Clytemnestra and Iphigenia One of Research Proposal

This temper surely gave Clytemnestra the ability to withstand her "wretched life" by serving as a type of emotional outlet for her anger and disappointment related to being imprisoned in her own household as the doting wife of Agamemnon who certainly experienced sexual encounters with other women as leader of the Greek armies at Troy.

Another example has Clytemnestra admitting "Thus harassed by these ever-rife reports

(i.e., that Agamemnon was dead)/Full often from my neck have forceful hands/Seized and untied the beam-suspended noose" (Swanwick, 179), a reference to attempting to hang herself from a roof beam. This indicates that Clytemnestra was indeed a very strong woman with sufficient inner strength to do away with herself because of her grief associated with Agamemnon and his alleged death at the hands of the Trojans -- "For a woman severed from her mate/To sit forlorn at home is grievous woe" (Swanwick, 179).

In Iphigenia at Aulis which focuses on the sacrifice of Iphigenia at the hands of Agamemnon, after throwing herself into the arms of her father whom she obviously loves a great deal, Iphigenia proclaims "Be mine, all mine today; turn not unto moody thoughts" (Swanwick, 236) which shows that Iphigenia possesses the strength to sway her father from negative thinking related to his trials and tribulations in the Trojan War. As a supportive note, Agamemnon acquiesces to his daughter's strength upon replying "Why so I am, all thine today; I have no other thoughts" which induces Iphigenia to order her father to "Soothe thy knitted brow, unbend and smile" (Swanwick, 236).

Also, when Agamemnon accidentally tells his daughter that they await a long absence from each other at some point in the future (a possible reference to his daughter's sacrifice), and Iphigenia does not know of what he is speaking of, she senses pity in him and states "My words shall turn to senselessness, if that will cheer thee more" (Swanwick, 237).Thus, although a young and inexperienced girl, Iphigenia shows her inner strength in the shape of love for her father and her ability to transcend her own selfish desires via caring more for her father than for her own inner happiness. Ironically, it will be Agamemnon who sacrifices his own daughter; thus one wonders if Iphigenia somehow deep down realizes this fact which if true only increases her strength and honor as a tragic Greek heroine.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Martin, Thomas R. Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times. New Haven, CT:

Yale University Press, 1996.

Swanwick, Anna, Trans. The Dramas of Aeschylus. London: George Bell & Sons, 1907. Rpt.

Constable, 2005......