I am Clytaemnestra, wife to Agamemnon, king of Argos, making me queen of Argos. I am sister to Helen and daughter of Leda and Tyndereoas. Being half-blooded, and sister to Helen, the most beautiful woman in the world, I myself am extremely beautiful. I am mother to Iphigenia and Orestes, although Iphigenia has been murdered at the hand of her father, Agamemnon. I have intelligence and wit, but I am often absorbed in my own thoughts and plans. I am spiteful and vengeful; I do not forgive easily. I have not forgiven my husband, Agamemnon, for sacrificing our daughter, Iphigenia, in order to secure safe passage to Troy. I have been left alone; my son has been sent to stay with Strophios the Phocian should the people of Argos rise up in anarchy, my husband has gone to war with the Trojans, and my daughter lays dead. I have engaged myself in pursuing a course of action that will satisfy my lasting grief and loneliness, which is to avenge my daughter’s death. I have sought meaning to my life, and it is now to fulfill the fate of this cursed house of Atreus, “… with kinsmen murdering kinsmen.” (1601, Aeschylus). In this I can bring order to the house and fulfill destiny. I will kill Agamemnon.
I want retribution for the death of my
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First, he is away at war, and could possibly die in battle, preventing me from taking his life myself. I need support in killing Agamemnon, as he is the king who has just returned from war as a hero. I bide my time as I wait for his return; I gain support and plan Agamemnon’s murder with his cousin, Aegisthus, who becomes my lover and share my power of the throne. When Agamemon finally returns from war, I have difficulty forcing him to walk on the tapestry I have woven for him, although I eventually persuade him to do so. I also cannot get Cassandra to get out of the carriage, so I have the Leader of the chorus deal with her, although he is suspicious of my true