Clytemnestra: The spellbinding retelling of Greek mythology’s greatest heroine

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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. These tragedies underpin Clytemnestra’s life, but Casati leaves plenty of space for her main character to experience freedom, strength and triumph. Miller, Madeline (November 7, 2011). "Myth of the Week: Clytemnestra". Madeline Miller . Retrieved May 12, 2023. verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus were in exile at the home of Tyndareus; in due time Agamemnon married Clytemnestra and Menelaus married Helen. In a late variation, Euripides's Iphigenia at Aulis, Clytemnestra's first husband was Tantalus, King of Pisa; Agamemnon killed him and Clytemnestra's infant son, then made Clytemnestra his wife. In another version, her first husband was King of Lydia. [ citation needed] Mythology [ edit ]

In old versions of the story, on returning from Troy, Agamemnon is murdered by Aegisthus, the lover of his wife, Clytemnestra. In some later versions Clytemnestra helps him or does the killing herself in his own home. The best-known version is that of Aeschylus: Agamemnon, having arrived at his palace with his concubine, the Trojan princess Cassandra, in tow and being greeted by his wife, entered the palace for a banquet while Cassandra remained in the chariot. 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.Theseus is a hero, and he does what heroes do,” he says. “Do you know how many other girls like Helen there are?” In scenes like these, Casati redefines our understanding of the term “hero”, reminding us that the celebrated men of Greek myths were selfish, violent brutes who took whatever they wanted with no regard to the desires of others or the consequences. In its deft portrayal of the many layers of trauma, and in its offering of a feminist take on revenge, Clytemnestra joins a recent spate of similarly minded artworks, including Emerald Fennell’s film Promising Young Woman and Michaela Coel’s television series I May Destroy You. Mendelsohn, Daniel (July 24, 2017). "Novelizing Greek Myth". The New Yorker . Retrieved May 12, 2023. As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her best . . .

A passionate picture of a fiercely patriarchal society and her heroine's refusal to be bound by its Meanwhile, Cassandra saw a vision of herself and Agamemnon being murdered. Her attempts to elicit help failed (she had been cursed by Apollo that no one would believe her prophecies). She realized she was fated to die, and resolutely walked into the palace to receive her death. Acceptance or vengeance - infamy follows both. So you bide your time and wait, until you might force the gods' hands and take revenge. Until you rise. For you understood something that the others don't. If power isn't given to you, you have to take it for yourself. Clytemnestra appears as an extremely abusive mother in the play Molora, Yaël Farber's 2007 rewriting of the Oresteia set in post-apartheid South Africa and its Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings. [11]You are born to a king, but marry a tyrant. You stand helplessly as he sacrifices your child to placate the gods. You watch him wage war on a foreign shore and comfort yourself with violent thoughts of your own. Growing up, the princesses of Sparta train in wrestling, spear-throwing and sword-fighting, and are relatively able to do as they please. Their mother rules alongside their father – or at least appears to. “It is hard to find a man who is really strong. Strong enough not to desire to be stronger than you,” she tells Clytemnestra. The American modern dancer and choreographer Martha Graham created a two-hour ballet, Clytemnestra (1958), about the queen. On her deathbed, Clytemnestra’s grandmother tells Clytemnestra and Helen that their family is a “dynasty of queens” and that “you girls will be remembered longer than your brothers”.

Nevertheless, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus began plotting Agamemnon's demise. Clytemnestra was enraged by Iphigenia's murder (and presumably the earlier murder of her first husband by Agamemnon, and her subsequent rape and forced marriage). Aegisthus saw his father Thyestes betrayed by Agamemnon's father Atreus (Aegisthus was conceived specifically to take revenge on that branch of the family). A heroine of fierce spirit. With the fire and spark of Madeline Miller and the depths of Mary Renault' MANDA SCOTT Clytemnestra was the daughter of Tyndareus and Leda, the King and Queen of Sparta, making her a Spartan Princess. According to the myth, Zeus appeared to Leda in the form of a swan, seducing and impregnating her. Leda produced four offspring from two eggs: Castor and Clytemnestra from one egg, and Helen and Polydeuces (Pollux) from the other. Therefore, Castor and Clytemnestra were fathered by Tyndareus, whereas Helen and Polydeuces were fathered by Zeus. Her other sisters were Philonoe, Phoebe and Timandra. Worst of all, in both situations, Agamemnon’s actions are not only condoned, but even enabled by men close to Clytemnestra such as her father and her friend Odysseus.John Eaton composed an opera in one act entitled The Cry of Clytemnestra recounting the events leading up to and including Clytemnestra's murder of Agamemnon. After all, ancient Greece is a man’s world. Yes, young Spartan women are trained to be strong. But the reason is so they can “bear healthy children”, Clytemnestra says. If their lower positioning in the social hierarchy is not apparent at first, it becomes abundantly clear when Theseus, the king of Athens, kidnaps and rapes Helen. Her siblings are furious and want revenge, but her father will hear none of it. After Helen was taken from Sparta to Troy, her husband, Menelaus, asked his brother Agamemnon for help. Greek forces gathered at Aulis. However, consistently weak winds prevented the fleet from sailing on the ocean. Through a subplot involving the gods and omens, the priest Calchas said the winds would be favorable if Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis. Agamemnon persuaded Clytemnestra to send Iphigenia to him, telling her he was going to marry her to Achilles. When Iphigenia arrived at Aulis, she was sacrificed, the winds turned, and the troops set sail for Troy. Clytaemnestra", Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. Vol. VI (ninthed.), New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1878, p.44 . The Greeks were early masters of stories about betrayal and vengeance, about family feuds and curses, about men who conquered and women who suffered. Today, in the hands of skilled authors, these myths have become juicy fodder for novels that reimagine their maligned, misunderstood and often overlooked female characters, imbuing them with fresh agency and context.

The novel’s strength lies in its ability to weave many complex stories into one linear narrative by centering all of these episodes on Clytemnestra herself. Clytemnestra is often portrayed as a side character or villain in Greek mythology, but in this novel she takes the center stage. Classic Greek heroes such as Theseus, Odysseus, Jason, and Achilles thereby become supporting characters in Clytemnestra’s compelling storyline rather than dominating the narrative. While literature and art has typically depicted male Greek heroes as courageous or exemplary, “Clytemnestra” instead highlights their horrible deeds and sexist beliefs. As Clytemnestra quips about Theseus, “Heroes like him are made of greed and cruelty: they take and take until the world around them is stripped of its beauty.” The novel shows how the heroes of some stories are the villains of others — and vice versa. When we meet Clytemnestra, she is a young princess of Sparta; a hunter and fighter who is close to her family, especially to her sister, Helen, the famed beauty who later flees for Troy. Orestes Pursued by the Furies by William-Adolphe Bouguereau. Clytemnestra was killed by Orestes and the Furies torment him for this killing Appearance in later works [ edit ] Casati’s careful consideration of different perspectives allows the reader to sympathize deeply with Clytemnestra. In Greek mythology, Clytemnestra is often remembered for being insane — a wretched woman who, blinded by a need for vengeance, murders her husband. But in Casati’s novel, she is a fiery figure, still fueled by a burning desire for revenge, but never painted as delusional. “Clytemnestra” shows how she is shaped by trauma yet still bravely holds onto power in a time when women were seen as subhuman. Casati’s clear feminist stance makes this retelling fresh despite being based on stories that are thousands of years old. The 2017 novel House of Names by Colm Tóibín is a retelling of the Oresteia, with divine elements largely removed. There are three narrators: Clytemnestra, Orestes, and Electra.Rivals House of the Dragon in conspiracies and feminine brutality. An electrifying read' ELIZABETH FREMANTLE For this, she says, they’ll need “ambition, courage, distrust”. If her message is cryptic in that moment, it becomes increasingly clear as the two princesses grow older and face one betrayal after another. In Mourning Becomes Electra, Eugene O'Neill's retelling of the Oresteia by Aeschylus, Clytemnestra is renamed Christine Mannon.