Clytemnestra

viewed in Greek society as tools for the needs of men, and they also represent warfare’s effect on women. Clytemnestra subverts this stereotypical Greek role for women. While Iphigenia and Cassandra represent the norm, Clytemnestra represents an alternative possibility for a woman, thus upsetting the male-female power dynamic of Greek society. Iphigenia is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. She should be of primary importance to both of her parents. However, this is not the case.…

men and deceive the characters in the epic through disguises. The most destructive women in The Odyssey are Athena, Zeus’ daughter, and Clytemnestra, Agememnon’s wife. Although Athena appears to guide Telemachus in finding his father, Odysseus, return, we later discover that she had the desire for a battle where many of the suitors die. Additionally, Clytemnestra betrays Agememnon by “…schem[ing] [his] death while [he was] world’s away” (Homer 1997: 263). Furthermore, in Hippolytus, women…

Double standards are seen in mythology, but also in today's society. What is a double standard and is it fair that Clytemnestra was not allowed to do something that Agamemnon could? The definition of a double standard according to Webster dictionary is a situation in which two people, groups, etc., are treated very differently from each other in a way that is inequitable to one of them. This situation could be like the mythology story where a woman couldn’t do the same thing as a man because…

sacrifice is encouraged. Agamemnon did not have a real motive to kill his own daughter, he loved her. This makes it evident that he truly believed that he did the right thing in taking his daughter’s life; he did not abuse the will of the gods as Clytemnestra and Aegisthus…

The ending of Sophocles' Electra is perhaps one of the most interesting endings of the Greek tragic plays, as it is incredibly dramatic yet at the same time somewhat anticlimactic. The play ends fittingly dramatically with murder, although it never actually occurs on stage; thus, the anticlimax. Although Electra is a Greek tragedy, it does not end in utterly tragic circumstance, nor does it finish in a blaze of glory. The ending is generally interpreted in one of two ways; 'light' or 'dark',…

culture from myths. We will examine Greek culture on how the women were given specific rules to live by. How males had to obey the gods and were punished if they did not, according to myths. Some of the main characters we will observe are, Hercules, Clytemnestra, Pelops and other mythological characters on the “how” they are to behave, according to Greek myths and the divine laws, values, and morals that connect and disconnect with culture norms. The myths I will be pulling are from, The…

Aeschylus’ Agamemnon introduces the audience to Clytemnestra early on, eagerly plotting the murder of her husband Agamemnon. Clytemnestra’s motivations are more closely tied to expected qualities of a woman, as she acts in revenge of her daughter Ipathegeneia’s sacrifice but that does not make this desire feminine. Seeking revenge itself is characterized as being bloodthirsty and vengeful, which are two traits a woman is not supposed to possess but here Clytemnestra does. The male dominance is…

mortal. Agamemnon’s reversal of fortune is soon after his return from victory at war. He is on a high note after a victory, only to be soon killed by his own wife Clytemnestra. I do not notice a specific point in time when he realizes this reversal though. His death is also too cruel for what he did. Agamemnon was in the bathtub when Clytemnestra threw a net on him and hit him with an axe three times. With these examples, it is completely possible to consider Agamemnon a tragic hero. A…

Women of the Odyssey Throughout the Odyssey women are viewed in a myriad of ways; however, a common thread is woven into the epic. Women are seen as subordinate to men. Goddesses obey the gods, and mortal women kneel before their male counterparts. Suffering places itself upon women who disobey men. Females who allow men to control them are regarded with higher esteem than those who transgress the beliefs of men. At a glance it may appear that women are inferior to men; however, with deeper…

instance, if they committed a murder, they would be drowning in a river of blood. If someone was gluttonous, they would be tortured with uncomfortable sensory elements. Three women in history that are well known within the lore of Greek mythology; Clytemnestra from Aeschylus’s play Agamemnon, Myrrha from Ovid’s Book of Metamorphosis,…