What you'll learn

• 1 (00:01) **Episode Introduction & Recap** - Host sets up the second play of Aeschylus' Oresteia, *The Libation Bearers*, premiering in 458 BCE at Athens.
• 2 (03:12) **Review of *Agamemnon* (Play 1)** - Recap of the first play: King Agamemnon returns from Troy, is murdered by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus.
• 3 (06:16) **Opening of *The Libation Bearers*** - The play begins years later at dawn, at the tomb of Agamemnon. Orestes, the exiled son, prays at the grave and hides as a procession approaches.
• 4 (08:51) **Electra and the Chorus at the Tomb** - Electra arrives with the slave women, unsure how to pray over her father's grave. The chorus advises her to pray for an avenger.
• 5 (14:39) **Orestes and Electra Reunite** - Brother and sister recognize each other. Orestes reveals Apollo's command to avenge their father's murder.
• 6 (16:36) **The Chorus's Oath and the Queen's Dream** - The chorus swears a spirit of vengeance. They reveal Clytemnestra's disturbing dream: she gave birth to a snake that bit her breast, drawing blood and milk.
• 7 (22:51) **The Deception at the Palace** - Orestes and Pylades knock at the palace gates, disguised as strangers. Clytemnestra welcomes them, unaware of their identity.

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