Electra | Stasimon 1 | Summary

Summary

The chorus sings its assurances that justice will come to punish Agamemnon's killers. It then blames the family curse for all these problems.

Analysis

The stasimon is the choral ode that follows each episode of a Greek tragedy. Like the entrance ode, it comprises one or more pairs of strophe and antistrophe and often ends with an epode. In this case, however, the strophe and antistrophe do not demonstrate two sides of an issue as they did earlier in the play. Instead, the strophe and antistrophe reinforce each other about the fact that vengeance is coming to Electra's mother and stepfather.

The chorus also emphasizes how the theme of revenge and the motif of the cursed bloodline are closely intertwined throughout the play. This is a deep-rooted pattern that has affected Electra's ancestors for generations. This is why the chorus mentions Electra's great-grandfather, Pelops, the source of the curse: "O chariot-race of Pelops long ago! source of many a sorrow, what weary troubles hast thou brought upon this land! ... this house was never yet free from misery and violence."