According to the poet Stesichorus, Orestes was a small child at the time of Agamemnon's murder and was smuggled to safety by his nurse. Clytemnestra was warned of impending retribution by a dream, and Orestes, for the crime of matricide, was haunted by the Furies (Erinyes) after her death. In Aeschylus' dramatic trilogy the Oresteia, Orestes acted in accordance with Apollo's commands; he posed as a stranger with tidings of his own death, and, after killing his mother, he sought refuge from the Furies at Delphi. Prompted again by Apollo, he went to Athens and pleaded his case before the Areopagus. The jury divided equally, Athena gave her deciding vote for acquittal, and the Furies were placated by being given a cult in which they were called Eumenides (Kindly Ones).

The story of Orestes was a favourite in ancient art and literature. Aeschylus' Oresteia showed its dramatic potentialities, and these were further exploited by Sophocles and Euripides. Aspects of the story were also featured in the work of many later Western dramatists and composers.