# Endnotes explained — The Libation Bearers > Chapter companion for The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus. ## What happens This chapter provides extensive endnotes and commentary on the play, clarifying textual ambiguities, historical and mythological references, and the psychological depth of characters and scenes. It discusses the primitive magic of mutilating the dead, the significance of Clytemnestra's dream, the dramatic staging, and the emotional and thematic complexities of Orestes' mission and madness. ## Themes in this chapter ### Vengeance and Justice The play centers on Orestes' duty to avenge his father's murder, with the blood-feud as a central conflict. ### Sin and Punishment Clytemnestra's mutilation of Agamemnon's body and the curse on the House of Atreus illustrate sin and its consequences. ### The Power of the Dead The invocation scene shows the dead Agamemnon being awakened by human suffering and love, exerting power over the living. ### Purification and Redemption The chorus prays for cleansing and rebuilding of the House; Orestes' act is seen as a battle of liberation from tyrants. ## Character check-ins ### Electra Describes the shameful secret burial of Agamemnon, rousing Orestes to fury. ### Orestes Roused to fury by Electra's account; later shows reckless fluency, bitterness, and eventual madness. ### Clytemnestra Mutilated Agamemnon's body; her dream of the serpent is traditional; her entrance is immensely important and sinister. ### Agamemnon His mutilated body is the focus of the invocation; the dead are awakened by human suffering and love. ### Aigisthos Enters as the 'sower of wrong'; his death unstrings Clytemnestra. ### Pylades Mentioned in the context of the recognition scene and the lock of hair. ### Apollo Referenced as the God of Light and in relation to Orestes' incoherent speeches about his command. ### Hermês Invoked as the God of craft and secrecy to help in the plot. ## Key lines > First Electra tells of the shameful secret burial: this rouses Orestes to fury. Then the Leader tells of something worse. The murderess had mutilated the body; cut off the dead man’s feet so that he could not pursue, and his hands so that he could not lay hold of her. Electra describes the disgraceful secret burial, angering Orestes. The Chorus Leader then reveals an even worse act: the murderer cut off the dead man's feet and hands to prevent him from chasing or grabbing her. _This passage explains the primitive magical belief behind mutilating a corpse to render it powerless._ > Clytemnestra’s dream that she gave birth to a serpent is traditional. It is found both before Aeschylus and after. The asps of Libya and divers other serpent things were “matricides”; at birth they tore and killed their mother. Clytemnestra's dream of giving birth to a serpent is a traditional motif, appearing in earlier and later works. Libyan asps and other serpents were known as 'mother-killers' because they tore and killed their mother at birth. _This note provides mythological and historical context for Clytemnestra's dream, linking it to the theme of matricide._ > The Invocation. This extraordinary scene is really the heart of the play and gives to the Choëphoroe a strange supernatural atmosphere which is absent from both the Electra plays. The invocation scene is the emotional core of the play, creating a unique supernatural atmosphere not found in the Electra plays of Sophocles or Euripides. _This highlights the unique dramatic and spiritual power of the invocation scene in Aeschylus' version._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/chapters/endnotes - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_libation_bearers_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/chapters