Agamemnon, King of Argos who let Greek to victory during the ten years of the Trojan war as they try to recapture Helen; Menelaus's wife from the hands of Troy. The main character of these series of events is Clytemnestra, Agamemnon's wife who governs Argus during the war, and who later seeks revange for the death of her daughter Iphigenia. Althought Agamemnon he considered to have great success over his life as a king and a warrior, his fate is already written in stone through a family curse based on betrayall. After Agamemnon's father killed his nephews and fed to his brother who was king at that time and drove them to exile. This lead to a series of events that marked him as doomed for life. Fate, the development of events beyond a person's control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power. For "the Shedder of Blood is in great peril, and not unmarked by God. May I never be a Sacker of Cities!, But the rumour of the People, it is heavy, it is …show more content…
Aye, 'tis so(Clytemnestra).” Is her crime of killing her husband justified ?, and are her motives legit ? as he sacrisfied their daughter. According to Fletcher “For example, a good or bad motive might weigh heavily on the evaluation of a crime like homicide. The motive of bringing about an easy death, euthanasia, is thought to make intentional killing less culpable, while a motive of self-interest, say killing for hire or in order to inherit from the victim, makes the killing worse (Fletcher).” We know what was her motive for her crime, which was to advange her daughter's death which may seem less culpable as she took actions based a saying that goes “an eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth”, you killed my daughter as way of greed to destroy the Trojans, the same way ill should kill you. In the other hand as her accomplice took adavantage of her vulnerability to committ this crime and inherit the throne of the king made the killing
I think that Odysseus' actions were justified because of the actions of the wooers. Without any conformation of him being dead, they first tried to woo his wife. That is very disrespectful and angered Odysseus greatly. Also, the suitors show no respect for his house and belongings. They overtake his house without even thinking about the man of the house, which is disrespectful.
Agamemnon in the realm of Hades goes on to reveal how, “ There is no being more fell, more bestial than a wife in such an action, and what an action that one planned! The murder of her husband and her lord. Great god, I thought my children and my slaves at least would give me welcome. But that woman, plotting a thing so low, defiled herself and all her sex, all women yet to come, even those few who may be virtuous,” (Homer 6.496-504). This had been spoken by Agamemnon to Odysseus in the Underworld after his wife had plotted his murder along with one of her servants. Readers had been past exposed with Telemachus to this situation , “ But the Lady Klytaimnestra, in the first days, rebuffed him, being faithful still; then, too, she had at hand as her companion a minstrel Agamemnon left attending her, charged with her care, when he took ship for Troy,”(Homer 3.285-289). This had been discussed by Nestor to Telemachus when he inquired about the events after the Trojan War. While Agamemnon was revealed as an honorable man his wife was portrayed as a scheming backstabber or adding to the foil between husband and wife The Odyssey experiences.
Fate is something we have no control over. It can be what determines the death of a child or marriage of a couple. Fate is very controversial. If everything that happens is planned ahead it contradicts many things, one being religion. If it was fate that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit then the original sin would not be the fault of man, but of God for he would be the one who made Adam and Eve do it. It is something no one can
In book one of the Iliad, a plague is placed on the Achaian army because Agamemnon wouldn’t release Chryseis, a maiden he’d taken as a prize for sacking a Trojan-allied town. Agamemnon refuses to give up Chryseis until Achilleus surrenders Briseis, another maiden, to him as consultation. This insults Achilleus’ pride and is the first event in the epic to fuel his burning rage (1.8-1.611). Due to his leader, Agamemnon, wounding his pride, he refuses to fight for the Achaians for the first 15 books. However, the tide turns in book 16 when Patroklos, Achilleus’ friend, is killed (16.816-16.821). His rage causes him to join the Achaians once more and develope aristeia, where a hero in battle has his finest moments. He nearly single-handedly slaughters the Trojan army by splitting their ranks and pursuing half of them into the river, where he recognizes Lykaon (21.1-21.35).
Among mortals lives' that were influenced by Zeus, Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, husband and wife, were the children of Zeus and Leda. Although they had different earthly fathers, the incestuous relationship between Agamemnon and Clytemnestra brought a curse upon their house for two generations. It was finally destroyed by Orestes, their youngest son, whom Justice allowed to go free.
Paris then took her back to Troy. Menelaus heard and the ex-suitors of Helen made a deal with Agamemnon saying that If the princess of Grease won that Menelaus would get Helen back and Agamemnon would get Troy. Rumors have it that Odysseus the king of Ithaca, was sent on a journey to find you and persuade you to join the war between the princes of Greece and the Trojans. Odysseus was a great persuader , and with you thirst for adventure and glory, he talked you in the joining the fight and you sailed for Troy. You took 50 ships, each carrying 50 men of your best men from your private army, the Myrmidons. Is it true that Agamemnon and you had a falling out and you withdrew from the conflict? and that the quarrel started after you had taken two women in one of your raids? and that you gave one of the women to Agamemnon. But, the girl’s father offered a ransom for the girl’s safe return. and that Agamemnon refused because the girl was a priestess of Apollo, and that the god was unhappy with this decision and sent a plague to wreak amongst the Greek camp. and that Agamemnon eventually gave back the girl, and to mourn the loss, he took your woman from you? and without you, the Greeks were fearful of loss and the Trojans gained confidence of winning from your absence, even reaching close to the walls of the Greek camp in their attacks and managing to set a few Greek ships on fire. what was your thoughts when your great friend Patroclus begged you to re-enter the war or at least allow him to lead out the Myrmidons in battle? and when you agreed was it hard to give him your armour made of gold, silver, and enamel, and the graves were of shining tin and army? and why did you make him promise only to engage in defensive action and not pursue the Trojans back to Troy? To my understanding you killed Troilus and were very smitten with Priam's daughter Polyxena. Priam decided
Clytemnestra is Agamemnon’s wife and has been ruling Argos while he was away fighting. With help from Aegisthus, Clytemnestra made a plan to kill Agamemnon. She killed Agamemnon for the political power, for the ruthless revenge and for the curses blame. (Core 22: Series of introductory phrases using the same preposition – phrases must have balance.) Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon to avenge their daughter Iphigeneia. Agamemnon sacrifice her in order to have success in the war, but never told Clytemnestra. Clytemnestra, feeling fake sadness over her daughter’s death, felt that she was wronged and had to get back at her husband. Not only did she kill him, but she had an affair while he was away. The sacrifice is why she had the affair with Aegisthus.
The concept of justice is manifested through the three plays of Aeschylus' Oresteia. The old tradition of justice, the private blood feud, caused an ungoverned succession of violent acts that spiralled uncontrollably. Aegisthus, Clytemnestra's lover, is introduced in Agamemnon; he desires vengeance for the plot contrived by Agamemnon's father (Ag: 1605-1611).1 Neither Agamemnon nor Aegisthus took part in this "plot" and yet as the chorus explains (Ag: 755-6)
Clytemnestra makes no implications of violence until she deceitfully welcomes Agamemnon, “For while the root still lives, the leaves bring cool shade to the house again. So coming back to hearth and home, you bring a summer’s warmth to us in wintertime,” (77: 1108-1112). This quote serves as the prelude to Clytemnestra finally utilizing destructive justice, and thus breaking the circle of violence. Clytemnestra destructiveness is intrinsic in the scene where she welcome home Agamemnon, who accompanied by Cassandra. Aeschylus writes, “You go inside now. I’m talking to you, Cassandra. Zeus, not unkindly, has determined you should share the lustral water of our house, standing where all our slaves crowd the altar of god who guards the house’s wealth” (79:1173-78). In this excerpt, Clytemnestra shows that she is the head of her household because she can determine who is rightfully welcome. One might argue that Clytemnestra is not revealing destructive justice because of her calmness and generosity in this scene. However, the passage suggests that she is the head and Cassandra is the extended family, and therefore Clytemnestra shows a hint of her destructiveness as she enslaves Cassandra. Clytemnestra mercilessly tells Cassandra that it is “Here with us you’ll be treated as custom warrants (1189).
Next, when he decided to battle for his brother Menelaus, he sacrificed his and Clytemnestra’s daughter, Iphigenia, to allow his ships to sail to Troy. This sacrifice can be simply seen as an action to support his own ambitions and even if he felt guilty about it, it still didn’t stop him from doing it. Why did he have a lucky escape at first and she was so despise? Clytemnestra usually carries the worst reputation an ancient woman could have (the betrayal and murder of her husband); but when one examines the facts, the losses and insults she suffered, it is difficult to accuse her of being a simple villain. I think she has more than one motivations for what she has done. The character of Clytemnestra is very complex. Many of the
The Trojan war was a ten year siege on the city of the city of Troy at the hands of the Greek forces led by a psychopathic king, Agamemnon. This conflict, which took place about 1200 B.C has become one of the most well known Greek mythology events in history. In the 13th century B.C, Troy and Sparta had stopped their wars and become allies, this was until Paris the youngest prince of Troy seduced Helen, the Queen of Sparta and left with her back to Troy. When Menelaos (The King of Sparta) found out what had happened, he vowed
Through the history of the world, man has always been driven by self gain and each man believes he is self justified. When Agamemnon and Achilles argue over the return of Chryseis and the prize Briseis, they both think they are right. Achilles convinces Agamemnon to return the stolen Chryseis but King Agamemnon takes Achilles’ Briseis as compensation. Agamemnon is most justified in his actions. No, he did not fight on the front lines with Achilles and his men, but as the king he has every right to stay behind his army and lead. A king should be ready to give everything for his kingdom, but that does not mean they should lead every charge. Many people have pointed out that if it were expected of a King to fight in every battle it would be impossible for him to
The first play, Agamemnon, tells about the return of the King from the Trojan wars and how his wife has chosen to react to the reunion. Clytemnestra is the queen who was angered by the fact that Agamemnon was away for a decade and that the King sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to one of the gods. In one part of the play, the Chorus of Elders chants "Zeus who hath paved a way for human thought, by ordaining this firm law 'He who learns, suffers'" (Aeschylus, trans. 1893, 1.176-179) which speaks to the law that was formed by the words. The people of Greece followed the law that a person who commits a crime, whether that be a recognized law or one that the punisher deemed appropriate, is subject to some form of punishment. In Agamemnon's case, Clytemnestra believed that his actions justified his death. She did not believe that it was murder because his actions justified her actions.
Agamemnon is the first book in the Orestiean Trilogy written by the famous Greek tragedy writer, Aeschylus. Agamemnon is a story of justice and revenge. The story takes place in a city called Argos. It starts with Agamemnon, the king of Argos, away at the Trojan War. The city is eagerly awaiting the news of their king’s welfare and the outcome of the war. Watchmen are posted in the city, watching for the beacon that would report the capture of Troy and Agamemnon’s return. Beacons are set up from Troy to Argos; when one beacon is lit, the next one will be lit, until the last. The play starts when a palace watchman discovers the beacon and tells Agamemnon’s wife, Clytemnestra, the good news.
Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis provides important context regarding the sacrifice of Iphigenia and Clytemnestra’s past with Agamemnon. Clytemnestra is ashamed after talking to Achilles about the wedding between him and Iphigenia that he is unaware of. After discovering Agamemnon 's true intentions, she decides that she will no longer “let shame prevent” her from seeking Achilles’ help to stop Agamemnon because “whose interests should [she] consult before [her] child’s?” (Iphigenia at Aulis 24). Her concern for Iphigenia overpowers the indignity she feels because her child’s well being is greater than her own. Both women’s anger and desire for vengeance grow as their children are endangered or harmed as “vengeance makes grief bearable” (Medea 2.55). The playwrights show each as either a good or bad woman based on if their vengeful actions are ultimately in favor of their children or not.