Libation Bearers Resources

Your one-stop shop for information about all things Greek and mythological. This is a good place to turn if you're stuck on some obscure mythological reference.

Online texts of Aeschylus's seven surviving plays.

This is a movie version of an opera by the German composer Richard Strauss, with lyrics (libretto) by the Austrian poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Hofmannsthal actually didn't base the play on Aeschylus's Libation Bearers, but instead used the play Elektra by another Greek playwright, Sophocles. Thus, this version is a bit different from Aeschylus's – but that just makes for more food for thought.

This Greek film (also known by its original title, O Thiasos) uses Aeschylus's Oresteia to retell the history of modern Greece.

A '70s TV adaptation of Aeschylus's trilogy.

This papyrus fragment is from a "satyr play" by Aeschylus, entitled the Dictyulci, or "Net-pullers." A satyr play is a comic play, which a chorus made up of satyrs – weird little half man half goat dudes. Traditionally, every year, a tragedian would write one tragic trilogy and a satyr play to accompany it.

1983 British production of Libation Bearers with masked, all-male cast. All 7 parts available on YouTube.

The American rock band A Perfect Circle has a song called "Orestes" inspired by Aeschylus's hero.

This aria comes from an opera by the German composer Richard Strauss, with lyrics (libretto) by the Austrian poet Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Hofmannsthal actually didn't base the play on Aeschylus's Libation Bearers, but instead used the play Elektra by another Greek playwright, Sophocles. Thus, this version is a bit different from Aeschylus's – but that just makes for more food for thought.

This is a bust of Aeschylus. Chances are it was not done from life, but it can give you some idea of what ancient people after Aeschylus imagined that he looked like.

Attic red-figure pottery from the 6th century BC.

This fourth century BC red-figure pottery shows Electra at Agamemnon's tomb, with Orestes and Pylades in the background.

This is a first century AD Roman copy of a Greek statue of Orestes and his sister Electra.

This painting by the 19th century English painter Frederic Leighton depicts the opening scene of Aeschylus's Libation Bearers.