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 Orestes kneels on the omphalos, which is elaboratedly decorated. He holds a scabbard in his left hand and a sword in his right hand. Two Furies approach him on either side, both dressed in long peploi (instead of short chitons), and both with snakes in their hair. The Fury on the right has a torch in her right hand; the Fury on the left is holding a torch with both hands. TW III.1.9 |
Orestes is here seated on a rectangular altar, and he leans against the omphalos. Apollo holds a laurel branch and sprinkles Orestes with the blood of a pig: this sacrificial and cleansing ritual is alluded to in the play at lines 281 and 463-64. Artemis stands to Apollo's right, and on the left-hand side of the panel, Clytemnestra is awakening the sleeping Furies. One of them, in the lower section of the panel, is already awake. (Henle 15, Shapiro 104) |