Jon Krakauer once said, "It's not always necessary to be strong, but to feel strong" (Krakauer, Into the Wild). This statement fits perfectly with the female characters represented in the Agamemnon. It was not popular for women characters to have a strong lead in theater productions during this time period. However, in this particular piece, two women stole the spotlight. The characters Cassandra and Clytemnestra were used to portray Agamemnon’s character. Clytemnestra gave a very different view of Agamemnon than Cassandra did. It is hard not to wonder why Aeschylus would choose such an unordinary context. Throughout the city of Argos Clytemnestra is seen as a very loyal, dutiful wife. It is easy to believe that she did fall under this profile.
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The story starts out with Agamemnon and Meletus fretting over the kidnapping of Helen. The entire war was influenced by a woman. The whole city of Argos was torn apart because Meletus' wife had run away. Before the boats are set to sail for war, Agamemnon is faced with a big decision. He must sacrifice his daughter in order to receive wind to sail his ships. Agamemnon kills his daughter without even batting an eye. Iphigenia plays a very powerful role here. The sacrifice of her life allows the ships to sail to war. This act also drives Clytemnestra to form a revenge plan. Then, of course, there is Clytemnestra. She rules the city while her husband is gone. All while forming the perfect plot against him. Clytemnestra shows an impact in the play when she kills her husband, the powerful king of Argos. The queen boasts that “my aim was so exact – I won’t deny it – that he could not outrun death, or fend it off” (93; sec. 1573-1574). Lastly, Cassandra exhibits her power when she is able to predict the death of Agamemnon. Unfortunately, no one can understand or believe her prophecies. Clearly, Aeschylus presented a lot of strong female roles in his play. This may have been to alert the audience. Many theater pieces such as this one mainly focused on male roles. By switching the roles, Aeschylus could have easily caught the attention of his
The story starts out with Agamemnon and Meletus fretting over the kidnapping of Helen. The entire war was influenced by a woman. The whole city of Argos was torn apart because Meletus' wife had run away. Before the boats are set to sail for war, Agamemnon is faced with a big decision. He must sacrifice his daughter in order to receive wind to sail his ships. Agamemnon kills his daughter without even batting an eye. Iphigenia plays a very powerful role here. The sacrifice of her life allows the ships to sail to war. This act also drives Clytemnestra to form a revenge plan. Then, of course, there is Clytemnestra. She rules the city while her husband is gone. All while forming the perfect plot against him. Clytemnestra shows an impact in the play when she kills her husband, the powerful king of Argos. The queen boasts that “my aim was so exact – I won’t deny it – that he could not outrun death, or fend it off” (93; sec. 1573-1574). Lastly, Cassandra exhibits her power when she is able to predict the death of Agamemnon. Unfortunately, no one can understand or believe her prophecies. Clearly, Aeschylus presented a lot of strong female roles in his play. This may have been to alert the audience. Many theater pieces such as this one mainly focused on male roles. By switching the roles, Aeschylus could have easily caught the attention of his