Agamemnon was one of the most distinguished Greek heroes who participated in the Trojan War
The Mask of Agamemnon, Mycenean golden death mask (1550-1500 BC).
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Agamemnon was the King of Mycenae and leader of the Greek forces at Troy. Agamemnon is mostly mentioned in Aeschylus’ play, "Agamemnon" and in Homer’s epos, the "Iliad".
Agamemnon was the son of the King Atreus, who got dethroned and murdered by his brother, Aegisthus. During this period, Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus were taking refuge with Tyndareus, king of Sparta. Agamemnon wanted Tyndareus’ daughter Clytemnestra for his wife and therefore killed her first husband and child. He then married Clytemnestra and Menelaus married Clytemnestra’s half sister, Helen.
Agamemnon and Clytemnestra had four children: Iphigenia, Electra, Chrysothemis and Orestes. In order to appease Artemis to calm the wings of the Greek sails and make them arrive safely in Troy, Agamemnon was told by the prophet Calchas to sacrifice his eldest daughter Iphigenia to Artemis. Agamemnon finally consented and Iphigenia was brought to Aulis,an ancient Greek town in Boeotia, in order to be sacrificed. In the end, however, Artemis decided to rescue Iphigenia and carried her away, placing a deer in her place.
Clytemnestra never forgave Agamemnon for sacrificing their daughter and by the time Agamemnon was fighting in the Trojan War, she fell for Agamemnon’s cousin, Aegisthus.
When he returned from Troy, Agamemnon took his mistress Cassandra with him. This made Clytemnestra even more angry and she slay both Agamemnon and Cassandra with an axe. Aegisthus was Clytemnestra‘s accomplice but was later on killed in revenge by Clytemnestra's son, Orestes.
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