Agamemnon
Agamemnon
- Herbert Jennings Rose
- and Jenny March
Extract
Agamemnon, in mythology son of *Atreus (or, occasionally, of Atreus' son Pleisthenes), brother of *Menelaus (1), and husband of *Clytemnestra; king of *Mycenae, or *Argos (1), and, in Homer, commander-in-chief of the Greek expedition against Troy, taking with him 100 ships, the largest single contingent (Il. 2. 569–80). He had a son, *Orestes, and three daughters, Chrysothemis, Laodice, Iphianassa (Il. 9.145); *Iphigenia, whom Homer does not mention, seems to be a later substitution for Iphianassa, as does *Electra (3) for Laodice (Xanthus, fr. 700 PMG).Homer depicts Agamemnon as a man of personal valour, but lacking resolution and easily discouraged. His quarrel with *Achilles, who withdrew in anger and hurt pride from battle when Agamemnon took away his concubine *Briseis, supplies the mainspring of the Iliad's action, with Achilles' refusal to fight leading to tragedy. The Odyssey (1.Subjects
- Greek Myth and Religion