Aeschylus’s tragedy, “Agamemnon” presents the return of the king from the Trojan War, and his death at the hands of his own wife, Clytemnestra, soon after his arrival. The readers find out early in the play that, in order to reach the battleground, Agamemnon had to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to appease the gods. The chorus presents the sacrifice with many horrific details, in order to outrage the audience and to direct their antipathy towards the king. Later in the play, Clytemnestra murders the king, and his mistress, and claims that his daughter has finally been revenged. However, there are many clues in the play which suggest that Clytemnestra is not only a wronged mother, who wants justice for her daughter, but she is a calculated and cold murderer. Therefore, Clytemnestra’s murder is not justified because she does not only commit it in order to achieve justice for her daughter, but she is also blinded by her passion for Aeghistus, and by her own pride.
The first clue that the murder was not committed only in order to achieve justice for her daughter is that Clytemnestra also kills Cassandra, the Trojan princess that Agamemnon brought with him as a slave and concubine. Clytemenstra may have been jealous on the young woman. However, it is not likely to be so for two reasons. First, it was not unusual for the ancient Greek kings to have concubines, and this may not have been a reason of jealousy for the queen. She seems rather undisturbed by her presence but on the contrary, she advises the young woman to enter the palace, and to be grateful for being brought to this place. On the other hand, it is revealed at the end of the play that she also had a lover, and so, it seems injust to have killed Cassandra because of the adultery, when she is also guilty of the same sin. Therefore, Cassandra’s murder is undeserved and suggests that Clytemnestra is not a betrayed wife and a suffering mother, but rather, she is an evil murderer.
Furthermore, Clytemnestra’s relationship with her husband’s cousin, Aegisthus diminishes her credibility as a vengeful mother, and questions her motivation. In reality, Clytemnestra may be driven mainly by her desire to eliminate her husband in order to be free to have a relationship with Aegisthus. She says that “Aegisthus strokes the blazing fires/in my heart. And he is loyal to me now/as always” (Agamemnon, lines 1697-1698). She and her lover therefore planned the murder in order to be able to rule the city together. Her final reassurance that, “you and I control the house” (Agamemnon, lines 1975) shows that her real intention may have been that of gaining the power over the city, next to her lover.
Finally, Clytemnestra’s deed was not justified, even if she committed for vengeance, because it was the act of a proud and arrogant being who perhaps tried to keep the power she had while Agamemnon was at war. . The chorus accuses her that “you’re too ambitious, far too arrogant” (Agamemnon, line 1687), and warns her that her act will be revenged, thus continuing the endless chain of death. However, she is proud enough to believe that her act will end the cycle of murders and will bring peace to the family once again. She thus says, that her action will determine the old curse to leave them alone, “transferring family murder somewhere else, to some other clan” (Agamemnon, lines 1851-1852). Too much pride is sanctioned by the gods, as Agamemnon warns, when he refuses to walk on the red carpet, and by believing that she is worthy to be the judge and jury, she shows that she is simply an ambitious woman, who yearns for power.
Works Cited
Aeschylus. Agamemnon. Trans. Ian Johnston. 2002. Web. 18 Feb. 2016. https://records.viu.ca/~johnstoi/aeschylus/aeschylus_agamemnon.htm
