| agon | In Greek drama, the term denoting the contest, struggle, or conflict between the principal characters.
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| Areopagus | The "hill of Ares (Mars)," a spur of the Athenian Acropolis, where Athene established a court for homicides; the site of Orestes' trial in the Eumenides.
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| Atreus | [AY-tre-uhs] A son of Pelops and king of Mycenae, he was the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus.
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| Cassandra | Daughter of Priam and Hecuba, she was Apollo's virgin prophet; part of Agamemnon's booty from Troy, she was brought to Argos (Mycenae), where Clytemnestra murdered her.
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| Clytemnestra | [klye-tem-NES-tra] The leading female character in the Oresteia, she was the daughter of Tyndareus (or Zeus) and Leda, sister of Helen, wife of Agamemnon, mistress of Aegisthus, and mother of Iphigenia, Electra, Chrysothemis, and Orestes. After murdering Agamemnon, she was slain by Orestes.
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| Electra | Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, and sister of Orestes, she conspired with her brother to avenge their murdered father.
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| Erinyes | [e-RIN-ih-eez] Greek term for the Furies.
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| Eumenides | [oo-MEN-ih-deez] Greek name for the Kindly Ones, formerly the Furies.
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| Furies | (Dirae) Born from Uranus's blood, they were goddesses of blood vengeance; in Aeschylus, they were daughters of Night. They are also called the Erinyes.
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| Iphigenia | [if-ih-je-NYE-a] Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra whom her father sacrificed at Aulis to prevent the Greeks' expedition against Troy from being disbanded.
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| Proteus | A son of Poseidon or Ocean (Oceanus), he had to tell the future of anyone who held him down. He tried to elude capture by changing his form into that of an animal, plant, or element, such as fire, water, or wind.
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| Pylades | [PYE-la-deez] Loyal friend of Orestes who accompanied him to Mycenae.
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| Thyestes | Brother of Atreus and father of Aegisthus.
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