The Curse of the House of Agamemnon: Revisiting the Characters of Orestes and Elektra in Colm Tóibín's House of Names (2018) and Jennifer Saint's Elektra (2022)

Abstract

[EN] Throughout the years, numerous pieces of literature have been written using as basis the ancient Greek myths of Electra and Orestes as transmitted by Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. This paper will analyze two of said retellings of the events surrounding the fate of the House of Atreus: House of Names (2018) by Colm Tóibín and Elektra (2022) by Jennifer Saint. Our thesis will delve into the differences between the representation and roles of the main characters in the novels with respect to the ancient sources, thus offering an insight into the influences behind the construction of these retellings. However, this study will particularly focus on the two main focalizers of the novels, namely Tóibín’s Orestes and Saint’s Elektra. The analysis will revolve around four main points: the characters’ relationship to Agamemnon, their connection to Clytemnestra, their views on their mother’s murder of their father and their role in the avenging of Agamemnon. The methods used to develop this in-depth analysis include perspectives on gender roles, sexuality and psychology among others. On the one hand, we conclude that Tóibín’s Orestes greatly differs from the ancient Greek sources, because he is a completely inactive man: he is incapable of making any decision on his own and far from wanting to avenge his father as society would ask from him, he prefers to lead a life away from the palace with his lover Leander. As a result, Orestes is portrayed as an easily swayable character that lends himself to Electra’s manipulations and ends up murdering his mother despite his own unwillingness, simply because he has been ordered to do so. On the other hand, Saint’s Elektra is characterized following the popular perception influenced by Jung’s theory; that is to say, Elektra’s complex—a young woman with semi-incestuous feelings towards her father. The adoration she feels for Agamemnon transforms her into a revenge-obsessed, manipulative and unnatural woman by the standards of the time. In other words, she is virtually a copy of Clytemnestra, the mother she hates precisely because of her upsetting of social and gender roles. In short, both Orestes and Elektra are non-normative subversive characters—especially in regards to their gender performances—because they fail to meet the expectations that both their parents and the society have placed upon them.