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<p> <strong> Introduction: </strong> The story of Orestes and Pylades is perhaps the most underrated in all of Greek Mythology. Everyone knows about Jason the Golden Fleece, Heracles and his 12 labors, Perseus and the Medusa, and so on. But not many are familiar with the story of these two best friends, which is a great shame for it is a magnificent tale of friendship, love, adventure, betrayal, redemption, and so much more. In addition, unlike most Greek heroes, these two were actually decent humans beings, and got the (somewhat) happy ending that they deserved. So, if you love action, adventure, and heartwarming friendships, I encourage you to read on! </p> <p> <strong> Note on Style </strong> : Plays are not the most fun thing to read for most people so that is why in the 14 chapters of this story (which, unlike so many on this website, is actually fully completed) I bring to life these two heroes beloved by the ancient Athenians with first-person narration equally divided between Orestes and Pylades. All the chapters are written in plain English (i.e. prose) and average around 1800-2600 words except the prologue, and intermissions which are written in free-verse poem and averages a few hundred words. </p> <p> For the prose, I tried to emulate the style shown by Madeline Miller in her <em> The Song of Achilles </em> , as well as the humor shown by Stephen Fry in his <em> Heroes </em> . For the poem, I wanted to capture the magnificent grandeur of Homeric Epics, but was too lazy to write in dactylic hexameter and so wrote in free-verse instead. Obviously, Miller, Fry, and Homer were much better writers than I, and I only hope that this work is at least readable. </p> <p> <strong> Note on Sources </strong> : The details of this story is very <em> loosely </em> based on <em> The Oresteia </em> by Aeschylus, who was one of the three great Greek Tragedians (though this story is not a tragedy). And I mean <em> very </em> loosely. Other sources that I referenced for detail and inspiration are <em> Mythology </em> by Edith Hamilton, <em> Electra </em> by Sophocles, and <em> Iphigenia in Tauris </em> by Euripides. You may also find that I have quoted some of these works, and others (such as Shelley's <em> Ozymondaeus </em> ), without citations (average of 1-2 such quotes per chapter). I did this because I do not have the ability to describe certain scenes nearly as well as some of those writers. If you read a particularly beautiful piece of prose here, chances are it's probably stolen lol. </p> <p> <strong> Historical and Cultural Context </strong> : This particular story of Orestes and Pylades spans more than a decade but is mainly set in Greece during the Trojan war (and not Troy). If you have no idea what the previous sentence means, it's okay as the story does also give some exposition (and you can always reference the timeline). </p> <p> </p>
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