Taking place in Argos, Agamemnon is one of the many Greek tragedies that thematically displays the male ego, and the senseless need of power that often feeds it. After victoriously overthrowing Priam, former King of Troy and now preoccupying it’s land under Greece’s rule, King Agamemnon finally sets back home to his awaiting subjects. Agamemnon presents himself as a powerful yet noble ruler, willing to sacrifice those closest to him in order to ensure prosperity during his battle. In fact, the chorus, which is made up of the old men of Argos, recall the tale of the battle of Troy, revealing that Agamemnon sacrificed his own daughter Iphigenia to the God Artemis. Divine intervention was a common trope in early Greek literature, usually regarding a crucial decision that often solidifies a character’s fate. Agamemnon believed that the familial sacrifice of his only daughter would please Artemis, ultimately earning a favorable position in the war. Although the war was won, the selfish disposal and complete disregard of his daughter’s life would soon repel back onto him in the most unfortunate turn of events.

Described as the protagonist of Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon embodies the internal scorn of a woman constantly neglected by a ruthless patriarchal society. Torn by the absence of her bereaved daughter, Clytemnestra buried a deep resentment for Agamemnon, which slowly revealed itself throughout the play. Although plagued by grief, Clytemnestra exercised her noble duty and oversaw the kingdom of Argon in Agamemnon’s absence, even warmly welcoming Agamemnon in his return.Clytemnestra even presents a carpet of purple robes placed out in front of him in as he enters the palace, to which he rejects coldly. Even after a compromising victory, Agamemnon condemns Clytemnestra’s celebratory welcome, believing that its boastful nature is not acceptable for a king of his caliber. Convinced to walk through the kingdom, he gives no praises to Clytemnestra, instead advising her to make his concubine, Cassandra, welcome.

Like Clytemnestra, Cassandra is a woman disregarded by nearly every character within the play, cursed to bear the tragic prophecy that is bound to await the entire kingdom of Argon. When introduced to Clytemnestra, Cassandra’s unresponsive demeanor angers her, leaving Cassandra to her own devices. It is later revealed that her silence is merely grief, as she details the curse that the God Apollo has inflicted upon her. Throughout the Agamemnon , the chorus emphasizes this impending sense of doom that intensifies as the play goes on. Despite Cassandra being characterized merely a helpless prisoner of war, she eerily pieces together the looming suspense which grew upon each scene. Cassandra not only confesses her prophetic ability to receive visions of her and Agamemnon’s demise, but also of the unlikely but vengeful culprit. Not even under the suspicion that their killer could be a woman, one chorus member states,”Who is the man who’s planning this atrocity?”,(Taplin, pg 78). Even when the chorus finds that it was in fact Clytemnestra herself who slayed both Agamemnon and Cassandra with a sword to avenge her daughter’s murder, she was altogether brought with confusion, dismissal, and disgust.

Although the actions of Clytemnestra and her lover could be seen as debatable on the sense of a moral high ground, what is known is that her role as wife and noble figure to the kingdom overshadowed her humanity as a woman with individual dreams and values. The same could be said for Cassandra and Iphigenia, whose fates were ultimately stripped clean by the hands of men who possessed arrogant motives. The image which is shown above visualizes the internal agony of a woman being disregarded of her individualism, having to be stripped down and seen as a subordinate member of society. Despite many women being given a suppressed role in Greek tragedies, their stories provide a cautionary tale on what could occur when a woman is forsaken.