The play begins at King Agamemnon's palace in Argos, shortly after Troy was conquered, with the

lone Watchman's soliloquy. The Watchman prays to the gods from the palace's roof for a break from
his never-ending watch. The stars, his only constant companions, appear to him to be a plethora of
"dynasties" that revolve endlessly, rising and waning as they pass from winter into summer and back
again. Rest is all he wants, to put it briefly.

He describes how the queen ordered him to maintain watch for a fire. He also struggles to sleep due
to his anxiety. He alludes to "the pity of this house," a terrible past tragedy that he hopes will soon
be forgotten, in his reflections. He claims that the flames would portend good things. The Watchman
then notices a flare in the distance and a messenger's torch that announces the collapse of Troy. He
compares it to a sunrise, which is joyful. The Watchman ends the soliloquy by expressing hope that
his king will come back home because, in his opinion, the mansion has been mired in gloom for too
long.

The elderly Chorus arrives and starts reenacting the start of the Trojan War 10 years earlier,
including the call to arms, the deployment of the thousand ships, and the tragic deaths of so many
young Argives. They continue by explaining that the catastrophic fall is the result of angry gods
delaying their punishment of the rebels, primarily Paris and Helen.

The Chorus continues as Clytaemestra comes on stage. They enquire about the bonfires, sacrifices,
and offerings to all the gods that the queen has mandated be made around the city. She is silent.

The chorus recalls the hare that was torn open while still "ripe, bursting with young unborn yet,"
according to the seer's interpretation of the omen. We are informed that "the secret fury" refers to
Agamemnon's resentment over the sacrifice of his maiden daughter Iphigeneia and "remembers the
child that shall be avenged." Iphigeneia's sacrifice at the hands of her war-obsessed father is then
described by the disapproving Chorus, however without reaching its climax. The future, the play's
action, and what will happen next appear to be in Clytaemestra's hands.

Troy's Clytaemestra declares victory. She is questioned by the Chorus's leader, who is naturally
dubious. She recalls a series of fires, starting with the one in Troy, that were reported by watchmen
at various locations before being finished by our Watchman. When asked to elaborate further, the
queen imagines that Troy is currently being pillaged and advises the Chorus to maintain respect for
the gods and people of the foreign city lest the men despoil themselves before returning home by
engaging in sacrilege.

The news, according to the chorus, represents Zeus' divine retribution on Paris for stealing Helen
from her husband Menelaus. They assert that there is no way out of perdition. The people of Argos
despise the conflict, but justice has come at a high price and young men's lives are being burned to
ashes in the flames. The multiple Chorus expresses doubt in the signal once more, showing cynicism.
Then a warrior named the Herald shows up with news of Agamemnon's impending arrival. He
expresses how awful his homesickness was and how beautiful the new respite is. Following the
announcement of this information, Clytaemestra calls the Chorus' attitude toward her "womanish"
credulity to attention before boldly announcing her long, chaste commitment to her husband. In
order to prepare for his return, she goes backstage.

The Chorus asks the Herald about Menelaus' condition and location. It transpires that he vanished
during a violent storm at sea. The Herald ends his account of the storm by leaving. The Chorus, who
is left on stage alone, laments once again over the unhappy outcomes of Helen and Paris' union.
According to legend, Daring is Pride's unwanted progeny. Agamemnon soon arrives in a chariot,
flanked by Cassandra, an imprisoned sorceress. The Chorus's leader tells the king that while he had
hated his choice to seek Helen at any costs, he now warmly welcomes his homecoming. Agamemnon
is anxious to praise the gods for his victory.

Speaking to her husband in front of a crowd of Argive residents, Clytaemestra describes how difficult
her wait has been in the absence of numerous stories of wounds and deaths to Agamemnon. She
then begs the impatient audience to be patient and to keep the council and order. Grandiosely
welcoming him, she asks Agamemnon to enter his palace on crimson drapes that his wife has
ordered unfolded. Yet he declines. He claims that he will not support being treated like a god
because he is merely a man and a mortal. The disagreement between the spouses portrays
Agamemnon as a stern, unforgiving guy. Clytaemestra makes a number of attempts to persuade him
to accept her offer. Her actions are troubling. However, Clytaemestra finally convinces Agamemnon
to go against his better judgment after using some more forceful language. He does so barefoot
because he is a human, but this is still concerning. They walk inside the home.

The Chorus thinks about its unresolved uneasiness. The mere sight of Agamemnon has only
increased the melancholy dread and morbid terror. The Chorus is certain that the gods cannot
forgive the injustice of the past. They wait for the blood to flow, sick at heart. The curiously mute
Cassandra is ordered off of the chariot by the resurfacing Clytaemestra to worship at their shrine.
Clytaemestra exits when the girl doesn't move since she doesn't want to waste any more of her
time. The Chorus points out that Apollo is not a god of grief as Cassandra cries out incoherently to
him and makes cryptic predictions regarding infanticide, fatal baths, and a murderess in the house.
She only predicts her own demise, according to the chorus. They talk about how she got her ability,
as well as how it came with a curse: auditors will always doubt her accurate prophecies. As
expected, her most direct and unsettling prophecy—"you shall look upon Agamemnon dead"—is
misinterpreted. Last but not least, she foresees a son (Orestes) who would one day kill the mother
(we must presume this is Clytaemestra since her name does not appear in any of the predictions)
who murders his father. Then, having resolutely acknowledged that the home is also her tomb,
Cassandra enters.

There is a startled yell coming from within the home. In the bathtub, Agamemnon has been stabbed.
As the Chorus breaks up in a panic, the individual singers hurriedly talk to one another. Before they
even decide to act, they display their cowardice and Agamemnon shouts out once more. The
palace’s doors suddenly swing open, and look! Clytaemestra is standing over Agamemnon and
Cassandra as they lay dead there. She appears cold-blooded as she recounts to them the horrific
details of her seduction, trapping, and murder of the king who, according to her, caused them all so
much suffering. She struck him three times, reveling in the warm blood that spurted from the
wounds. The Chorus is horrified by her harshness since she shows no remorse. The elderly men
promptly reject her. Next, Clytaemestra makes an attempt to defend her actions as reasonable and
divine punishment for the death of her daughter. She presents herself as a tool of divine causality
and fate. The Chorus refuses to hear of it and keeps pondering how to express their grief for the late
king. His death’s significance is still up in the air. Normally, the fallen hero would be mourned in
public. All of Argos are held accountable for Clytaemestra’s actions, and she swears that her husband
won’t be mourned. They are essentially discussing guilt, or whether Clytaemestra’s actions were
driven by a simple, human desire for vengeance or whether they were caused by divine providence.
Finally, with no other option, the anxious Chorus is forced to concur with Clytaemestra.
Agamemnon was killed by his father Thyestes after Thyestes was tricked by Agamemnon’s father
into devouring his two sons, Aegisthus’ brothers, but just then, Aegisthus, the exiled son of Thyests
and the queen’s covert lover, bursts into the palace crying that he hatched the plot and that he
assisted in killing Agamemnon in retaliation. The Chorus foretells his demise just as they had done
with Clytaemestra in the past. He is accused of being a cowardly woman for not killing Agamemnon
himself. Then, the tyrannical Aegisthus threatens the state, the elderly men, and slavery.
Clytaemestra steps in when the Chorus protests Aegisthus’ boasting by rising. It is said that Orestes
is Argos’ sole hope. Clytaemestra informs her beloved and the new monarch that they now have the
power, deaf to the useless gibes of the Chorus. The doors close behind them as they enter the home
collectively.