The “Libation Bearers,” the second of Aeschylus’s plays, is named after a “libation,” which is a mixed drink of wine, water, and honey and was used as a religious practice. This play is the center tragedy from the Orestes trilogy of Aeschylus and its title references the libation Electra offered at the tomb of her father Agamemnon. 

The god Apollo told Orestes that if he did not avenge his father’s murder, he would suffer judgment from the gods. The chorus, wanting to retaliate differently than Orestes, requests justice and invokes the underground gods to administer it. Orestes and his sister Electra call on them too, but their father did not have the proper rites, so he was not in favor with the gods. Consequently, Orestes tries to use deception to get revenge for his father’s death. 

To distract his mother Clytemnestra, Orestes pretends to be a stranger and tells Clytemnestra that he is dead. After distracting his mother, Orestes murders Aegisthus, who assisted in the murder of Agamemnon. Orestes had earlier sworn an oath to Apollo, saying that he would kill his mother to try to get the gods’ favor, but only Apollo agreed to help him. Because Orestes was lying, his mother warns him of the furies, who are goddesses of vengeance. To counter her, Orestes warns his mother of his father’s furies, who protect Agamemnon in the afterlife. 

Because he had sworn to murder Clytemnestra earlier, Apollo forces Orestes to murder her. The furies send hounds to get Orestes since he slayed his mother, but he saw them coming and got away. Orestes does not get mercy from the furies or the chorus, and although his father’s killers are dead, his death is not avenged. Orestes also does not get justice because he tried to use justice as vengeance.