Agamemnon - King of Mycenae and commander in chief of the coalition that attacked Troy in the Trojan War

Authors Avatar

Helen Spencer, 5/1/2007 Classics Summer Work

Classics summer work

Agamemnon was king of Mycenae and commander in chief of the coalition that attacked Troy in the Trojan War. He was the son of Atreus. When the Greeks had assembled in Aulis for their voyage to Troy, they were held back by adverse winds. To calm the winds, Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis.

Clytemnestra was queen of Mycenae, wife of Agamemnon and the daughter of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and his wife Leda. She bore Agamemnon 4 children: Electra, Iphigenia, Orestes, and Chrysothemis. After the sacrifice of Iphigenia, Clytemnestra’s love turned to hatred for Agamemnon, and upon their return from Troy, she and her new lover Aegisthus sought revenge and killed both Agamemnon and his Trojan mistress Cassandra, and ruled with her lover for seven years.

Helen of Troy was the most beautiful woman in Greece, daughter of the god Zeus and of Leda, wife of King Tyndareus of Sparta. When she was a child, the hero Theseus, who hoped in time to marry her, abducted her but her brothers, Castor and Pollux, rescued her. Later her fatal beauty was the direct cause of the Trojan War.

Aegisthus was the son of Thyestes and his daughter Pelopia. Desiring to avenge himself upon his brother Atreus and acting upon the advice of the oracle at Delphi, Thyestes consummated an incestuous union with Pelopia. Shortly afterwards, Atreus married Pelopia, not knowing she was his niece. When Aegisthus was born, Atreus accepted him as his own son. Aegisthus later learned his true identity and, urged by Thyestes, killed Atreus.

Jason was the son of Aeson, a king in Greece. His half-brother Pelias had taken Aeson’s throne away from him, and Jason, the rightful heir to the throne, had been sent away as a child for his own protection. When Jason grew to manhood, however, he courageously returned to Greece to regain his kingdom.

Medea was a sorceress in Greek mythology. She was the daughter of Aeëtes, King of Colchis. When the hero Jason, in command of the Argonauts, reached Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece, Medea fell hopelessly in love with him. In return for Jason’s pledge of everlasting fidelity and his promise to take her back to Greece with him, she used her magic gifts to enable him to deceive her father and obtain the fleece.

Orestes was the son of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and Clytemnestra. He was still a boy when his mother and her lover murdered his father. He was sent away to live with his uncle Strophius, king of Phocis. At maturity he realized that he had to avenge the death of his father, and went with Pylades, his lifelong companion, to Mycenae and avenged Agamemnon’s death.

Join now!

Electra was a daughter of Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra. After the murder of Agamemnon, she sent her brother, Orestes, away to the safety of the court of an uncle. She stayed behind to live in poverty under constant surveillance while Clytemnestra and Aegisthus ruled the kingdom. She sent constant reminders to Orestes that he must return to avenge the death of their father. After seven years, Orestes and Pylades returned to avenge Agamemnon. Electra later married Pylades.

Oedipus, king of Thebes, the son of Laius and Jocosta, king and queen of Thebes. An oracle warned Laius that his own ...

This is a preview of the whole essay