How Clytemnestra is portrayed in the play Agamemnon?
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How Clytemnestra is portrayed in the play Agamemnon?
Clytemnestra. The play’s protagonist, Clytemnestra is Agamemnon’s wife and has ruled Argos in his absence. She plans his murder with ruthless determination, and feels no guilt after his death; she is convinced of her own rectitude and of the justice of killing the man who killed her daughter.
Was Clytemnestra justified in killing Agamemnon?
The murder of her husband is justified, she insists, because it avenges his crime. Now Agamemnon can lie dead alongside Cassandra, who shared his bed. The Chorus laments the murder, blaming Agamemnon’s death on Helen of Troy.
Does Clytemnestra love Agamemnon?
Clytemnestra, in Greek legend, a daughter of Leda and Tyndareus and wife of Agamemnon, commander of the Greek forces in the Trojan War. She took Aegisthus as her lover while Agamemnon was away at war.
Why is Clytemnestra angry with Agamemnon?
Clytemnestra starts an affair While he was away, Clytemnestra started an affair with Aegisthus, with whom she plotted against her husband. Clytemnestra was angry with her husband, both because of her daughter’s sacrifice, as well as because Agamemnon had killed her first husband and taken her by force.
What kind of character is Clytemnestra?
Clytemnestra is decisive, resolute, and aggressive, and her femininity is often called into question. However, she is able mask her anger in public moments in order to carry out her revenge plot. The nobility of her revenge is complicated by her affair with Aegisthus.
What do you think of the representation of Clytemnestra?
Aeschylus’ portrayal of Clytemnestra can be seen as negative and positive, an example being that she seeks justice for her daughter but at the same time is totally unrepentant for the act of murder. Clytemnestra does not hide from her actions, instead she freely admits the murder and embraces the power and authority.
Is Clytemnestra sympathetic?
Clytemnestra is Agamemnon’s wife and has ruled Argos in his absence. She plans his murder with ruthless determination, and feels no guilt after his death; she is convinced of her own rectitude and of the justice of killing the man who killed her daughter. She is, a sympathetic character in many respects.
What are the motives of Clytemnestra?
No matter the order in which the motives are listed, it is generally agreed upon that revenge, jealousy, and to further the curse are the three reasons for Clytemnestra’s actions, although Aeschylus seems to make it very clear that he believes she is motivated by motherly grief in his beginning description of …
Was Clytemnestra a good mother?
For instance, Clytemnestra, acting as a loving mother, vowed to avenge her daughter’s death, but later on goes to curse her own son, Orestes. Clytemnestra even claims to send Orestes off with loving intentions, rather it was for her own security.
What is Clytemnestra known for?
Clytemnestra is one of the main characters in Aeschylus’s Oresteia, and is central to the plot of all three parts. She murders Agamemnon in the first play, and is murdered herself in the second. Her death then leads to the trial of Orestes by a jury composed of Athena and 12 Athenians in the final play.
Why is Clytemnestra important?
She murders Agamemnon to avenge the death of their daughter, Iphigenia, whom Agamemnon sacrificed during the Trojan War to ensure his fleet’s passage into Troy. She also murders Cassandra, Agamemnon’s concubine. Clytemnestra is decisive, resolute, and aggressive, and her femininity is often called into question.
What does Clytemnestra do in the absence of her husband?
With her husband absent, Clytemnestra began an affair with Aegisthus, a cousin of Agamemnon. Together, the pair began to plan their revenge on the king. In older versions of the story, including that told by Homer in the Odyssey, Aegisthus murders Agamemnon upon his return from Troy.
Is Clytemnestra a tragic hero?
Two of the most famous Greek tragic heroes (heroines) were Medea and Clytemnestra. They share characteristics Aristotle deemed essential for the heroic character in a tragedy. They are both of high rank. Medea is a princess and a sorceress, and Clytemnestra was the de facto ruler of Argos in Agamemnon’s absence.
Is Clytemnestra a femme fatale?
Clytemnestra embodies every characteristic of a classic femme fatale. Although the classification of femme fatale was not widely established until the 20th century, the image of a strong female using seductive charm for malicious purposes has been prominent in art, especially theater, for centuries.
How does Clytemnestra defeat Agamemnon?
Clytemnestra waited until he was in the bath, and then entangled him in a cloth net and stabbed him. Trapped in the web, Agamemnon could neither escape nor resist his murderer. Meanwhile, Cassandra saw a vision of herself and Agamemnon being murdered.
Is Clytemnestra Helens sister?
Clytemnestra (/ˌklaɪtəmˈnɛstrə/; Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα, Klytaimnḗstrā, [klytai̯mnɛ̌ːstraː]), in Greek mythology, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and the sister of Helen of Troy.
What does Clytemnestra symbolize?
The man-axe thus represents Clytemnestra’s “man-killing” qualities: those which allow her to avenge her daughter and seize power over Argos, but which also condemn her in the eyes of the Greeks and lead to her ultimate downfall.
What is Clytemnestra fatal flaw?
She mourns Iphigenia alone back in Mycenae, where the coldness of her personality grows colder. This is her fatal flaw as a tragic heroine. She has two children, Elektra and Orestes, both by Agamemnon, who she pushes away because her need for revenge called louder than her heart’s need for love.
