Orestia begins at the end of the Trojan War with a song from the chorus about the sadness of human fate.

She redefines the purpose of the court as a means of righting and preventing wrongs and persuades the furies to take a new role in human affairs.

[7] The lengthened work would go on to make a world stage premier in Sicily, Italy on August 21, 1987, with conductors Michel Tabachnik and Dominique Debart.

[5] In the 1992, Xenakis would give his final addition, La Déesse Athéna (the goddess Athena), for the Athens production of his work.

The composer never specified why he decided to expand the roles of Athena and Kassandra instead of focusing on characters that were more important to the story, such as Orestes.