Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra (klī'təmnĕs`trə), in Greek mythology, the daughter of Leda and Tyndareus. Homer described her as the noble-minded wife of Agamemnon, persuaded to infidelity by the tyrant Aegisthus. However, the Greek tragedians, most specifically Aeschylus, depicted her as remorseless and vengeful. She was the mother by Agamemnon of Orestes, Electra, and Iphigenia. She conspired with Aegisthus to murder Agamemnon on his return from the Trojan War, giving various justifications, most notably the sacrifice of Iphigenia by Agamemnon at the onset of the war. Orestes, who had been living in exile, returned and revenged the death of his father by killing his mother and Aegisthus.

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Clytemnestra

takes Aegisthus as paramour. [Gk. Lit.: Orestes]

See : Adultery

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Clytemnestra

in ancient Greek mythology, the daughter of the king of Sparta, Tyndareus, and the sister of Helen of Troy. She was given in marriage to Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae (or Argos), who led the Greek forces in the Trojan campaign. During Agamemnon’s absence, Clytemnestra committed adultery with his cousin Aegisthus. She murdered her husband upon his return. Clytemnestra and Aegisthus were in turn slain by Clytemnestra’s own son, Orestes, to avenge his father’s death. The fate of Clytemnestra is the subject of tragedies by Aeschylus (the trilogy Oresteia), Sophocles (Electra), and Euripides (Electra).