Crimea. Mythological 2(b).
Note that Euripides actually wrote this part two first, in 414 BC... We should therefore, in addition to the numerous innovations which have profoundly influenced the theater, recognize to him, with the writing of Iphigenia in Aulis, the invention of the "prequel" with that part one, written in 406 BC.
Mythological 2b. Iphigénie en Tauride
Iphigénie, part two, therefore... Where the tragedy turns into a bloodbath... This was to be expected. Having discovered the "pot of roses" as we say in Frech (mean "what was going on"), and not being able to forgive her husband for having agreed to deliver their daughter as a sacrifice (therefore unaware that she was safe and sound in Tauride*), Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus murder Agamemnon, and his concubine Cassandra who accompanied him on his return from Troy. Would I dare to say an admittedly anachronistic "O tempora o mores"!
Orestes, with the help of his sister Electra (other son and daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and therefore brother and sister of Iphigenia), takes refuge by his uncle King Strophios, where he forms an unwavering friendship with his cousin Pylades. (You follow ?)
Having become an adult, he returns home to avenge the death of his father, either at the instigation of the oracle of Delphe (according to Aeschylus), or at the instigation of his sister Electra (according to Sophocles), the latter version which inspired Carl Gustav Jung to develop the concept of the "Electra complex", the feminine equivalent of the "Oedipus complex", a concept obviously rejected by Freud... Well... I won't tell you what I think of these two there... Still, Orestes puts Clytemnestra and Aegisthus to the sword. (And four !)
Pursued by the Erinyes (°), following this matricide, to the point of almost losing his reason, Orestes consults the oracle of Apollo (again) who tells him that he will be forgiven if he brings back his sister from Tauride. He therefore sets off, accompanied by his friend Pylades and a few reliable men, for Tauride with the aim of seizing the golden statue of the Tauric Artemis - Artemis being sister of Apollo. And so, one stormy night on the coast of Crimea, while they were looking for a way to approach the temple, the two friends were taken prisoner and brought before Iphigenia to be sacrificed.
Having understood that they were Greek, she discovered through her questions that one of the two must be her brother. She would like to save him and only have the other one sacrificed. What follows is a contest of bravery between Orestes and Pylades, both trying to sacrifice themselves and save their friend, more precious for one another than their own life. This fight of generosity excites the admiration of the audience and creates a diversion, which Iphigénie takes advantage of to free the two friends from their chains. Immediately, they call their companions, attack the taurians whom they rout, take away the golden statue of Artemis and set sail with Iphigenia, doubly fulfilling the oracle !
So all is well that ends well... except for King Thoas who perished in the fight...
As for the Taurians, according to the legend, the attitude of Orestes and Pylades made such an impression on them that they soon forgot the insult to the goddess and built a new temple, called Oresteon, dedicated to friendship, the first virtue among all...
* * *
Illustration : "Pylades et Oreste brought as victims before Iphigenia" by Benjamin West.
(*) Read Part One here
(°) Erinyes: persecuting deities who obsess and torment those guilty of family crimes.
Other Intercultural Notes...
"Si vis pacem..." the article, some kind of manifesto of our association.
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