysis:

Here, Chrysothemis attempts to talk Electra out of her plan to kill Aegisthus on her own, and this quote is significant because it again highlights the sexism that defines ancient Greek society. Chrysothemis first directs her comment to the chorus. Chrysothemis thus implies that the chorus will undoubtedly understand and agree with her argument, as they are women, too, and therefore should know that Electra must be weak and incapable of revenge and murder. Chrysothemis refers to Electra’s feelings and desire for revenge as an “audacious front,” as if by refusing to conform to society’s sexist standards, she is effectively Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta

O seed of Atreus, how much you have suffered!
But now this attack has forced you out
Into freedom. You’ve come to the ending.

Related Characters: The Chorus (speaker), The Furies, Orestes, Agamemnon, Atreus, Electra, Aegisthus

Page Number and Citation: 1508-1510

Explanation and Analysis:

This passage occurs at the very end of the play, after Orestes leads Aegisthus into the palace to kill him in the exact place of Agamemnon’s murder, leaving Electra alone with the chorus. This quote is important because it again refers to the curse of the House of Atreus and implies that it is to blame for Electra’s suffering. However, the chorus also implies that Electra is free, both from her grief and from the confines of ancient Greece’s sexist gender roles. As the “seed of Atreus,” and therefore his direct descendant, Electra is still vulnerable to Pelops’s curse just Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum.

The Chorus Character Timeline in Electra

The timeline below shows where the character The Chorus appears in Electra. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

A chorus of Mycenean women arrive in front of the palace gateway, crying out to Electra with... (full context)

The chorus asks Electra how her all of her mourning can bring Agamemnon back. They claim that... (full context)

...messages and says he wants to come home, but he has not yet returned. The chorus encourages Electra to remain hopeful, because Zeus is watching over everything. They tell Electra to... (full context)

...all meaning; she is treated like a worthless stranger in her own father’s house. The chorus cries for Agamemnon and his untimely death. Electra agrees, say that that day was the... (full context)

The chorus, however, tells Electra that she has caused much of her own misery, because she keeps... (full context)

The chorus tells Electra again that she’ll only get herself into trouble, but she disagrees. She says... (full context)

Electra tells the chorus that she feels “ashamed” of her laments, since they must make her seem bitter, but... (full context)

...for Orestes to return, and she’s starting to think he might never come. To the chorus, she muses that because everything around her is evil, she might have no choice but... (full context)

The chorus worries that Aegisthus may be close enough to hear, but Electra says that he isn’t... (full context)

Deception, Falsehood, and Trust Theme Icon

...called “Clytemnestra’s daughter.” Electra says that Chrysothemis has “betrayed” their family, at which point the chorus interrupts, begging both sisters to listen to each other instead of fighting. (full context)

Chrysothemis tells the chorus that Aegisthus is going to make Electra stop grieving soon. She claims that if Electra... (full context)

...instead offer strands of hair from their heads and pray for Orestes to return. The chorus agrees and encourages Chrysothemis to do as Electra says. Chrysothemis consents, but she begs the... (full context)

The chorus says that it must have been “Justice” that sent the nightmare about Agamemnon to Clytemnestra.... (full context)

The chorus says that Electra no longer seems to care whether she’s right or wrong, and Clytemnestra... (full context)

The old slave whether the palace belongs to Aegisthus. When the chorus confirms that it does, the old slave tells Clytemnestra that he has been sent from... (full context)

Electra continues to wail as the chorus wonders where Zeus is and why he isn’t intervening. The chorus begs Electra to stop... (full context)

“Oh, where is wisdom?” the chorus asks, going on to suggest that it lives in the sky with the birds, who... (full context)

Orestes enters with Pylades, carrying the small bronze urn. Orestes asks the chorus where he might find the house of Aegisthus. Electra cries out upon seeing him, afraid... (full context)

The chorus again reminds Electra that they all must die, so she shouldn’t grieve too much. Orestes... (full context)

...seal, and the two embrace joyfully, promising never to part again. Electra yells to the chorus in delight that Orestes has returned. Orestes begs his sister to keep quiet and be... (full context)

“Look at the fire sweeping the bush,” the chorus sings, describing how war is descending on the palace. They watch as Orestes paces inside... (full context)

Electra exits the palace alone and the chorus begs to know what’s going on inside. Electra tells the women that Clytemnestra is “dressing... (full context)

The chorus sings that the curse is now taking effect. Then, Orestes and Pylades exit the palace,... (full context)

...look after everything here,” Electra says to Orestes as he rushes into the palace. The chorus tells Electra to speak calmly to Aegisthus so that he won’t guess he’s about to... (full context)

The chorus cheers that Electra is free at last, despite how much pain she’s gone through along... (full context)

The Chorus Character Analysis

The Chorus Quotes in Electra

Lines 121-250 Quotes

Lines 251-470 Quotes

Lines 473-515 Quotes

Lines 516-822 Quotes

Lines 871-1057 Quotes

Lines 1398-1510 Quotes

The Chorus Character Timeline in Electra