Agamemnon was the leader of the Greek forces at Troy. According to Homer he was the king of Mycenae but other sources say that he was the king of Argos.
What's most fascinating about him isn’t quite so much the warrior himself but the stories of the women who played a part in his life: in particular, his first wife, Clytemnestra, whose name means ‘praiseworthy wooing’, two of his daughters: Electra and Iphigenia, and his war prize, the doomed prophetess Cassandra whose name means ’she who entangles men’.
While sailing for Troy, the Greeks somehow managed to offend the Goddess of the Hunt: Artemis (or Diana as she is also known). In her anger, Artemis kept the Greek fleet in the bay of Aulis and prevented it from sailing to Troy, and so, in order to appease her, the prophet Calchas advised Agamemnon to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to the Goddess.
Agamemnon followed the advice but he was not honest about his intention to sacrifice Iphigenia: he told both his daughter and his wife, Clytemnestra, that he intended to get her to marry the famous warrior Achilles. It was only much later that they realized what he’d actually planned and, not too surprisingly, both Clytemnestra and Achilles objected to the plan, but Agamemnon — true to his name which means ‘very resolute’ — did not change his mind.
Iphigenia too initially pleaded for her life saying, “… to gaze upon the light is man’s most cherished gift; that life below is nothingness, and whoever longs for death is mad. Better live a life of woe than die a death of glory!” (Iphigenia to Agamemnon. Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 1250) while Clytemnestra asked Agamemnon: “… suppose you sacrifice the child; what prayer will you utter, when it is done? what will the blessing be that you will invoke upon yourself as you are slaying our daughter?” (Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 1185)
Agamemnon was unmoved by both his wife's words and his daughter's pleas although she may have been saved despite him. There are two versions of Iphigenia's story: in one she is actually killed while being sacrificed but, in the other, the Goddess Artemis replaces Iphigenia herself with a sacrificial animal and transports the girl to Taurus, a city on the Black Sea, where she serves as a priestess (sending strangers to be butchered at the Goddess’ altar) although possibly not for the rest of her life.
There is a tale which says that her brother, Orestes, helped Iphigenia escape more than twenty years after she was sacrificed although it appears that she did not fault the Goddess. She firmly believed that it was the people who were in the wrong and (according to Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 390) she said, “Men of this country, being murderers, impute their sordid practice to divine command. That any god is evil I do not believe.”
Whatever happened, the sacrifice enabled the Greek fleet to sail to Troy and caused Iphigenia to be lost to her mother who swore vengeance. While Agamemnon went on to win the battle of Troy, and bring home Cassandra, one of the daughters of the king and queen of Troy, as a concubine; Clytemnestra had an affair with Aegisthus.
Cassandra saw the danger he was in since she had been given the gift of prophecy by the God Apollo who had wanted to seduce her. However, when she refused his advances, he deprived her of the power of persuasion and so she was unable to convince anyone of what she saw.
As a result, Agamemnon ignored her warnings, and both Cassandra herself and Agamemnon were murdered by Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus. In his play ‘The Libation Bearers' (c. 460 BCE) Aeschylus says that Clytemnestra later used the sacrifice of Iphigenia to justify the murder of Agamemnon even though Iphigenia may not actually have died.
Aegisthus then ruled Mycenae with Clytemnestra until both of them were murdered seven years later by Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, who was helped by his sister Electra. The Erinyes or Furies followed Orestes everywhere he went after he killed his mother right up to the time he sought judgment and was acquitted for the crime at the Aeropagus in Athens.
What's most fascinating about him isn’t quite so much the warrior himself but the stories of the women who played a part in his life: in particular, his first wife, Clytemnestra, whose name means ‘praiseworthy wooing’, two of his daughters: Electra and Iphigenia, and his war prize, the doomed prophetess Cassandra whose name means ’she who entangles men’.
While sailing for Troy, the Greeks somehow managed to offend the Goddess of the Hunt: Artemis (or Diana as she is also known). In her anger, Artemis kept the Greek fleet in the bay of Aulis and prevented it from sailing to Troy, and so, in order to appease her, the prophet Calchas advised Agamemnon to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to the Goddess.
Agamemnon followed the advice but he was not honest about his intention to sacrifice Iphigenia: he told both his daughter and his wife, Clytemnestra, that he intended to get her to marry the famous warrior Achilles. It was only much later that they realized what he’d actually planned and, not too surprisingly, both Clytemnestra and Achilles objected to the plan, but Agamemnon — true to his name which means ‘very resolute’ — did not change his mind.
Iphigenia too initially pleaded for her life saying, “… to gaze upon the light is man’s most cherished gift; that life below is nothingness, and whoever longs for death is mad. Better live a life of woe than die a death of glory!” (Iphigenia to Agamemnon. Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 1250) while Clytemnestra asked Agamemnon: “… suppose you sacrifice the child; what prayer will you utter, when it is done? what will the blessing be that you will invoke upon yourself as you are slaying our daughter?” (Euripides, Iphigenia in Aulis 1185)
Agamemnon was unmoved by both his wife's words and his daughter's pleas although she may have been saved despite him. There are two versions of Iphigenia's story: in one she is actually killed while being sacrificed but, in the other, the Goddess Artemis replaces Iphigenia herself with a sacrificial animal and transports the girl to Taurus, a city on the Black Sea, where she serves as a priestess (sending strangers to be butchered at the Goddess’ altar) although possibly not for the rest of her life.
There is a tale which says that her brother, Orestes, helped Iphigenia escape more than twenty years after she was sacrificed although it appears that she did not fault the Goddess. She firmly believed that it was the people who were in the wrong and (according to Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 390) she said, “Men of this country, being murderers, impute their sordid practice to divine command. That any god is evil I do not believe.”
Whatever happened, the sacrifice enabled the Greek fleet to sail to Troy and caused Iphigenia to be lost to her mother who swore vengeance. While Agamemnon went on to win the battle of Troy, and bring home Cassandra, one of the daughters of the king and queen of Troy, as a concubine; Clytemnestra had an affair with Aegisthus.
Cassandra saw the danger he was in since she had been given the gift of prophecy by the God Apollo who had wanted to seduce her. However, when she refused his advances, he deprived her of the power of persuasion and so she was unable to convince anyone of what she saw.
As a result, Agamemnon ignored her warnings, and both Cassandra herself and Agamemnon were murdered by Clytemnestra and her lover, Aegisthus. In his play ‘The Libation Bearers' (c. 460 BCE) Aeschylus says that Clytemnestra later used the sacrifice of Iphigenia to justify the murder of Agamemnon even though Iphigenia may not actually have died.
Aegisthus then ruled Mycenae with Clytemnestra until both of them were murdered seven years later by Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, who was helped by his sister Electra. The Erinyes or Furies followed Orestes everywhere he went after he killed his mother right up to the time he sought judgment and was acquitted for the crime at the Aeropagus in Athens.