Chapter 33: Friends and Foes - Clytemnestra
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Spring arrives with no news from Troy, leaving Clytemnestra restless and sleep-deprived. Orestes grows fidgety, taking many servant girls to his bed, which worries his mother. At a family dinner, Electra openly taunts Orestes for befriending Kyros, a man who once tried to rape her and Chrysothemis. When she asks Aegisthus whether people can change, he replies that the greedy stay greedy. Orestes twists this, calling Aegisthus a traitor. Aegisthus slams his knife, but Clytemnestra silences both sides. Later, Aileen wakes Clytemnestra because Orestes and Aegisthus are fighting in the practice yard. Clytemnestra throws a spear between them and ends the match. Aegisthus follows her inside, insisting Orestes attacked him and that she must send her son away or risk Orestes avenging his father when Agamemnon returns. Clytemnestra refuses at first, but then agrees, sending Orestes to Sparta to marry Hermione and build alliances. At dawn, she warns him to be wary of counselors and to treat Hermione as an equal. Orestes warns her in return that Aegisthus is not a friend. On the walls, Aegisthus kneels and swears eternal loyalty, but Clytemnestra feels the ground collapsing under her.
Key Events
- Clytemnestra’s restless nights and worry about Orestes’ promiscuity.
- Dinner quarrel: Electra questions Orestes’ friendship with Kyros, and Orestes calls Aegisthus a traitor.
- Aegisthus slams his knife; Clytemnestra forces both to stop.
- Practice-yard fight: Orestes and Aegisthus duel; Clytemnestra stops them with a spear.
- Aegisthus pleads for Orestes to be sent away, warning of son’s duty to avenge father.
- Clytemnestra decides to send Orestes to Sparta to wed Hermione.
- Parting scene: Clytemnestra advises Orestes; Orestes warns her about Aegisthus.
- Final scene on the walls: Aegisthus kneels and pledges loyalty, but Clytemnestra feels uncertain.
Character Development
- Clytemnestra: Torn between her love for her son and her need for Aegisthus’s support. She executes a political plan by sending Orestes away, yet her trust in Aegisthus wavers when Orestes warns her. Her earlier confidence in her web of control gives way to doubt.
- Orestes: Shows aggression and mockery toward Aegisthus, challenging him openly. Despite his bravado, he listens to his mother’s advice and offers her a wise caution in return, indicating growth and loyalty to her.
- Aegisthus: Driven by fear and jealousy, he reveals his deep insecurity. His violent reaction to Orestes’ taunts and his later plea show his desperation to secure his place. His final vow of loyalty feels both sincere and menacing.
- Electra: Sharp-tongued and observant, she exposes the hypocrisy in Orestes’ friendships and forces Aegisthus to speak his mind. She is a quiet but potent force in the family.
- Chrysothemis: Gentle and conciliatory, she tries to defuse tension but is largely ignored.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- The Web of Fate: Clytemnestra reflects that she has woven a web too large and now is caught in it. This image recurs with the Furies weaving traps of blood and justice.
- Loyalty and Trust: Every character questions who is friend and who is foe. Orestes warns his mother that Aegisthus is neither, yet Aegisthus swears loyalty. The theme underlines the impossibility of absolute trust in a world of shifting alliances.
- Father vs. Mother: Aegisthus invokes the law that a son must avenge his father. Clytemnestra worries that her son’s training may have made him too fierce, and that loyalty to his father could override loyalty to her.
- Justice: The ancient spirit of Justice is described as a web of blood binding all generations. Aegisthus himself is proof that a son’s duty to avenge a father can bring ruin.
Why This Chapter Matters
This chapter is a turning point in Clytemnestra’s strategy. By sending Orestes to Sparta, she removes a potential rival and secures a marriage alliance, but she also loses her son’s immediate protection and strengthens Aegisthus’s position. The open hostility between Orestes and Aegisthus foreshadows the violent conflict to come after Agamemnon’s return. Moreover, Clytemnestra’s doubt about Aegisthus’s loyalty sows the seeds of future betrayal. The chapter crystallizes the central dilemma of the novel: can a queen rule with love and justice when every bond is tangled with blood?
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why does Clytemnestra ultimately agree to send Orestes away?
Clytemnestra agrees after Aegisthus warns that Orestes, as a son, will be bound to avenge his father Agamemnon when she kills him. To prevent that, she decides Orestes must be in Sparta when the king returns, so he cannot act. She also wants him to build alliances and earn respect before facing the consequences of her planned murder.
2. What does Orestes mean when he says to his mother, “He’s not your foe, but he’s not your friend either”?
Orestes is warning Clytemnestra that Aegisthus’s loyalty is conditional. Though Aegisthus loves her, his own history of betrayal and distrust makes him unreliable. Orestes sees that Aegisthus will put his own survival first, especially when Agamemnon returns, and that Clytemnestra should not fully trust him despite his vows.
3. How does the dinner scene reveal the family’s power dynamics?
Electra openly challenges Orestes’ friendship with a man who once tried to rape her, forcing him to defend himself. When she turns to Aegisthus, he gives a cryptic answer that Orestes twists into an accusation. Clytemnestra stops the quarrel by asserting her authority, but her command does not resolve the underlying tensions. The scene shows that Electra is a subtle power player, Orestes is reckless, Aegisthus is undermined, and Clytemnestra’s control is fragile.