The interview between Orestes and Pyrrhus, in spite of the courtly tone, is already marked by dramatic tension. Racine has completely disposed of the exposition in the first scene. The second scene is more in the nature of a confrontation. Orestes, in the name of the Greeks, demands that Astyanax be handed over to them and sacrificed. Pyrrhus flatly refuses. His refusal is not only unequivocal but insulting. He jeers at Orestes for seeking the death of a harmless child and at the Greeks for their excess of caution (which, he implies, is really cowardice). Sternly he denounces the other Greek states for interfering with his rights. His final defiance, as he challenges the Greeks to attack him and curtly dismisses Orestes, sets an ominous tone.
The brevity and rudeness of Pyrrhus' response here makes us, in view of the situation, respect him rather than disapprove of his attitude. However, as we shall soon see, this brutal lack of consideration is part of Pyrrhus' character, and the innocent will suffer from it as well as the guilty.
