As she moved away stealthily to unearth the hidden axe with which she intended to deal the fatal blow, she was accosted by a stranger, who, noting her ragged and humble attire, mistook her for one of the slaves, and addressed her as such; and when the Princess haughtily demanded his business, he informed her that he was the messenger who had come to announce the death of the young Prince, Orestes, declaring that he had been servant to the latter and had witnessed his end.
Full of grief and anger, Elektra passionately reproached the travel-worn messenger for being so poor-spirited as to be yet alive himself to bring news of the death of the Prince, for whom he should have been ready to give his own life; and the stranger, realising from her noble bearing and poignant grief that she could be no slave but must be of some kin to the person of whom they spoke, now asked her name.
On learning that it was the Princess Elektra who stood before him, the stranger seemed deeply moved; and he drew closer and whispered into her ears the words: "Orestes lives!"
At this moment, a party of the late King's own body-servants appeared, and, kneeling before the stranger, greeted him as their prince and master.
Thus realising that it was her own long-absent and dearly-loved brother, Orestes, who stood before her, Elektra greeted him joyfully; and the young Prince's brow darkened with deep anger when he learned from her of the degradation to which she and her sister had been subjected during his enforced absence.
Orestes also desired above all things to avenge the death of his father—having, in fact, spread the false reports of his own death in order to deceive Clytemnestra and Ãgisthos into a mistaken sense of security from him, their most dreaded enemy; and he gladly agreed to Elektra's eager request for him to assist her by slaying the guilty pair.
Producing the great axe which her own weak arms would have failed to wield, the Princess quickly led Orestes to their mother's chamber; and as, next moment, Clytemnestra's screams brought forth her attendants and the Princess Chrysosthemis upon the scene, Elektra stood aside with a triumphant air upon her face, gloating over the fact that the vengeance for which she had lived was at last accomplished.
Ãgisthos, rushing into the chamber as the Queen's dying groans pierced the air, was himself met by the avenging Orestes, who instantly dealt him his death-blow; and thus were the murderers of Agamemnon brought to justice by his own son.
The people of Mycene all rejoiced greatly at the deaths of the guilty King and Queen, who had ruled them with much tyranny; and they hailed Orestes at once as their new King with the wildest enthusiasm, greeting him lustily as he presently appeared in their midst.
Chrysosthemis at once joined her brother as he received the acclamations of the people; but Elektra, in her passionate exultation at the consummation of her long-desired vengeance, sang first a hymn of thanksgiving to the gods, and then began to execute a marvellous dance of triumph.