Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon on his return from Troy, driven by rage over Iphigenia's sacrifice.
The Legend of Clytemnestra
Wife of Agamemnon and sister of Helen, Clytemnestra never forgave the sacrifice of her daughter Iphigenia at Aulis, where Artemis had demanded blood for winds to Troy. For ten years she planned, taking Aegisthus as lover and co-conspirator. When Agamemnon returned from Troy with the prophetess Cassandra, Clytemnestra welcomed him with a purple carpet, drew a bath, and murdered him. She ruled Mycenae until her son Orestes, commanded by Apollo and acquitted by Athena, killed her in turn — the climactic act of the cursed house of Atreus.
Parents
Tyndareus and Leda
Symbols
Fun Fact
One of the first fully realised female characters in Western drama.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Agamemnon
🗡 heroKing of Mycenae
Agamemnon led the Greek coalition against Troy but was murdered upon return by his wife Clytemnestra.
Electra
🗡 heroAvenger of Agamemnon
Daughter of Agamemnon who plotted with her brother Orestes to avenge their father's murder by killing their mother Clytemnestra.
Orestes
🗡 heroAvenger of Agamemnon
Orestes killed his mother to avenge his father — then was acquitted by Athena's court.
Haemon
🗡 heroNone recorded
Son of Creon and fiancé of Antigone who died beside her in defiance of his father
Megara
🗡 heroNone recorded
First wife of Heracles, given to him as a reward and later killed in his madness
Iphigenia
🗡 heroPrincess sacrificed for the Trojan War
Iphigenia was Agamemnon's eldest daughter, sacrificed at Aulis to gain winds for Troy — or rescued at the last moment by Artemis and whisked to Tauris.
Aegisthus
🗡 herovengeance
Son of Thyestes who murdered Agamemnon to avenge his father, ruling Mycenae with Clytemnestra for seven years.
Hecuba
🗡 herovengeance
Queen of Troy who survived the fall, witnessed the sacrifice of Polyxena, and took savage revenge on the man who murdered her son Polydorus.
Alcmaeon
🗡 herovengeance
Son of Amphiaraus who killed his own mother Eriphyle on his father's orders and was driven mad by the Erinyes.
Creon
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Thebes who ruled after Oedipus and decreed death for Antigone
Atreus
🗡 herovengeance
King of Mycenae who murdered his nephews and fed them to his brother Thyestes, establishing the bloodiest family curse in myth.
Eriphyle
🗡 herobetrayal
Wife of Amphiaraus who twice accepted bribes to send her male relatives to their deaths in war.