Chrysothemis
Obedient daughter of Agamemnon who accepted her mother's rule where Electra rebelled
The Legend of Chrysothemis
Chrysothemis was a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, sister to Electra, Iphigenia, and Orestes. In Sophocles' Electra, she serves as a foil to her fierce sister. Where Electra mourned their father's murder openly and plotted revenge, Chrysothemis counselled submission and pragmatism. She argued that they were powerless women who could not challenge Aegisthus and Clytemnestra's authority, and that open defiance would only bring suffering. When Electra asked her to help place offerings on Agamemnon's tomb, Chrysothemis agreed reluctantly but drew the line at active rebellion. She reported a hopeful dream of Clytemnestra's — that Agamemnon's sceptre had taken root and overshadowed the land — which hinted at coming retribution.
Parents
Agamemnon and Clytemnestra
Symbols
Fun Fact
Her name means "golden law," an ironic fit for a character defined by obedience to an unjust regime
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🗡 heroNone recorded
Daughter of Oedipus and sister of Antigone, cautious where Antigone was defiant
Haemon
🗡 heroNone recorded
Son of Creon and fiancé of Antigone who died beside her in defiance of his father
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🗡 heroAvenger of Agamemnon
Daughter of Agamemnon who plotted with her brother Orestes to avenge their father's murder by killing their mother Clytemnestra.
Agraulos
🗡 heroNone recorded
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Clytemnestra
🗡 heroQueen who murdered Agamemnon
Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon on his return from Troy, driven by rage over Iphigenia's sacrifice.
Macaria
🗡 heroSelf-Sacrifice, Female Heroism, Heraclidae
Daughter of Heracles who voluntarily sacrificed herself so that the Heraclidae could defeat Eurystheus.
Creon
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Thebes who ruled after Oedipus and decreed death for Antigone
Medea
🗡 heroSorceress princess of Colchis
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Althaea
🗡 heroNone recorded
Queen of Calydon and mother of Meleager who killed her own son by burning the magical brand that the Fates had tied to his life at birth
Cassiopeia
🗡 heroQueen whose vanity endangered her daughter
Cassiopeia was the queen who boasted her beauty exceeded the sea nymphs — provoking Poseidon to demand her daughter Andromeda as sacrifice.
Hypermnestra
🗡 heromercy
The only one of the fifty Danaids who refused to murder her husband Lynceus on their wedding night.
Chryseis
🗡 heroCaptive who caused the quarrel of the Iliad
Chryseis was the priest's daughter whose captivity by Agamemnon and forced return sparked the quarrel with Achilles that drives the entire Iliad.