 Electra, like her brother Orestes and younger sister Chrysothemis, is a child of the Mycenaean king Agamemnon, who went off to the Trojan war for ten years. His queen Clytemnestra took a lover, Aegisthus; when the king returned they murdered him and forced Orestes into exile. The guilty pair now rule, and the daughters have become young women. Chrysothemis is frightened and self-effacing, Electra desiring revenge for her father. Chrysothemis warns her that their mother and Aegisthus plan to imprison her. Then Chrysothemis flees as Clytemnestra staggers in, nearly insane with guilt over the murder of her husband. Electra tells her that she and Aegisthus will be hounded through the palace halls by Orestes with the sacred axe. Clytemnestra is horrified until news comes that Orestes is dead. Crazed with disappointment, Electra tries to persuade Chrysothemis they must kill their mother, but Chrysothemis runs away in terror. Electra hunts for the buried axe that must be used fo!