Clytemnestra is one of the most infamous women in Greek mythology. She was the wife of Agamemnon, and she helped him murder her own father to gain power.
When Agamemnon returned home from the Trojan War, Clytemnestra killed him and his concubine Cassandra.
Clytemnestra was the offspring of Tyndareus and Leda, King and Queen of Sparta respectively, which earned her the title Spartan Princess. The myth goes that Zeus appeared to Leda in swan form, seducing her before impregnating her.
Therefore, Tyndareus fathered Castor and Clytemnestra, whereas Zeus fathered Helen and Polydeuces. Her other sisters were Philonoe, Phoebe and Timandra.
Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus were living away from home with Tyndareus; eventually, Agamemnon married Clytemnestra while Menelaus wed Helen.
After Menelaus’ wife, Helen was stolen and brought to Troy, he sought the aid of his brother Agamemnon.
Greek forces then assembled at Aulis in order to sail on the ocean towards Troy; however, there were weak winds that prevented them from doing so.
Calchas said that the winds would be more favorable if they sacrificed Agamemnon’s daughter Iphigenia to Artemis.
Agamemnon tricked Clytemnestra into sending Iphigenia to him under false pretenses, telling her he was going to marry her off to Achilles.
When Iphigenia arrived at Aulis, she was tragically sacrificed instead. Following this grisly event, the winds changed and finally the troops were able to set sail for Troy.
The Trojan War extended over the course of ten years. In Agamemnon’s prolonged absence, Clytemnestra took Aegisthus, her husband’s cousin, as a lover.
Clytemnestra and Aegisthus planned Agamemnon’s death. Clytemnestra was furious because of Iphigenia’s murder.
Agamemnon, after arriving at his palace with the Trojan princess Cassandra as his concubine, was greeted by his wife. He then entered the palace for a banquet while Cassandra remained outside in the chariot.
Clytemnestra waited until he was in the bath and then killed him by trapping him in a net and stabbed him. Agamemnon couldn’t escape or resist his murderer while caught in the netting.
Cassandra’s visions always came true, but she was cursed by Apollo so that no one would believe her prophecies. When she saw a vision of herself and Agamemnon being murdered, Cassandra tried to get help, but failed because of her curse.
The gods had decreed that she was fated to die, so Cassandra walked into the palace resolutely to accept her death.
Once Agamemnon and Cassandra were killed according to the prophecy, Aegisthus replaced Agamemnon as king and ruled for seven years with Clytemnestra at his side.
Orestes, Clytemnestra’s son by Agamemnon, eventually killed her when he returned to Sparta.
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