Ancient Greek Myths: Murder and Revenge

Murder was no foreign subject to the descendants of the House of Atreus, cursed with misfortune due to the actions of their ancestors. Without the particular chain of murder involving Agamemnon, a descendant of the House of Atreus, and his family, the Trojan War may have had a very different outcome. Because of the sacrifice of a young, beautiful daughter, killing breaks out in Agamemnon's family. He is murdered by his own wife who had been conspiring with her lover, Agamemnon's own cousin, to murder him as revenge for her daughter's death. His wife, Clytemnestra, and her conniving lover are later killed, reluctantly, by her son as revenge for his father's death. All the unhappiness and killing due to the start of the Trojan War. Without the Trojan War, the cycle of murder and revenge involving Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and Orestes would have never been started.

The chain of murders begins with the start of the Trojan War. Agamemnon, the husband of Clytemnestra and father of their three children, Electra, Iphigenia, and Orestes, is the Chief of War. When Helen, the wife of his brother and the most beautiful woman in the world, is taken, the two brothers join forces and, together, wage war in order to retrieve Helen. Meanwhile, on a hunting trip, Agamemnon unknowingly kills one of Artemis's sacred does and, as punishment, the winds that would have filled their ships' sails in order for them to continue to Troy were cursed to be still and stale. Not a breath of wind in their favor.

The only way to revive the winds that would allow them to successfully wage war was a sacrifice; the sacrifice of Agamemnon's favorite daughter, Iphigenia. At first, Agamemnon refused, but as his men began to grow more and more restless, he gave in. The idea of killing his beloved daughter troubled Agamemnon greatly. "Seeing his unhappiness, Menelaus swallowed his own sadness and forbade his brother to kill the young girl, but this sympathy and pity hardened the heart of Agamemnon and he prepared for the sacrifice" (Sullivan 30). Unable to tell her the truth, he sent for Iphigenia, telling her and Clytemnestra that she was to be married off to the most wonderful warrior in all of Troy, Achilles. Neither of the women suspected impending doom that awaited the young girl. When Iphigenia arrived at Aulis, instead of the joyous wedding she had been expecting, she was killed by her own father, her virgin blood pleasing the goddess Artemis and reviving the winds; the war would begin.

When Clytemnestra learned of her daughter's murder, grief and anger surged through her veins. She had never truly loved her husband in the first place, for their marriage had been arranged, but his latest twisted deed lit a new flame of hatred in her heart. Agamemnon left for war before she could confront him, allowing her feelings to steep and simmer, becoming even stronger over the course of the ten years he was away. Her spite became so passionate that she began an affair with Agamemnon's own kinsman, his cousin Aegisthus. Together, the two forbidden lovers, with Clytemnestra's thirst for revenge and Aegisthus's hunger for power, began to plot Agamemnon's demise.

When the news reached Clytemnestra that the war was over and her husband was returning home with another wife, Cassandra, who had been a prisoner of war and became his concubine, jealousy strengthened the hatred that had already grown to be so strong. The two plotting lovers changed their plan to include Cassandra, she was to die alongside Agamemnon. Clytemnestra put on a convincing charade when he returned, graciously welcoming her beloved husband home, even laying out a purple cloth for him to step over. Little did he know that the carpet was no welcome mat, it was a foreshadowing of his future. The color purple represented the personality trait hubris, a combination of arrogance and pride that was usually fatal. At first Agamemnon refused to walk over the cloth laid at his feet, but not seeing through his wife's act, he obliged to her request, sealing his fate.

Clytemnestra's show continued as she showed her husband to a bath, even giving him a robe embroidered with gold thread she had laboriously made while he was away, a robe that she had engineered herself to snare her husband so he would not be able to fight back or resist when she made her lethal blow. As Agamemnon soaked in the tub, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus prepared for the kill. Clytemnestra would do the deed herself, Aegisthus was just backup, in case it didn't go as planned, but before she could make her move, Cassandra the concubine rushed in. She was a prophet and had foreseen what was to happen, she knew she was to be killed too but had already come to terms with her fate. Clytemnestra killed Cassandra with one blow, who fell into Agamemnon's bound arms, unable to save her and unable to save himself. Ensnared in his robe and immobile, Agamemnon could do nothing when he saw his wife standing over him with an axe. "This is for my daughter, doomed Iphigenia. It is fitting you die as she in ritual prayer, you butcher" (Johnson 89). Raising her axe high in the air, Clytemnestra killed her husband in three chops, just as she would have if she had been sacrificing an animal. It is said that she even muttered a blessing with the last blow, just as she would have during a sacrifice.

The castle inhabitants knew what had happened, but they didn't know what to do about it. Too afraid to say anything, but sure that something must be done, they congregated outside the bathroom door, waiting for the murderess to emerge. Clytemnestra opened the door and stood before them, proud and erect. "'My husband is dead, and I have killed him. My deed was just,' she announced, 'I punished the murder of my youngest daughter'" (Switzer 188). She justified her murder, and the people accepted her reasoning, either believing her or to frightened to challenge her. After all, she was the queen.

Orestes, Clytemnestra's only son, was whisked away by his servant and his older sister, Electra, for Aegisthus planned to kill the young boy in case he ever decided to seek revenge. For eight years, Aegisthus was king, though only a puppet for Clytemnestra, but in the eighth year Orestes returned; ready to avenge his father's death. "Orestes was troubled at the thought of killing his own mother but he knew it was what the gods wanted" (Gall 74). He entered the palace without suspicion, claiming he was a mere messenger carrying his own ashes to Clytemnestra. Aegisthus was the first victim. Once he realized that the messenger was actually Orestes, he gave in and was killed while the palace guard stood by, applauding the death of their false king. When Clytemnestra learned that her son had returned to seek revenge, she waited for him, not believing that the young man would kill his own mother.

He arrived, knife in hand, Clytemnestra waiting alone for him. Desperately, she tried to reason with him, she, after all, was his mother. "Wait son! Have pity, child, upon this breast, which you held, drowsing away the hours, sucking with toothless gums, the milk that nourished you...gave you life. Let me grow old with you" (Parada). But her pleading had no avail, Orestes raised his knife and shielded his eyes, not able to witness the deed he was about to commit. His mother went willingly when she realized he was beyond reconciliation; the chain of murder and revenge died along with Clytemnestra.

Though the murder and revenge ended when Orestes killed his mother, he was cursed by the gods for committing matricide. He wandered through the lands like a mad man, haunted by furies sent by the gods. After many years he was relieved from the tireless haunts because it had been Apollo's will that he got revenge for the death of his father. Without the sacrifice of Iphigenia, the Trojan War would have never been able to start, and Iphigenia's death was the cause of the entire chain of murder and revenge. If the Trojan War had never started, Agamemnon's family would never have taken part in the continuance of seeking revenge and murdering one another.

Works Cited

Bulfinch, Thomas. Bulfinch's Mythology. New York: Doubleday and Company, 1968.

"Clytemnestra." Wikipedia. 21 Feb 2009. 23 Feb 2009.

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Gall, Timothy and Susan, eds. Greek and Roman Mythology. Ohio: Eastwood Publications Development, 2006

Gibson, Mia. "Clytemnestra". Encyclopedia Mythica. 16 May 1999. 24 Feb 2009. http://www.panteon.org/articles/c/clytemnestra.html>.

Johnson, Norma. Pride of Lions. Pennsylvania: Fairfield Graphics, 1979.

Parada, Carlos. "Orestes". Greek Mythology Link. 1997. 2 Mar 2009.

http://www.forlemancientcoins.com/cparada/GML/Orestes2.html>.

Sullivan, K E. Greek Myths and Legends. London: Brockhampton Press, 1998.

Switzer, Ellen and Costas. Gods, Heros and Monsters. New York: Macmillian Publishing, 1998.