Play 3, Part 3 (p.215-230) Summary

Athena reappears, summoning her court of elders. Apollo then appears, announcing himself as a witness in Orestes' favor and proclaiming his willingness to enter into the proceedings as Athena wills. Athena calls on the Chorus/Eumenides to present its case first. The Chorus/Eumenides questions Orestes about what he did and why. Orestes admits that he killed Clytemnestra but claims he did so under Apollo's guidance, and that he was acting out of a determination to avenge Agamemnon's death. Pressed by the Chorus/Eumenides, Orestes turns to Apollo and asks the god to say, once and for all, whether he was justified. Apollo proclaims that in telling Orestes to do what he did he (Apollo) was only passing on Zeus's decrees relating to the nature of justice. He also reminds Athena of the humiliating circumstances of Agamemnon's...