Pylades

The significance of Pylades' lines has invited speculation into whether or not he might represent something more than human next to Orestes; he might play the role of divine encouragement or fate.In the Sophocles version, Orestes pretends to be dead and Pylades carries the urn supposedly holding his friend's remains.Apollo arrives to settle the situation and gives them all instructions, including one for Pylades to marry Orestes' sister Electra.The dialogue Erotes ("Affairs of the Heart"), attributed to Lucian, compares the merits and advantages of heterosexuality and homoeroticism, and Orestes and Pylades are presented as the principal representatives of a loving friendship: In 1734, George Frederic Handel's opera Oreste (based on Giangualberto Barlocci's Roman libretto of 1723), was premiered in London's Covent Garden.The fame of Lucian's works in the 18th century, as well as the generally well-known tradition of Greco-Roman heroic homoeroticism, made it natural for theatre audiences of that period to have recognized an intense, romantic, if not positively homoerotic quality, to the relationship between Orestes and Pylades.
An antique fresco in Pompeii depicting a scene from 'Iphigenia among the Taurians' showing Orestes , Pylades and King Thoas
Iphigenia as a priestess of Artemis in Tauris sets out to greet prisoners, amongst which are her brother Orestes and his friend Pylades; a Roman fresco from Pompeii , 1st century AD
Orestes and Pylades Disputing at the Altar, 1614 Pieter Lastman (1583–1633)
Pylades and Orestes by François Bouchot . Pylades is shown protecting Orestes during his spell of madness.
Pylades and Orestes Brought as Victims before Iphigenia , by Benjamin West , 1766
PompeiiOrestesKing ThoasGreek mythologyAncient GreekPhocianStrophiusAnaxibiaAtreusAgamemnonMenelausIphigeniaArtemisClytemnestraAegisthusMycenaeThe OresteiaElectraElectra of SophoclesElectra of EuripidesPausaniasNaupliusNausimedonPieter LastmanFrançois BouchotBenjamin WestHermioneApolloIphigeneia in TaurisErinyesAthensLucianAmoresIphigeneiaGeorge Frederic HandelOresteCovent GardenPertinaxDidius JulianusEuripides