Agamemnon (Troy)

"I will smash their walls to the ground, if it costs me 40,000 Greeks! Hear me, Zeus! I will smash their walls to the ground!!"

- Agamemnon

Agamemnon is the king of Mycenae and an antagonist of the film Troy, which is based loosely on The Illiad.

He is portrayed by Brian Cox who also portrayed William Stryker from X2: X-Men United and John Landon from Rise of the Planet of the Apes, along with portraying Hermann Goering in the 2000 film "Nuremberg".

History
Through several wars, Agamemnon brings all the kingdoms of Greece under his control, with his younger brother Menelaos ruling Sparta. His best soldier is Achilles, the prince of the Myrmidons, but the two completely despise one another, and Achilles would only fight for Agamemnon because one of the latter's generals would appeal to his conscience. Agamemnon finally manages to conquer the last independent Greek kingdom, Thessaly, with the reluctant help of Achilles, though the young warrior expresses open contempt for the power-hungry king before and after winning a fight with the Thessalonians' best soldier, Boagrius.

When Menelaos's wife, Helen, flees to the kingdom of Troy with its prince, Paris, the very day after a peace had been reached between Sparta and Troy (which Agamemnon objected to) the outraged Menelaos approaches Agamemnon and asks his brother to help him destroy the city. Agamemnon, having wanted to conquer Troy for some time, agrees, but is forced to bring Achilles and his men along, knowing that he cannot win the war without them; knowing that Achilles detests him, Agamemnon sends Odysseus, king of Ithaca, to recruit the seemingly invincible Greek, with Odysseus succeeding by appealing to Achilles' ego. After Achilles and his men storm the beach of Troy, Agamemnon claims credit for the victory and unfairly takes Briseis, a priestess and member of the Trojan Royal Family, as his prize, causing Achilles, who had become attracted to Briseis, to withdraw his support and watch from the sidelines.

The next day, Agamemnon gathers his forces and offers to spare the city of Troy if they swear allegiance to him and return Helen to Menelaos. His offer is refused, and Paris steps forward and suggests that he and Menelaos settle their conflict for Helen in one-on-one combat. This offer is initially refused by Agamemnon, but Menelaos--who is obsessed with killing Paris--convinces him to accept it by promising that Agamemnon can attack and conquer Troy regardless of the battle's outcome. Menelaos easily dominates the fight while Agamemnon watches in amusement, but just as Paris is about to be killed, Hector (Paris's older brother and leader of the Trojan army) steps forward and kills Menelaos. Outraged, Agamemnon orders his army to charge, but the Trojans push them back, and Odysseus convinces Agamemnon to retreat.

After conducting his brother's funeral (and promising, in the director's cut version of the film, to avenge his death), Agamemnon is urged by his generals to return home, but he is now more determined than ever to conquer Troy. He gives Briseis to his men (having never laid a finger on her himself)--thereby crossing the Moral Event Horizon--and asks Odysseus to persuade Achilles to fight for him again. Briseis is rescued by Achilles before the men can rape her, and Odysseus ultimately fails to convince Achilles to fight. After Achilles' beloved cousin Patrochlus is killed by Hector, Achilles vows revenge; during Patrochlus' funeral, Agamemnon smugly comments "that boy's just saved this war for us", knowing that Achilles will now fight for him (albeit indirectly) again.

Achilles slays Hector in battle, but later returns his body (and Briseis) to the Trojans at the behest of Priam, the Trojan king. Agamemnon is enraged that he will have to honor Achilles' promise of a twelve-day armistice so that Hector's funeral can be conducted, vehemently declaring that he will smash Troy's walls to the ground, "even if it costs [him] 40,000 Greeks!" Odysseus, wanting to reduce casualties, comes up with a plan to infiltrate the Trojan wall by building a large wooden horse (from the spare Greek ships) that will secretly be filled with Greek soldiers. Agamemnon agrees with the plan, describing it as a way "to make the sheep invite the wolves to dinner."

Twelve days later, the horse is left behind while the remaining Greek fleet hides in a cove. Despite Paris's misgivings, the horse is brought into the city by the Trojans, believing that the Greeks have fled. A Trojan horseman discovers the fleet, but is killed before he can warn the Trojans. That night, the concealed soldiers emerge from the horse and open the gate for the rest of the Greek army. The Greeks storm the city and proceed to burn it. Agamemnon takes great delight in the carnage, loudly encouraging his men to burn the city to the ground. He kills Priam by impaling him with a spear, then assaults Briseis and declares his intention of making her his slave and that he will rape her every night. However, Briseis stabs him in the neck with a concealed knife, killing him.

Personality
Agamemnon is an arrogant, power-hungry man whose favorite hobbies are bolstering his own status and antagonizing his strongest warrior, Achilles, with whom he shares a mutual antipathy. He is also lecherous and sadistic, taking great delight when his men successfully stormed Troy and burned it and shouting at them to heighten the carnage; he planned to make Briseis his slave in Mycenae, where she would "scrub [his] floors" during the day, and be raped at night.

Despite his arrogant and selfish nature, Agamemnon is not above listening to his generals when he knows they are right about something, and he (albeit begrudgingly) acknowledges Achilles as the greatest fighter in his army. He also seems to care somewhat about his younger brother Menelaos, reacting with outrage at the latter's death and personally conducting his funeral.