Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra was a character in Greek mythology. She was the wife of Agamemnon, King of Mycenae.

Clytemnestra was the daughter of Tyndareus and Leda, the King and Queen of Sparta. Through the god Zeus, Leda was also the mother of Helen of Troy.

Clytemnestra married Agamemnon while he and his brother Menelaus, who married Helen of Troy, were at the home of Tyndareus. From this marriage Clytemnestra would bear three children: two daughters, Iphigenia and Electra, and a son, Orestes. (In some versions, Agamemnon was actually Clytemnestra's second husband, her first being Tantalus.)

During the Trojan War, Clytemnestra's sister Helen is kidnapped and taken to Troy. Menelaus asked Agamemnon to help him recover Helen. The winds to take the ships to Troy were weak, so it was decided that Agamemnon and Clytemnestra's daughter Iphigenia be sacrificed to the goddess Artemis to create strong winds. Iphigenia was told that she was going to Aulis to marry Achilles. But in the end, Iphigenia was sacrificed and the troops set sail for Troy. As a result, Clytemnestra grieved for her dead daughter.

During the ten years of the Trojan War, Agamemnon was absent. Clytemnestra took a lover, Aegisthus (the cousin of her husband), To avenge the death of Iphigenia, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus conspired to kill Agamemnon.

Agamemnon eventually returns to Troy, with the Trojan princess Cassandra as his beloved. Clytemnestra greeted her husband and invited him inside for a banquet. When Agamemnon bathes, Clytemnestra responds by entangling him in a cloth net and stabbing him.

After murdering Agamemnon, Clytemnestra marries Aegisthus. Aegisthus becomes King of Mycenae. Clytemnestra then disowns her children - Electra and Orestes are thrown out of Mycenae,

Eventually, Orestes and Electra reunite and return to Mycenae. There they plot to avenge their father's death by murdering Clytemnestra. Orestes and his friend Pylades enter the palace of Mycenae, pretending to be travelers bringing news of Orestes' death. Clytemnestra is delighted at this. Clytemnestra sends for Aegisthus, but then Orestes reveals himself and kills Aegisthus. Clytemnestra tries to prevent Orestes from killing her, but he proceeds to kill her. Orestes proceeds to leave.

Once Orestes leaves the palace, the Furies torment him, causing him to flee.