Agamemnon's Daughter: A Novella & Stories

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Elektra, a novel by Jennifer Saint that tells the parallel story of Elektra's life, along with her mother Clytemnestra, and Cassandra of Troy

Agamemnon was also said to be in possession of a magnificent scepter fashioned by Hephaestus, the god of the forge. [7] Skills, Abilities, and Character

In most traditions, Agamemnon was the son of Atreus and his wife Aerope. [10] Atreus, a son of the hero Pelops (and thus grandson of the infamous Tantalus), competed viciously with his brother Thyestes for the throne of Mycenae. In some traditions, however, Agamemnon was the son not of Atreus but of Atreus’ son Pleisthenes and his wife (whose name was either Aerope, Cleolla, or Eriphyle). [11] Richard Rutherford, in John Davie (tr.), Euripides: The Bacchae and Other Plays, London, Penguin, 2005, pp. 174, 326–7. A central character in Donna Leon's crime fiction series is a present-day young woman named Elettra (the Italian form of "Electra"), who is highly resourceful and who bears some resemblance to the mythological character.

All traditions agreed that Agamemnon’s brother was Menelaus, who later became famous for his rather embarrassing marriage to Helen of Troy. In some traditions, he also had another brother named Pleisthenes [12] and a sister named Anaxibia, [13] Astyoche, [14] or Cydragora. [15] In works of art, there is considerable resemblance between the representations of Zeus, king of the gods, and Agamemnon, king of men. He is generally depicted with a sceptre and diadem, conventional attributes of kings. The Forgotten Pistolero, a Spaghetti Western by Ferdinando Baldi starring Leonard Mann and Luciana Paluzzi

Electra at the Tomb of Agamemnon, by Frederic Leighton, 1868, on display at Ferens Art Gallery, Kingston upon Hull But in one tradition, Agamemnon and Menelaus disagreed on what to do after their victory. Menelaus wanted to sail home immediately, while Agamemnon wanted to stay and offer sacrifices to the gods. In the end, the fleet split up: Menelaus and several others left without sacrificing (and were punished for their impiety with a storm sent by the gods), while Agamemnon stayed behind. Because of this, the Greek heroes did not all arrive home at the same time. [48] Death

With Achilles’ withdrawal, the Greeks lost their best fighter and consequently suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Trojans. In the end, though, Agamemnon and Achilles reconciled their differences. Achilles returned to the fighting, and the Greeks eventually won the war. The sacrifice of Iphigenia is not explicitly mentioned by Homer, although scholars argue that it is presupposed by Agamemnon's criticism of Calchas at Iliad 1.105-108; Nelson has developed this suggestion further by arguing that the story of Iphigenia's sacrifice lies allusively behind the opening scenes of the Iliad: "both the debate over Chryseis and her eventual return to her father replay and rework the sacrifice story." [22] He has highlighted six key elements that are shared by each story:Agamemnon grew up in Mycenae, in the court of King Atreus (though ancient sources disagreed on whether Atreus was Agamemnon’s father or grandfather). His childhood was defined by the feuding between Atreus and Atreus’ brother Thyestes. Both men longed for the throne of Mycenae and would stop at nothing to attain their goal.

Probably the most important ancient cult of Iphigenia was at Brauron in Attica, where she was worshipped in connection with Artemis. There Iphigenia and Artemis were said to preside over the initiation rites of young girls. Some sources traced the origins of this cult to the myth of Iphigenia’s sacrifice.Elektra (Laodice) is the unnamed protagonist and speaker in Yannis Ritsos's long poem Beneath the Shadow of the Mountain. This poem forms part of the cycle colloquially referred to as the New Oresteia.