Sketch The character of Clytemnestra in the Play “Agamemnon” by Aeschylus

In Aeschylus’ tragedy “Agamemnon”, the character of Clytemnestra is portrayed as strong willed women. Clytemnestra, the queen of Argos, the wife of the king Agamemnon,the daughter of Leda  and the half sister of Helen. 

She is very different from the typical women of her time and portrayed as a mixer of strength and weakness.  


As a result, the reader must take a deeper look into the understanding of Clytemnestra. 

In Agamemnon, she dominates the action.

She is one of the central character of the play  “Agamemnon” by Aeschylus (525?-456 bc), an ancient Greek dramatist.  She rules Argos in his absence of her husband. 

Critics have often compared Clytemnestra with Lady Macbeth. But this comparison is not apt. Clytemnestra had no remorse for what she had done.

She kills her husband Agamemnon to take revenge on him for his sacrifices of her daughter Iphigenia. She is, a sympathetic character in many respects, but the righteousness of her crime is tainted by her entanglement with Aegisthus. Now we will take a deeper look into the understanding of Clytemnestra.

Clytemnestra’s most important characteristic is her male strength of heart. As the Elders of Argos, the Chorus comments: 

“Madam, yours words are like a man’s, both wise and kind.”

She is a strong woman, and her strength is evident on many occasions is the play. She after her murder of her husband, Agamemnon, and his concubine, Cassandra, remains fearless. 

She is a skilled orator and hides her deadlyplane of killing her husband with her public statements about how much she loves her husband. Her emotional words are full of hypocrisy. Asshe displays: 

She wants him to walk on rich purple tapestries in hopes that this would anger the gods and they will aid her in his murder.

“Now, dearest husband, come, step from your chariot.

But do not set to earth, my lord, the conquering foot

That trod down Troy”

When Agamemnon primarily refuge to do this, Clytemnestrachallenges his manhood and valour. And thus she forces Agamemnon to bend to her will. As Agamemnon says: 

“Treading on purple I will go into my house.”

Thus Clytemnestra single-handedly plots to murderAgamemnonwhen he comes back to home after ten years and finally does. We, the audience, hear the scream of Agamemnon while Clytemnestra blows him the mortal strike:    

Clytemnestra adds that Zeus himself is using her as a divine tool to imply justice upon Agamemnon because of his father Atreus’s misdeed.

Clytemnestra with her cunning ways justifies this double murder by stating how her husband was unfaithful with many women:

Clytemnestra believes that she was in the will of the gods because she was seeking revenge not only for her sacrificed daughter, but also for Agamemnon's cousins, Aegisthus.

Moreover, the Chorus, Elders of  Argos, does not believe that Zeus has used Clytemnestra as a divine tool to exact justice against Agamemnon for killing Iphigenia or to punish him for Atreus' sins. Instead, they believe firmly that she is very wrong, and they pray for the day that Agamemnon's son Orestes will return and as a rule of "an eye for an eye", will kill his mother and Aegisthus to avenge his father's death:

“Oh, does Orestes live? Kind fortune, bring him home,To set against thee two his sword invincible!”

       

However, Cassandra compares Clytemnestra with “lioness in human form, who when her lord was absent paired with a wolf”.So this commentary proves her strength and boldness. 

We see some more of Clytemnestra's psychotic side in the debate with the Chorus that follows, but at the very end of the play she has calmed down and taken on a different role. First, she prevents Aegisthus from fighting the Chorus; then, she leads him inside and tells him that they will be joint rulers in Argos. 

“You and IJoint rulers, will enforce due reverence for our throne.”

Towards the end our discussion, we can say thatthe character of Clytemnestra becomes very interesting for her duality. She is very different and strong hearted woman and at the same time   she is a liar, a two-timer, and a murderer.

To conclude, Clytemnestra is perhaps the most fully drawn among the characters in Oresteian Trilogy. By presenting her with a motive and giving her the necessary speeches, she is at best a heroine in the heroic mode, who somehow out of personal grievance committed a crime that would affect civic matters.