In Argos, a watchman anxiously awaits the return of King Agamemnon and his army. Ten years to the day from when they set out to wage war on Troy for the kidnapping of Helen, the wife of Agamemnon’s brother, Menelaus, the Greek fleet appears. The watchman rushes off.

As Queen Clytaemnestra prepares ritual fires, the chorus of old Argive men, who have not yet heard about the Greek victory, reflect on the past decade. They are anxious because Clytaemnestra wants to avenge the death of her daughter, Iphigenia, who Agamemnon reluctantly sacrificed to the goddess Diana so his ships could sail to Troy. The chorus recalls the horrible scene of the sacrifice. They pray to Apollo and Zeus for the safety of their king. 

The leader of the chorus questions Clytaemnestra, who explains that the relay of beacons across the mountaintops of Greece have conveyed the news of her husband’s triumph. The chorus praises Zeus for the news. They sing of the consequences of defying the gods and breaking the rules of hospitality, as Paris of Troy did when he ran away with Helen. At the same time, they lament the damage and sorrow that war, “the great broker of corpses,” has caused (435).