Nemesiosstudien

A group of three fragments from a metope of temple C at Selinus, one of which has not previously been connected with the others, can be joined to reconstruct a metope showing a naked, vigorous man attacking a probably enthroned woman. It is argued that this is an early representation of Orestes killing Clytaimnestra, in a composition created for this temple decoration with the element of the enthroned woman taken from earlier representations of Orestes killing Aigisthos, and that it refers to a tradition where Clytaimnestra bore principal responsibility for Agamemnon's death; the same tradition is reflected in a few earlier illustrations, going back to the early seventh century, and foreshadows the treatment of the legend in Aeschylos’ Choephoroi.