The Trojan War lasted ten years. During this period of Agamemnon's long absence, Clytemnestra began a love affair with Aegisthus, her husband's cousin. Whether Clytemnestra was seduced into the affair or entered into it independently differs according to the version of the myth. In the 1977 film adaptation Iphigenia, Clytemnestra is portrayed by the Greek actress Irene Papas. [10] Miller, Madeline (November 7, 2011). "Myth of the Week: Clytemnestra". Madeline Miller . Retrieved May 12, 2023.

Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus were in exile at the home of Tyndareus; in due time Agamemnon married Clytemnestra and Menelaus married Helen. In a late variation, Euripides's Iphigenia at Aulis, Clytemnestra's first husband was Tantalus, King of Pisa; Agamemnon killed him and Clytemnestra's infant son, then made Clytemnestra his wife. In another version, her first husband was King of Lydia. [ citation needed] Mythology [ edit ] Clytemnestra was the daughter of Tyndareus and Leda, the King and Queen of Sparta, making her a Spartan Princess. According to the myth, Zeus appeared to Leda in the form of a swan, seducing and impregnating her. Leda produced four offspring from two eggs: Castor and Clytemnestra from one egg, and Helen and Polydeuces (Pollux) from the other. Therefore, Castor and Clytemnestra were fathered by Tyndareus, whereas Helen and Polydeuces were fathered by Zeus. Her other sisters were Philonoe, Phoebe and Timandra. Mendelsohn, Daniel (July 24, 2017). "Novelizing Greek Myth". The New Yorker . Retrieved May 12, 2023. Haynes, Natalie (March 28, 2022). "Is Clytemnestra an Archetypically Bad Wife or a Heroically Avenging Mother?". Literary Hub . Retrieved May 12, 2023.

Women’s Righteous Fury

Acceptance or vengeance - infamy follows both. So you bide your time and wait, until you might force the gods' hands and take revenge. Until you rise. For you understood something that the others don't. If power isn't given to you, you have to take it for yourself.

A passionate picture of a fiercely patriarchal society and her heroine's refusal to be bound by its After Helen was taken from Sparta to Troy, her husband, Menelaus, asked his brother Agamemnon for help. Greek forces gathered at Aulis. However, consistently weak winds prevented the fleet from sailing on the ocean. Through a subplot involving the gods and omens, the priest Calchas said the winds would be favorable if Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis. Agamemnon persuaded Clytemnestra to send Iphigenia to him, telling her he was going to marry her to Achilles. When Iphigenia arrived at Aulis, she was sacrificed, the winds turned, and the troops set sail for Troy. Nevertheless, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus began plotting Agamemnon's demise. Clytemnestra was enraged by Iphigenia's murder (and presumably the earlier murder of her first husband by Agamemnon, and her subsequent rape and forced marriage). Aegisthus saw his father Thyestes betrayed by Agamemnon's father Atreus (Aegisthus was conceived specifically to take revenge on that branch of the family).Rivals House of the Dragon in conspiracies and feminine brutality. An electrifying read' ELIZABETH FREMANTLE Meanwhile, Cassandra saw a vision of herself and Agamemnon being murdered. Her attempts to elicit help failed (she had been cursed by Apollo that no one would believe her prophecies). She realized she was fated to die, and resolutely walked into the palace to receive her death.

MARQUARDT, PATRICIA A. (1992). "Clytemnestra: A Felicitous Spelling in the "Odyssey" ". Arethusa. 25 (2): 241–254. ISSN 0004-0975. JSTOR 26308611. In old versions of the story, on returning from Troy, Agamemnon is murdered by Aegisthus, the lover of his wife, Clytemnestra. In some later versions Clytemnestra helps him or does the killing herself in his own home. The best-known version is that of Aeschylus: Agamemnon, having arrived at his palace with his concubine, the Trojan princess Cassandra, in tow and being greeted by his wife, entered the palace for a banquet while Cassandra remained in the chariot. Clytemnestra waited until he was in the bath, and then entangled him in a cloth net and stabbed him. Trapped in the web, Agamemnon could neither escape nor resist his murderer. Casati brings the blood-soaked world of Greek mythology fully alive in this powerful novel' WOMAN & HOMEClytemnestra is one of several narrators of A Thousand Ships (2019) by Natalie Haynes, which retells the Trojan War from the perspective of the women involved. The novel’s strength lies in its ability to weave many complex stories into one linear narrative by centering all of these episodes on Clytemnestra herself. Clytemnestra is often portrayed as a side character or villain in Greek mythology, but in this novel she takes the center stage. Classic Greek heroes such as Theseus, Odysseus, Jason, and Achilles thereby become supporting characters in Clytemnestra’s compelling storyline rather than dominating the narrative. While literature and art has typically depicted male Greek heroes as courageous or exemplary, “Clytemnestra” instead highlights their horrible deeds and sexist beliefs. As Clytemnestra quips about Theseus, “Heroes like him are made of greed and cruelty: they take and take until the world around them is stripped of its beauty.” The novel shows how the heroes of some stories are the villains of others — and vice versa. McDonald, Marianne; Winkler, Martin M. (2001). "Michael Cacoyannis and Irene Papas on Greek Tragedy". In Martin M. Winkler (ed.). Classical Myth & Culture in the Cinema. Oxford University Press. pp.72–89. ISBN 978-0-19-513004-1.

Clytaemnestra", Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. Vol. VI (ninthed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1878, p.44 . Clytemnestra is one of the main characters in Aeschylus's Oresteia, and is central to the plot of all three parts. She murders Agamemnon in the first play, and is murdered herself in the second. Her death then leads to the trial of Orestes by a jury composed of Athena and 12 Athenians in the final play. The American modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham created a two-hour ballet, Clytemnestra (1958), about the queen. A blazing novel set in the world of Ancient Greece and told through the eyes of its greatest heroine, this is a thrilling tale of power and prophecies, of hatred and love, perfect for fans of ARIADNE and THE SONG OF ACHILLES.You are born to a king, but marry a tyrant. You stand helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. You watch him wage war on a foreign shore and comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own. Clytemnestra appears as an extremely abusive mother in the play Molora, Yaël Farber's 2007 rewriting of the Oresteia set in post-apartheid South Africa and its Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. [11] verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ Orestes Pursued by the Furies by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Clytemnestra was killed by Orestes and the Furies torment him for this killing Appearance in later works [ edit ] Redefines the mythical retelling genre with a warrior queen who, instead of enduring suffering, avenges it' ANNIE GARTHWAITE