The Iliad
by Homer

The epic that launched a thousand stories. A pillar of the fantasy genre.

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"Her 'Father, Father,' her sad cry that lingered,

Her virgin heart's breath they held all as naught,

Those bronze-clad witnesses and battle-hungered;

And there they prayed, and when the prayer was wrought

He charged the young men to uplift and bind her,

As ye lift a wild kid, high above the altar,

Fierce-huddling forward, fallen, clinging sore

To the robe that wrapt her; yea, he bids them hinder

The sweet mouth's utterance, the cries that falter,

His curse for evermore!" from Agamemnon by Aeschylus

The classic Greek tragedy Agamemnon by Aeschylus would have been more accurately titled Clytemnestra because the play is about her vengeance upon her husband, the famous king of ancient Greece , Agamemnon. He led the vast hosts of Greek armies against Troy to support his brother Menelaus, whose wife Helen ran off with Paris, Prince of Troy. When this play opens Agamemnon is about to return from his decade-long campaign against Troy that has fallen to his might, but his glorious victory only seems to please his wife, Clytemnestra, who greets him with false enthusiasm. In truth, she has never forgiven him for the ritual sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia at the onset of the Trojan War. Agamemnon killed his own daughter as an offering to the Gods so that his fleet could gain favorable winds to sail against Troy . For Clytemnestra to forgive this murder of her daughter is naturally impossible. This crime at the roots of the Trojan War serves as a symbol of the brutality toward innocents that occurs in all wars. The glory of victory and its associated spoils are drained of value by suffering and death, especially of women and children.

Speaking of spoils, Clytemnestra also has another reason to be displeased with her husband. He has brought home as his concubine the accursed prophetess of Troy , Cassandra. This enslaved lover knows that she will face the wrath of Clytemnestra, but her curse is that no one will listen to her, so she resigns herself to her fate.

In Agamemnon you will find an ancient work that is easily appreciated by the modern audience. The language is beautifully translated and powerful in its meaning. The two-faced performance of Clytemnestra is compelling and the arrogant confidence of Agamemnon who returns home to the woman whose daughter he killed without any concern for her reaction shows how a king can be blinded by his success. As the Greek Chorus says in this play about pride:

"For visibly Pride doth breed its own return

On prideful men, who, when their houses swell

With happy wealth, breathe ever wrath and blood."

For a dramatic examination of vengeance and justice, select the Greek tragedy Agamemnon by Aeschylus, available in DRM-free ebook formats.