Agamemnon
heroAgamemnon led the Greek coalition against Troy but was murdered upon return by his wife Clytemnestra.
The Myth
King of Mycenae and brother of Menelaus, Agamemnon commanded the Greek alliance against Troy after Paris abducted Helen. At Aulis, Artemis becalmed the fleet, and Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia for winds. He quarrelled bitterly with Achilles over Briseis, nearly costing the war. After ten years he returned triumphant, but his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus murdered him in his bath. Apollo commanded his son Orestes to avenge him, and Athena's court in Athens finally broke the cycle of bloodshed that cursed the house of Atreus.
Parents
Atreus and Aerope
Symbols
Fun Fact
Schliemann's gold mask is centuries older than any historical Agamemnon.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Clytemnestra
heroClytemnestra murdered Agamemnon on his return from Troy, driven by rage over Iphigenia's sacrifice.
Achilles
heroThe greatest warrior in the Greek army at Troy, nearly invulnerable thanks to being dipped in the...
Achilles (Wrath)
heroThe swift-footed son of Peleus and Thetis whose wrath drives the Iliad and whose choice between...
Electra
heroDaughter of Agamemnon who plotted with her brother Orestes to avenge their father's murder by...
Helen
heroThe most beautiful woman in the world, daughter of Zeus. Her elopement with Paris of Troy triggered...
Helen of Troy
heroHelen was the most beautiful woman in the world, daughter of Zeus and Leda, whose abduction by...
Iphigenia
heroIphigenia was Agamemnon's eldest daughter, sacrificed at Aulis to gain winds for Troy — or rescued...
Menelaus
heroMenelaus was the king of Sparta whose stolen wife Helen was the cause of the Trojan War — yet he...
Orestes
heroOrestes killed his mother to avenge his father — then was acquitted by Athena's court.
Aegisthus
heroSon of Thyestes who murdered Agamemnon to avenge his father, ruling Mycenae with Clytemnestra for...
Atreus
heroKing of Mycenae who murdered his nephews and fed them to his brother Thyestes, establishing the...
Briseis
heroBriseis was the captive woman taken from Achilles by Agamemnon — the cause of Achilles' wrath that...