While the strictly human interest predominates in the
Electra, we must not undervalue the dramatic
importance which Sophocles has given to the supernatural agency, or
the skill with which it is carried through the texture of the play.
In the opening scene we hear the oracle which Apollo has given to
Orestes. The enterprise is presently placed under the protection of
the Chthonian powers by those ceremonies at the tomb which, as the
old man urges, must precede everything else. Then Electra comes
forth, and invokes the deities of the underworld. A little later it
appears that Clytaemnestra has had an ominous dream; Electra sees in
it an answer to her prayer, and the Chorus express the same
conviction. Next, the queen makes her offerings and half-secret
prayers to Apollo; the very god, though she knows it not, who has
already sent Orestes home. With a similar unconsciousness, in her
joy at the news from Phocis, she declares that Nemesis has heard
those who deserved to be heard, and has ordained aright. The last
act. of Orestes and Pylades before entering the house is to salute
the images of the gods; while Electra makes a short prayer to
Apollo. Lastly, in the moments of suspense before the deed, the
choral song reminds us that the Erinyes have passed beneath the
roof, and that Hermes is guiding the avenger to the goal.
Thus the whole drama is pervaded by an under-current of divine
co-operation; the gods are silently at work; step by step the
irresistible allies advance; the very effort of Clytaemnestra to
bespeak Apollo's favour is a new impiety, which only makes his wrath
more certain. In the
Choephori darkness broods over
all; the shadow of the curse rests upon the murderers, and then the
menace of the Erinyes comes upon the avenger. In the
Electra of Sophocles it is the bright influence of
Apollo that prevails from the first. Those sights and sounds of
early morning with which the play opens are fit symbols of his
presence; the powers of the nether world are also, indeed, active,
but here they are making common cause with the Pythian god of light
and purity.
The
Electra of Euripides. |
