According to the accounts given by Pindar and the tragedians, Agamemnon was slain in a bath by his wife alone, after being ensnared by a blanket or a net thrown over him to prevent resistance. [4], Agamemnon's father, Atreus, murdered the sons of his twin brother Thyestes and fed them to Thyestes after discovering Thyestes' adultery with his wife Aerope. According to Plato, his name derives from menein meaning ‘to endure’. Other sources, such as Iphigenia at Aulis, say that Agamemnon was prepared to kill his daughter, but that Artemis accepted a deer in her place, and whisked her away to Tauris in the Crimean Peninsula.
After the capture of Troy, Cassandra, Priam’s daughter, fell to Agamemnon’s lot in the distribution of the prizes of war. The fleet assembled at the port of Aulis in Boeotia but was prevented from sailing by calms or contrary winds that were sent by the goddess Artemis because Agamemnon had in some way offended her. On his return home he was murdered by his wife and her lover.
The fortunes of Agamemnon have formed the subject of numerous tragedies, ancient and modern, the most famous being the Oresteia of Aeschylus. His name in Greek, Ἀγαμέμνων, means "very steadfast", "unbowed". Agamemnon's mare was named Aetha. Right after he came home from that war, his wife, Clytaemnestra, and his cousin, Aegisthus, conspired against and killed him. On his return Agamemnon landed in Argolis, where Aegisthus had, in the interval, seduced Clytemnestra. His tomb was pointed out among the ruins of Mycenae and at Amyclae. Her death appeased Artemis, and the Greek army set out for Troy. [13] This episode is also found in Clement of Alexandria,[14] in Stephen of Byzantium (Kopai and Argunnos), and in Propertius, III with minor variations.[15].
Electra and Orestes killing Aegisthus in the presence of their mother, Clytemnestra; detail of a Greek vase, 5th century, This article was most recently revised and updated by, Agamemnon - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). What does Agamemnon mean?
During this period, Agamemnon and his brother, Menelaus, took refuge with Tyndareus, King of Sparta. Thus misfortune hounded successive generations of the House of Atreus, until atoned by Orestes in a court of justice held jointly by humans and gods. [5], After a stormy voyage, Agamemnon and Cassandra landed in Argolis, or, in another version, were blown off course and landed in Aegisthus' country. 1.
In the legends of the Peloponnesus, Agamemnon was regarded as the highest type of a powerful monarch, and in Sparta he was worshipped under the title of Zeus Agamemnon.
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