In modern times the Oresteian trilogy has rightly been accorded a place among the greatest achievements of the human mind. Much of the dramatic excitement, much of the philosophic intensity, of this work, perhaps also some hint of its poetic splendor, may reach the work, perhaps also some hint of its poetic splendor, may reach the modern reader through a translation. But the basis of it all is a story which, like many great stories, grew gradually into shape through several centuries: a story compounded of fact and imagination, reflecting the experience, belief, and aspiration of a vital society, and blending within itself the poetry of common life and the vision of the prophet.