You can watch the whole film here.

Subtitles! Yes, I said subtitles.  Electra (Ἠλέκτρα) is 1962 Greek film based on the play written by Euripides. Yes, I said Euripides. Aeschylus wasn't the only one to write about this Greek woman, but so far as we know he was the first.

Centuries ago, in 458 B.C.E., Aeschylus wrote The Libation Bearers. Electra only shows up to express her hatred for her mother Clytaemnestra, and her step-father, Aegisthus. She prays over her slain father's grave, and her brother appears. They plot the deaths of Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus. Orestes leaves to carry through the plan, but we hear no more from Electra. Her grand affection for her father draws her toward activating revenge for his death. She and her brother murder Aegisthus and Clytemnestra, out of a strong sense of justice; however, they mention nothing about acting revenge for their fallen sister, Iphigeneia, who died at their father's hand. "The Libation Bearers" is the middle play from the Oriesteia about a blood feud and fails to delve into Electra's character.


Between 415 and 413 B.C.E., Sophocles was the first playwright to expound on Electra’s tale.The play is recognized by the lead character's name.  Even though her father has committed crimes of his own by killing her little sister and bringing back a mistress from Troy, she sees her mother’s adulterous relationship with Aegisthus and their murder of Agamemnon as the ultimate betrayal. Electra is mistreated by her mother and is banished from the home. She lives with a farmer and bides her time until her little brother, Orestes, can grow up and help with her with her revenge.This Electra is filled with hate and rage, so much so that it almost consumes her, yet she triumphs over the emotional destruction.


Euripides also finds inspiration from Aeschylus work, but like Sophocles, he changes his play, Electra, to fit his own style. Euripides' play is similar to Sophocles' play in that rage and madness consume Electra. She falls under her emotions, yet they ultimately destroy her.

Marvel Comics

Jennifer Garner as Elektra

A newer version of the story of Electra came out in a modern film, Elektra (2005) starring Jennifer Garner. This version has very little to do with the antiquity plays and more to do with the comic by Marvel. Still tortured by the murders of her mother and her father (neither at her own hand) Elecktra travels through life choosing to live alone as an assassin. She journeys through an emotional katabasis which yanks her from her self-induced stupor.

I found another film made in 2010 called Elektra. Apparently, it is a psychological drama based on four adaptions of the myth. All three antiquity plays are included in the foundation along with the novel Mourning becomes Electra by Eugene O'Neill. The film also focuses on the Electra Complex, which according to Freud's psychosexual definition is just weird.