Agamemnon's Daughter: A Novella & Stories

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This article is about a character in Greek mythology. For other uses, see Agamemnon (disambiguation). Depiction of Agamemnon from the late fifth century BCE The Sacrifice of Iphigenia, by Charles de la Fosse, 1680, on display at the Palace of Versailles, Versailles

In works of art, there is considerable resemblance between the representations of Zeus, king of the gods, and Agamemnon, king of men. He is generally depicted with a sceptre and diadem, conventional attributes of kings. In Greek mythology, Agamemnon ( / æ ɡ ə ˈ m ɛ m n ɒ n/; Greek: Ἀγαμέμνων Agamémnōn) was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Iphigenia, Iphianassa, Electra, Laodike, Orestes and Chrysothemis. [1] Legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area. [2] Agamemnon was killed upon his return from Troy by Clytemnestra, or in an older version of the story, by Clytemnestra's lover Aegisthus. In Sacrifice, the second volume of Eric Shanower's Age of Bronze comic book series, the substitution of a deer for Iphigenia is a pious lie invented by Odysseus to comfort the grieving Clytemnestra. However, it does not work and Clytemnestra angrily curses the whole Achaean army, wishing they all die in the war. [31]

Beyond the Book

Shanower, Eric (2004). Age of Bronze: Sacrifice. Berkeley, California: Image Comics. ISBN 1-58240-399-6. Iphigenia at Aulis, the first part of The Greeks trilogy, adapted and directed by John Barton for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1980. The sacrifice thus completed, Artemis gave the Greeks a favorable wind, and they sailed for Troy once again. [37] But in one tradition (perhaps even the more common tradition), Artemis took pity on the girl and rescued her by replacing her with a deer (or a bull) as she stepped onto the altar. The Greeks killed the deer, and Iphigenia was spirited away to serve Artemis as a priestess. [38]

The Flies, a 1943 play by Jean-Paul Sartre, modernizing the Electra myth by introducing the theme of existentialism Agamemnon and Clytemnestra have three remaining children, Electra, Orestes, and Chrysothemis. After growing to adulthood and being pressured by Electra, Orestes vows to avenge his father Agamemnon by killing his mother Clytemnestra and Aegisthus. After successfully doing so, he wanders the Greek countryside for many years constantly plagued by the Erinyes (Furies) for his sins. Finally, with the help of Athena and Apollo he is absolved of his crimes, dispersing the miasma, and the curse on house Atreus comes to an end. [24] Other stories [ edit ] While at Troy, Agamemnon took several captive women as lovers. These included Chryseis, the daughter of a priest, known for her role in the beginning of the Iliad. By her, Agamemnon was sometimes said to have fathered a son named Chryses. [25] Agamemnon was a powerful king. In the earliest sources, he ruled over the city of Mycenae and its surroundings. Homer laid out the extent of Agamemnon’s impressive dominion in the Iliad: After a stormy voyage, Agamemnon and Cassandra land in Argolis, or, in another version, are blown off course and land in Aegisthus's country. Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife, has taken Aegisthus, son of Thyestes, as a lover. When Agamemnon comes home he is slain by Aegisthus (in the oldest versions of the story) [18] or by Clytemnestra. According to the accounts given by Pindar and the tragedians, Agamemnon is slain in a bath by his wife alone, after being ensnared by a blanket or a net thrown over him to prevent resistance. [19] Orestes slaying Clytemnestra

Footnotes

APOLLODORUS, THE LIBRARY EPITOME - Theoi Classical Texts Library". www.theoi.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-18 . Retrieved 2021-05-18. This Iphigenia is particularly confusing: in some traditions, Iphigenia was a substitute for Iphianassa; [20] in others, Iphigenia and Iphianassa were two different daughters of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra; [21] in still others, Iphigenia’s name was either Iphimede [22] or Iphigone. [23] To make matters even more confusing, there was one tradition in which Iphigenia was actually the daughter of Clytemnestra’s sister Helen and had merely been adopted by Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. [24] Some variants of the name “Agamemnon” are known from antiquity, mostly from Attic vases. These include Agamesmōn, Agammemōn, and Agamen(n)ōn. Titles and Epithets Agamemnon and Menelaus both became very powerful kings. But the horrific actions of their ancestors—from the villainous Tantalus to their own father Atreus—had brought a curse on them and their family, a curse that would haunt Agamemnon and Menelaus for the rest of their lives. The Trojan War The Abduction of Helen and the Oath of Tyndareus Fragment of an Attic red-figure lekanis by the Circle of the Meidias Painter (410–400 BCE) showing Agamemnon with a scepter National Archaeological Museum, Tarentum / Jastrow Public Domain Did Iphigenia become a goddess?