Les Dons de Clytemnestre et la tombe d'Agamemnon. Sur Soph. El. 431-63

At ll. 431-63 of Sophocles’ Electra, the main character persuades her sister Chrysothemis to throw away the apotropaic libations sent by Clytemnestra and to substitute them with gifts that will ultimately help the avenging plan of Orestes. This scenes echoes closely the sequence of events that dominates the Choephoroe. At the same time, many themes that appear to be typical of Sophocles are densely woven in this passage. The heroic tomb is the battleground for a combat between friends and enemies of the dead, who seek to win the help of the hero to their side (or to neutralize his powers). The living φίλοι struggle to protect the bonds of reciprocity that still tie them to the deceased and that are threatened by the initiative of the adversaries. These themes of the episode, along with the symbolism of Electra’s own gifts, will be studied in the light of Sophoclean dramaturgy and the Greek rituals of offering to the dead and hero cult.