ORESTES

[Greek heroic] Orestes was the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra and the brother of Electra. When his father returned from the Trojan War, he was murdered by Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus. Orestes, who was quite young at the time, went into exile and swore to get revenge. After he reached adulthood, he returned home secretly and, plotting with his sister Electra, contrived the murder of both Aegisthus and Clytemnestra. As a consequence of his deed, Orestes was tormented by the Erinyes, or Furies, who followed him everywhere he went. The Erinyes only stopped hounding him when he sought judgement for his crime at the Aeropagus in Athens, and was acquitted.