Editing Orestes (section)

===Homer===
In the [[Homer]]ic telling of the story,<ref>Homer, ''[[Odyssey]]'', I, 35ff.</ref> Orestes is a member of the [[Atreus#The_House_of_Atreus|doomed house of Atreus]], which is descended from [[Tantalus]] and [[Niobe]]. He is absent from [[Mycenae]] when his father, [[Agamemnon]], returns from the [[Trojan War]] with the Trojan princess [[Cassandra]] as his concubine, and thus not present for Agamemnon's murder by [[Aegisthus]], the lover of his wife, [[Clytemnestra]]. Seven years later, Orestes returns from [[Athens]] and avenges his father's death by slaying both Aegisthus and his own mother Clytemnestra.<ref>Homer, ''[[Odyssey]]'', III, 300-310.</ref>

In the ''[[Odyssey]]'', Orestes is held up as a favorable example to [[Telemachus]], whose mother [[Penelope]] is plagued by [[Suitors of Penelope|suitors]].<ref>Homer, ''Odyssey'' III, 313-316.</ref>

[[Image:Orestes Elektra Pylades Louvre K428.jpg|thumb|Orestes, Elektra, and Pylades at the tomb of Agamemnon - Campanian [[Red-figure pottery|red-figure]] [[hydria]], c. 330 BC]]