In Aeschylus’ play Agamemnon, the dynamic, strong female character of Clytaemnestra is introduced. Left alone for ten years, she has become bitter after Agamemnon had sacrificed their daughter, Iphigeneia, in order to sail to Troy. Clytaemnestra is waiting for her revenge. Clytaemnestra’s two speeches after Agamemnon has returned to Argos and is entering the palace reveal that she is convicting him of the murder of Iphigeneia and sentencing him to death. In Clytaemnestra’s first speech when Agamemnon returns, she talks of how difficult it was waiting at home all those years while he was at Troy. She mentions how unbearable it was to hear news of Agamemnon’s injuries. However, the way in which she states this supposed grief actually reveals
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However, since the reader knows that Clytaemnestra has been unfaithful and is plotting his death, it makes sense to look at the passage with her infidelity in mind. The passage instead highlights how Clytaemnestra wishes Agamemnon had died at Troy; her overstated empathy masks her darker motives. The translator, Robert Fagles, even agrees. In fact, his discussion on those lines in the introduction take Clytaemnestra’s meaning one step further. He writes:
“Her extravagant pity becomes a death threat and, as if just breathed in a half-line, the wish that he had died at Troy and she were spared …show more content…
However, the notes provided in the back of the anthology help discern what Clytaemnestra really means. The note states:
“He [Agamemnon] is like the root of a tree returned to leaf, shading the house against the Dog Star’s heat, but he is actually the root of crime that re-invigorates the bloodlust in the race” (Notes 299).
Clytaemnestra knows Agamemnon is the root of the problem and takes advantage of her manipulative speech to state that without the others recognizing it. She knows Agamemnon killed Iphigeneia, and by his act, Clytaemnestra thinks he has continued the bloody path of the house of Atreus. She presents his crime and convicts him for it. By killing him, she will end the curse and avenge Iphigeneia, and she has proven Agamemnon is responsible through her speeches. Thus, Clytaemnestra makes use of her manipulative speech in order to prove Agamemnon is guilty for murdering their daughter, Iphigeneia. She shows her hatred, reminds those present he killed Iphigeneia, and absolves herself from guilt at her plan to kill him. Clytaemnestra’s speeches are the death of
However, since the reader knows that Clytaemnestra has been unfaithful and is plotting his death, it makes sense to look at the passage with her infidelity in mind. The passage instead highlights how Clytaemnestra wishes Agamemnon had died at Troy; her overstated empathy masks her darker motives. The translator, Robert Fagles, even agrees. In fact, his discussion on those lines in the introduction take Clytaemnestra’s meaning one step further. He writes:
“Her extravagant pity becomes a death threat and, as if just breathed in a half-line, the wish that he had died at Troy and she were spared …show more content…
However, the notes provided in the back of the anthology help discern what Clytaemnestra really means. The note states:
“He [Agamemnon] is like the root of a tree returned to leaf, shading the house against the Dog Star’s heat, but he is actually the root of crime that re-invigorates the bloodlust in the race” (Notes 299).
Clytaemnestra knows Agamemnon is the root of the problem and takes advantage of her manipulative speech to state that without the others recognizing it. She knows Agamemnon killed Iphigeneia, and by his act, Clytaemnestra thinks he has continued the bloody path of the house of Atreus. She presents his crime and convicts him for it. By killing him, she will end the curse and avenge Iphigeneia, and she has proven Agamemnon is responsible through her speeches. Thus, Clytaemnestra makes use of her manipulative speech in order to prove Agamemnon is guilty for murdering their daughter, Iphigeneia. She shows her hatred, reminds those present he killed Iphigeneia, and absolves herself from guilt at her plan to kill him. Clytaemnestra’s speeches are the death of