Agamemnon’s decision of sacrificing his daughter, Iphigenia is justified by many politically related reasons. Agamemnon knows that in order to be protected by the gods on his journey to war he has to sacrifice his virgin daughter. Agamemnon asks himself, “should I desert the fleet and fail my allies? / sacrifice stops the storm, the blood of a virgin must be spilled…” (11). Agamemnon wants his fleet to be out of harm’s way on their war journey, and also wants be seen as a powerful king, with a mighty army that reveals a good ally. Being a good ally is a very vital aspect for Agamemnon, since his brother is the one who needs the help. Agamemnon also knows that once he gives his help as an ally, whenever he will need help, his allies will be on his side to support him. Moreover, the sacrifice of Iphigenia might show how Agamemnon is such a fine, committed king by willing to sacrifice his own daughter to “save” thousands of soldiers’ lives who are coming to war with him.
At the same time, Iphigenia’s sacrifice shows Agamemnon’s political reasoning as injustice, and rather selfish. Agamemnon observes how “an unbearable fate will fall on him if [he] disobey[s] but how can [he] bear to slaughter [his] own daughter, the glory of [his] house? How can [he] stain [his] hands, the hands of a father with this young girls blood..?”(11) Agamemnon describes how he can not tolerate sacrificing his daughter just because he would get his hands dirty, meaning he might be cursed or rather looked down by the public for killing his daughter. In fact, Agamemnon’s selfishness shows through out Agamemnon’s passage on page 11— he does not even state Iphigenia’s name, as if she is not significant. A name shows individuality and importance in some way, and by not mentioning her name, we can understand how she is just like a possession to him. Moreover, Agamemnon mentions how Iphigenia is “the glory of [his] house”, which proves the point stronger that she is like a possession to him, she makes him look good since she is a virgin, pure and ready, again as a possession, to be given away to get married. Through this Agamemnon does not even consider how Iphigenia would feel getting sacrificed and does not even tell her that he is going to sacrifice her. Instead, he tells her he is going to wed her, which shows how he can be dishonest and at the same time disrespectful. Therefore, Agamemnon is shown as an egoistic father, and by all of this we can see that his justice political reasoning can also be seen as injustice looking at the situation from a personal angle.
Clytemnestra’s personal perspectives as she comes to know about the sacrifice of her daughter, proves Agamemnon is unjustified, and shows her seek for revenge as a mother. Clytemnestra argues how “[Agamemnon] had plenty of sheep to choose from, but he sacrificed his own child, [her] labor of love” (57), which proves how Agamemnon does not consider other options, but rather believes that sacrificing his daughter is the only way to go. In addition, by saying “[her] labor of love”, she perhaps refers to how Agamemnon killing their daughter, is like Agamemnon is killing their love. Furthermore, the fact that Agamemnon doesn’t even consult her about their daughter’s sacrifice probably makes her furious as well, and therefore by murdering Agamemnon she will avenge her daughter’s death. Clytemnestra emphasizes that “[Agamemnon] has suffered, deed for deed, for what he did to [their] daughter Iphigenia” (60) Perhaps Clytemnestra is trying to prove that Iphigenia is not only his, but hers as well. To justify Clytemnestra even more, as a wife, she might be furious, since after Agamemnon’s victory in Troy, he brings Cassandra “... his prize won by the spear, his prophetess and prostitute…” (57). Clytemnestra probably feels betrayed, and unimportant. Plus, she might see Cassandra as a replacement or competition of hers.
But at the same time, when Agamemnon goes to war, Clytemnestra commits adultery with Agamemnon’s cousin Aegisthus, which shows us how she is unjustified. Just like Agamemnon could of thought about other consideration of sacrificing, she should of considered some other options to avenge her daughter’s death, not by killing. Therefore, this is like a cycle, it brings us back to how Agamemnon is just.
Receiving justice can be better portrayed as revenge that leads to a chain of violence, revenging for their rights. But in the end revenge will not solve anything, and someone could be justified in many different perspectives.
