Play 1, Part 1 (p. 111-124) Summary

The play begins with an ode (speech) spoken by a Watchman, who describes himself as being posted on the roof of Agamemnon's and Clytemnestra's palace in Mycenae, watching for a prearranged sign (a bonfire) that Agamemnon is on his way home from the Trojan War. As he speaks of Clytemnestra's strength of will and of a strange feeling of oppressive fear (see "Quotes", p. 112), he sees the bonfire and rejoices, calling out to Clytemnestra to wake and welcome Agamemnon joyfully.

The Chorus appears and recounts at poetic length Agamemnon's story—how he and his brother-king Menelaus attempted to sail to the city of Troy to rescue Menelaus' kidnapped wife Helen; how they were prevented by a lack of wind, and how the goddess Artemis demanded that Agamemnon sacrifice his youngest daughter in order to gain more...