Agamemnon Summary
Character List (In order):
Watchman
The Chorus: Elder Mycenaean men
Chorus Leader: does a lot of the talking
Clytemnestra: Queen of Mycenae
Herald
Agamemnon: King of Mycenae
Cassandra: Prisoner of war from Troy, Daughter of Priam (King of Troy)
Aegisthus: Cousin of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra’s new lover
Plot:
signal fires declare that Troy has fallen
The scene opens with a Watchman on the roof. He tells us that he’s been waiting for the signal fires to light to signify that Troy has been taken and the King (Agamemnon) is on his way home. The Watchman says he’s pretty much dying for this signal fire to start blazing because he longs for the days when Mycenae can be ruled, once again, by their king (he even refers to those days when Agamemnon was in Mycenae as “the good old days” … not a direct quote but the gist of the Ancient Greek).
As he’s complaining, a beacon lights in the distance and the signal fires begin to flare. The Watchman gets super excited and yells for Clytemnestra for someone to get the queen (Clytemnestra) so she can know of the good news. Before leaving the stage, the Watchman wishes for Agamemnon’s safe return.
Once the Watchman runs off stage, the Chorus of Elders come to take his place. They sing a brief summary of the Trojan War and tell us that it has been ten years since Agamemnon left with Menelaus to go and fight on foreign shores. They explain that they are the elders of Mycenae (which is why they did not go to war) and describe their elderlyness by singing sentences like “we lean on sticks” just in case we didn’t believe them.
Throughout the choral ode, Clytemnestra appears on stage. It’s now in their song — after they have explained, in detail, just how old they are — when they turn to see her. Clytemnestra is ordering people around off in the corner, so the men address her and ask her why she’s calling for all of these sacrifices throughout the city. The chorus wants to know what the news is and what has prompted such a reaction from her as sacrifices could be seen as good or bad.
Clytemnestra, unsurprisingly, doesn’t pay attention to them and her back remains to the audience.
And so, the Chorus continues singing. The Leader basically says: “Fine, if you won’t talk to me then I’ll tell the DETAILED story!” (Not an exact quote*). The Chorus describes how the Greek forces met at Aulis and Calchas’s telling of the god’s demand for virgin blood in order for the ships to leave the port. Contrary to popular internet belief, we actually hear that Agamemnon morally struggled when he heard this news. The Chorus tells us that he was stuck between slaughtering his daughter or not, but ultimately settles on the sacrifice of Iphigenia because “The law is the law” (this IS an exact quote). The next line may be one of my favourites in the whole play, where the Chorus tell us that Agamemnon “slipped his neck in the strap of Fate” as he had the heart to sacrifice his own daughter. Agamemnon referred to young Iphigenia as a “yearling” (which is an animal about a year or two old) and instructed his men to gag her. The description that we are left with is of Iphigenia’s saffron robes and her panicked eyes. The Chorus informs the audience that now we are up to date with all the information needed and they have no idea what’s going to happen because of this.
The Chorus turn to Clytemnestra and the Leader engages in conversation with the Queen. He asks her what the fires are for and Clytemnestra breaks the good news that Troy has finally fallen. The Chorus Leader has a tough time believing Clytemnestra, asking how she knows (she says the gods told her) and if she has believed rumours rather than fact. Clytemnestra reprimands him, asking why he treats her like a child. The Leader doesn’t address this comment but instead asks for all the details. First, he wants to know when the army stormed the city, to which Clytemnestra replies that they did so that morning. The Leader asks how the Mycenaeans could possibly know that as what messenger could run the news so fast, to which Clytemnestra explains how she has created a very, very long trail of fires so that that way they would know when Troy was taken as quickly as possible. So yes, someone lit one fire all the way near Troy, causing someone else to light theirs, and so on and so forth until the fire signal reached the palace (Clytemnestra says it in a much more poetic way, referencing Hephaestus — the god of fire — and all that, but that’s basically what it was). She finishes this off by saying that it was she who was the mastermind behind this fire-signal plan.
The Leader says (something along the lines of) “Well that sounds amazing, tell us the details!” and Clytemnestra says “OKAY SURE” (not an exact quote*). She ends her speech by saying that she hopes none of the Greek heroes return home to a new disaster after their long time away. Once Clytemnestra has finished, the Chorus Leader replies and says that the Queen has spoken like a man: she is loyal to her word and her husband while dictating with oodles of self-command.
Hearing this, Clytemnestra turns to go back into the palace without another word.
The Leader says it’s now time to praise the gods. The Chorus praise all the gods but most notably Zeus for his cosmic justice over the Trojans. They take a moment to explain why Paris and the Trojans were defeated (so yes, we get a whole description of how Paris went to Sparta and picked up Helen and the death and destruction that followed). One of the most gut-wrenching lines in the whole play comes from this speech when the Chorus states that the people of the surrounding areas who sent their men to fight in the war were now receiving urns to place on their hearths. Despite us having seen the signal fires and heard about the news from Clytemnestra herself, the Chorus is STILL doubting that Troy has fallen. They end their ode by questioning if the good news may be a lie from the heavens. The Leader picks up off the end of the speech to say that soon they’ll all know if this is true or false and they should hold their heads high in the meantime. He notes that he can see a herald running towards them and this guy looks like he knows the real news.
The Herald brings the news
The Herald reaches the Chorus and drops to his knees in front of them. The first thing he says is (something like) “Oh my god REAL Greek soil!! It’s been so long since I touched home!” He goes on to say that he never dreamed he would be lucky enough to die in Greece after all he’s been through. The Herald praises all the gods and then FINALLY declares that Agamemnon is coming.
Despite the Leader wanting to know the truth, his response is not “Oh goody Clytemnestra was telling the truth!” but instead he says “Welcome home!” to the herald (neither of those quotes is direct*). They talk for a bit and the Herald gives us a long speech about the hardships the army faced, including the differing weather, the men’s lice issue (ew), and the fighting itself. However, he concludes that all the bad is now outweighed by the good since the Greeks won and they’re all coming home.
As the Chorus Leader replies, Clytemnestra returns on stage.
Clytemnestra begins her speech by calling out the Chorus for not believing her earlier, criticising them for making her seem deranged. The Queen then turns to the Herald and tells him to tell Agamemnon to hurry back home since the people of Mycenae have missed their King. In the meantime, she will think of the appropriate way to welcome him. She finishes by instructing the Herald to let Agamemnon know that he will find her exactly how he left her (which is, apparently, unbelievably faithful) and once she’s done that, she turns back to go into the palace (aka, offstage).
When the Herald attempts to leave the stage after Clytemnestra, the Chorus Leader grabs his arm to ask one last thing. He wants to know if Menelaus has returned home safe and sound from the war. The Herald informs the Leader that Menelaus is lost, but he does have his ships so not all is doom and gloom. He says that there is no report of whether Menelaus is alive or dead at this point, explaining that the last anyone heard of him was when he had set sail for home and his ships were blown off course. Despite this, the Herald believes that Menelaus and his men are alive somewhere and he hopes they will make it home. Then, he leaves the stage.
Agamemnon returns
The Chorus launches into another ode, singing of fate and destiny. About halfway through, Agamemnon appears on stage on his chariot and behind him stands Cassandra.
The men of the Chorus press towards Agamemnon and attempt to urge him out of the chariot with their words, saying that even though it has been so long since they saw him they could never forget his face. They sing of the day the King left to fight — how his face was full of menace then and how everyone who saw him knew he would send men to their graves to bring Helen back home. They end their speech by telling Agamemnon to search the people and learn who stayed at home and kept their faith in him, and who betrayed the city.
Agamemnon now speaks for the first time. He begins by thanking the gods, saying that he will make many big sacrifices in their honour for helping them win the war and return home safely. As he wraps up this part of his speech, Clytemnestra approaches with many of her women — all of whom are holding red tapestries. Agamemnon continues his address, saying a little bit more about how it’s commendable for mortal men to speak of other men’s glory without being envious and finally announces that he will be going into the house to thank the gods. !!!!Remember that as he’s speaking, he has not yet gotten out of the chariot, so has not stepped on home soil, okay? So until I mention that the tapestries have been laid out and Agamemnon has stepped out of the chariot, he is still in there!!!!
Clytemnestra addresses her husband now for the first time in TEN YEARS. The Queen opens by saying how much she loves Agamemnon … but also uses the chance to describe the stages of what happens to a woman when her husband is away. She says in the beginning it’s very lonely, but then the rumours come of what’s happening in far off lands which is stressful to handle (she even says that these rumours caused her to waver “between the living and the dead” as the rumours felt like a sickness which was constantly breaking over her). She tells the King of their family and children, all while acknowledging the troubles she knows Agamemnon has faced while at war. The speech ends with Clytemnestra telling her ladies to lay out the tapestries between the chariot and the front door of the palace so that Agamemnon doesn’t have to spill dirt from Troy on the Mycenaean soil. All the while, Clytemnestra is attempting to beckon Agamemnon out of the chariot by reaching towards him.
The king’s reply to his wife is … not terribly nice. He claims that Clytemnestra, by laying down all of these tapestries, is treating him almost like an “other” — almost someone who is on par with the gods. He notes that this is not going to go down well if the gods see him acting so proudly. And so, he asks Clytemnestra to cut it out and remove the tapestries.
The pair have a back-and-forth where Clytemnestra is convincing Agamemnon to walk on the tapestries by saying he shouldn’t care about the opinions of the everyday man since he is their King and deserves to have nice things (I paraphrase massively), and Agamemnon retorts in highlighting her “manly energy”.
After much debate, Agamemnon finally gives in. He asks that no god strikes him down for walking on the tapestries and states that he feels shame for acting so luxuriously. Then, Agamemnon steps onto the tapestries.
Before going inside, Agamemnon asks the women to escort Cassandra inside. He explains that she did not choose her new life as his slave but she was given to him as a gift from the Greek soldiers. He takes his first step, but then pauses.
Clytemnestra gives him one last push of encouragement to make his way to the palace. She speaks of wealth and legacy, how great this king is — you name it, she pulls it out of the bag — and only then does Agamemnon to continue walk to the front door along the tapestries.
When Agamemnon steps over the threshold and into the palace, the women roll up the tapestries and follow him inside. Clytemnestra finishes her speech by saying a prayer to Zeus, asking the god to fulfil their prayers, and then enters the palace herself.
Cassandra’s prophecy
Left on stage is the Chorus. They pick up with a song to express that even though they have now seen that Agamemnon is home, they can’t seem to shake the bad feeling in their mind. They describe a terror within them that something is just not right. The men go on to question fate and how one man’s fate controls the next — specifically mentioning how when a man dies, not even Zeus can bring him back.
However, the Chorus are not alone on stage. If you recall, Cassandra had not gone inside despite Agamemnon asking for someone to escort the Trojan in doors. She has remained in the chariot while all of this is going on.
And so now Clytemnestra comes back on stage to retrieve Cassandra. The Queen goes to her and beckons her inside. Cassandra, however, remains impassive. The Chorus leader even gets involved, saying (something like) “HELLO, SHE’S TALKING TO YOU??” and Clytemnestra follows up with (something along the lines of) “Did I stutter before???” This back and forth continues until Clytemnestra has had enough and tells Cassandra that she must get used to taking orders. The Queen goes into the palace leaving the Chorus with an unresponsive Cassandra … again.
The Chorus Leader is more gentle with Cassandra, expressing that he takes pity on her while simultaneously encouraging her to get out of the chariot.
Cassandra then speaks for the first time. Well, she doesn’t so much speak as she does yell at Apollo at the top of her lungs. Just the word Apollo — nothing more, nothing less.
The Chorus Leader is obviously confused and questions Cassandra. Instead of answering, Cassandra calls out to Apollo once more. Once more the Leader questions her. Before answering, Cassandra finally steps from the chariot and looks towards the roof of the palace. For a third time she calls out to Apollo, but this time labels him her destroyer. Interested by the new verbal skills, the Leader tries to get Cassandra to elaborate on what exactly Apollo has to do with anything at hand. But Cassandra ignores him, asking Apollo where he has led her. Fortunately, the Leader is there to be like “The house of Atreus… heeello?” (not an exact quote*) and this response causes Cassandra to FREAK. OUT.
Cassandra says (something similar to): “I am not going in there, that house is CURSED”. She goes on to explain not only the history of the curse on the household but also what is going to happen inside that house now that she and Agamemnon have returned. The whole time she gives her prophecy the Leader is dropping in lines like “This b!tch is lost” (not an exact quote, though I wish it was*). Cassandra ends her speech by questioning why she has been led there if not for her to die alongside Agamemnon at the hands of his wife. To convince the choral leader that she’s not crazy, she tells him of the history of the house of Atreus and how the Furies cling to the family.
The Leader is SHOCKED by this. Before he can reply, Cassandra yells again to Apollo again.
Before letting the Leader or the Chorus reply, Cassandra explains that she has history with Apollo (which is why she is constantly trying to get his attention in this scene). She says that Apollo came to her and gave her the gift of prophecy in exchange for some sexy time. Right before the deed was done, Cassandra says that she recoiled from the god, told him to stop and explicitly said no. Because she said no, Apollo just walked away (no fight, seemingly, was involved) BUT when she went to go and tell the Trojans of the grief to come, no one believed her. THAT’S when she realised that although Apollo had seemed to respect her, he had plotted a much greater punishment.
In response, the Leader tells Cassandra that he and the rest of the chorus believe her story.
Cassandra then turns to them and bluntly tells the Chorus that they will soon see Agamemnon dead. The Leader does not like the sound of this and asks what man is plotting such a thing, to which Cassandra corrects him: “Man??? Have you not been listening to me??? SHE will kill him and SHE will kill me!” (not an exact quote but basically what it says*).
Cassandra knows that it is her time to die. She finally approaches the doors to the palace and prays that her death comes to her in one clean stroke.
The Leader speaks before she can go inside, asking how she can willingly walk to her death in such a calm manner. Cassandra simply says that there is no escape now and that her time has come. She reaches out for the handles on the doors to go inside, but recoils.
This is probably one of the most heartbreaking moments in all of tragic theatre. When Cassandra recoils, the Leader asks what stops her from entering the palace. Cassandra replies “The house breathes with murder”. When the Leader tries to comfort her, Cassandra simply says “I know the odour. I smell the open grave”. She does say a bit more after this, but what you need to know is that she now turns to go into the palace and face her death. The doors shut behind her.
The Murder
The Chorus is now alone on stage. As they sing, a cry breaks out from within the palace. We hear Agamemnon scream that he has been stabbed (side note — I love that he’s stabbed and yet has enough breath to scream that he has, in fact, been stabbed).
The Leader tells the chorus to listen, pointing towards the palace. In the silence, Agamemnon yells out again, exclaiming that he has been struck a second time.
The Leader instructs the chorus to stick together and find a way out now that the deed has been done. The Chorus scatter and sing about their disbelief. One of the chorus members rushes to the doors of the palace and throws them open, revealing the bodies of Agamemnon and Cassandra in bloody robes. Next to them stands Clytemnestra, holding a bloody sword.
Clytemnestra rushes towards the Chorus and says that now is her time to tell the truth. She says that she has brooded on this plan for YEARS and now she feels like her pain can be put to rest. She takes Agamemnon’s robes and lays them before the altar, telling the Chorus that stabbed him 3 times — twice to get him on the ground, and once to finish him off.
Hearing this, the chorus is appalled by her behaviour. The Leader condemns Clytemnestra for what she has done … not that this bothers the Queen whatsoever. No, she retorts that her killing of Agamemnon is a “masterpiece of justice”.
When the Chorus try to tell her she has done a horrible crime which should result in her exile, Clytemnestra says (something like) “You sentence me? How can you sentence me but never sentence him! Not even when he was willing to sacrifice his own daughter like an animal! For that alone you should have BANISHED him!”
The Chorus call her mad, saying that she will lose EVERYTHING now that she has done this (sort of like a “Karma’s a b!tch” vibe here). Clytemnestra scoffs and says that she’s happy Agamemnon is dead because he brutalised her and brought back his spoil of war (Cassandra) so really, he deserves it. The Queen announces that she will live in comfort with Aegisthus at her side since he is always loyal to her.
The Chorus look up to the gods and ask the divine to strike them down, stating that since their King is dead, it is only right for them to follow suit. They take the chance to blame Helen, claiming that she guided so many men to death on the battlefield and now she has also brought Agamemnon to his grave. In response, Clytemnestra says that they should not turn their wrath on Helen.
While the Chorus continue to wail for their late King, Clytemnestra comes in with “You claim this is all my doing but this is a cursed house that lives in me and this family line!” (not an exact quote*). The Chorus is like SO YOU’RE CLAIMING INNOCENCE??? And Clytemnestra says that now, basically, after what Agamemnon did to Iphigenia, they are equal: a death for a death, act for act, wound for wound. So even though she’s not innocent, justice has been served. The Chorus ask how Clytemnestra can live with herself now she has killed her husband. She replies and says that no one living in her house will mourn Agamemnon and that only Iphigenia will rush to meet him in the underworld, fling her arms around him and pierce him with her love.
Aegisthus shows up
As they continue to fight, Aegisthus appears with his bodyguards and stands over the body of Agamemnon.
Aegithus explains to us why he hates Agamemnon: Atreus (Agamemnon’s dad) and Thyestes (Aegisthus’ dad) are brothers. Once upon a time, Atreus had sentenced Thyestes to a life of exile (with the baby Aegisthus) when he became King. A few years later, he lured Thyestes back in as a guest, making his brother a meal fit for the gods. Long story short, Atreus had cooked up one of Thyestes’ children and served it to him. Thyestes had realised this too late, vomited everything up and then cursed Atreus. And so, Aegisthus says that it’s because of this backstory that he helped in plotting the killing of Agamemnon.
The Chorus Leader exclaims that he’s shocked Aegisthus could do this in cold blood, telling him that he will have to bear the consequences of his actions.
However, Aegisthus doesn’t really care. He states that he’s now their King and will use his position (and Agamemnon’s money) to rule the land and civilise Agamemnon’s people.
In response to this, the Chorus ask Aegisthus if it was he who delivered the killing blow to Agamemnon. Aegisthus denies this, stating that the work was clearly done by a woman.
This TOTALLY backfires on Aegisthus. The Chorus are like “Whoa you coward — couldn't even kill the guy yourself??” (or something along that line). The Chorus continue to call him out and say that if Orestes (Agamemnon’s son) still lives, he should be brought home by fate to kill both Aegisthus and Clytemnestra for their wrongdoing.
Aegisthus does not like the sound of this and so demands that his men take out their swords and rush at the Chorus. The Chorus Leader does not back down from Aegisthus and his armed men, so Clytemnestra steps in between them to restrain Aegisthus.
Clytmnestra states that there will be no more bloodshed and tells the Chorus to go home.
As Clytemnestra turns to leave, Aegisthus calls the Chorus “dogs” and criticises them for abusing their new “master”. Aegisthus and the Leader have a bit of a back and forth with the chorus saying they’re counting on Orestes coming home and Aegisthus telling them that they’ll pay for being so rude.
The play ends with Clytemnestra telling Aegisthus to knock it off as the pair of them have the power now, stating that they need to put their house in order once and for all.
They enter the palace and the doors close behind them. The old men wander off stage.
Watch Here:
Listen Here: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/moan-inc
Image Link: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/252961
Terracotta lekythos (oil flask)
Greek, Attic. Late 4th century BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 171
”Telephos, king of Mysia, was wounded by the Greek hero Achilles during the Greeks' first offensive against Troy. The Delphic oracle told Telephos that he could be healed only by the offending weapon. In an attempt to secure Achilles' help, he sought out Orestes, the young son of Agamemnon, and threatened to kill him. Achilles finally heeded Telephos' entreaties and furnished scrapings of his spear that healed the festering wound.
The story of Telephos was the subject of a play by Euripides performed in 438 B.C. This lekythos is one of several vases inspired by the drama. Here Clytemnestra pleads for her child.
This vase is as noteworthy for the rare scene as for the rendering in low relief.” (Copied from the Met Museum Website).