The setting in which Agamemnon takes place is one where masculinity and warfare are emphasized as important virtues. However, these virtues are excluded from women who are pushed out of the decision making and are relegated to being caretakers. The role of women in Agamemnon is one of emotional support for men who come back from war. The characters of Cassandra and Iphigenia represent the way women were viewed in Greek society as tools for the needs of men, and they also represent warfare’s effect on women. Clytemnestra subverts this stereotypical Greek role for women. While Iphigenia and Cassandra represent the norm, Clytemnestra represents an alternative possibility for a woman, thus upsetting the male-female power dynamic of Greek society.
Iphigenia is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. She should be of primary importance to both of her parents. However, this is not the case. Agamemnon …show more content…
Cassandra accepts her role as a sex slave because she knows that she cannot change the male-female power dynamic. Cassandra’s state is one of bemoaning when she states, “The agony- O I am breaking!- Fate so hard, and the pain that floods my voice is mine alone” (Aeschylus, 1975, 148). This loneliness is reflective of the fact that females were not to be as virtuous as men, creating an inconsistency. This inconsistency is the potential equality being thwarted by male dominance through the use of strength. Even though Cassandra is a soothsayer, she cannot escape her fate, which is to be murdered by the knife that waits for [her], which will splay [her] on the iron’s double edge (Aeschylus, 1975, 148). Cassandra also cannot escape the male-female power dynamic, hence why Aeschylus gives her soothsaying abilities to show even a woman with supernatural abilities cannot escape this rigid power
Iphigenia is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. She should be of primary importance to both of her parents. However, this is not the case. Agamemnon …show more content…
Cassandra accepts her role as a sex slave because she knows that she cannot change the male-female power dynamic. Cassandra’s state is one of bemoaning when she states, “The agony- O I am breaking!- Fate so hard, and the pain that floods my voice is mine alone” (Aeschylus, 1975, 148). This loneliness is reflective of the fact that females were not to be as virtuous as men, creating an inconsistency. This inconsistency is the potential equality being thwarted by male dominance through the use of strength. Even though Cassandra is a soothsayer, she cannot escape her fate, which is to be murdered by the knife that waits for [her], which will splay [her] on the iron’s double edge (Aeschylus, 1975, 148). Cassandra also cannot escape the male-female power dynamic, hence why Aeschylus gives her soothsaying abilities to show even a woman with supernatural abilities cannot escape this rigid power