Agamemnon

(Art by Stanisław Wyspiański)

**Agamemnon** was a king of Mycenae who fought in the Trojan War.

## Overview

The bloodline of Agamemnon is filled to the brim with violence and tragedy, all started by his ancestor, Tantalus, then later exasperated by a cursed placed on Tantalus's son Pelops. This generational curse would eventually end, however Agamemnon never made any efforts to reverse this malediction and only made it worse. Agamemnon is the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra and the father of Iphigenia, Electra, Orestes, and Chrysothemis. When Menelaus' wife, Helen, was taken to Troy by Paris, Agamemnon commanded the united Greek armed forces in the ensuing Trojan War.

## Appearance

He is described as being a large and powerful man, with a defined jawline, a strong beard and black hair.

## Personality

Agamemnon is an incredibly selfish and traitorous individual who would sacrifice everything but his own integrity to come out on top. Nothing else matters to him, not family, honor, allies, nothing, only that he keeps his upper hand. He is also a very careless person, often mocking for the immediate amusement rather than thinking about the damage it might cause.

Though he has been described as brave and noble, this is mere propaganda, and those who knew him would say so too.

## History

### Birth and Early life

Agamemnon was born from his father Atreus and his mother Aerope along with his brother Menelaus. Early on in his life, Agamemnon and Menelaus were forced to take refuge in Sparta after their father was killed from events unknown to them. The at the time king of Sparta, Tyndareus, allowed them to stay and they were married to the kings daughters, Menelaus to Helen and Agamemnon to Clytemnestra. With Clytemnestra, he fathered four children: Orestes, Iphigenia, Electra, and Chrysothemis. After Menelaus succeeded Tyndareus as king of Sparta, he helped Agamemnon drive Aegisthus and Thyestes out of once was their fathers kingdom, Mycenae. Agamemnon became king of Mycenae, and through his conquest he became one of the most powerful princes of Greece.

### Trojan War

During the Trojan War, Agamemnon was the commander-in-chief of the Greek forces, gathering them together to sail for Troy. Agamemnon makes it worse for his side immediately by killing an animal sacred to Artemis and claiming to be an equal to her in hunting. In response, Artemis sends plagues unto the Greeks and prevented the wind from occurring, stopping them from sailing. The prophet Calchas announced that all of this would end if Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia. While he was briefly reluctant to do so, he immediately started tricked her into being in a position for him to sacrifice her. This sacrifice appeased Artemis, and the Greek army finally set out for Troy.

They eventually reached Troy, and over the course of nine years the Achaeans sacked surrounding towns and took bride prizes. Agamemnon's bride prize was Chryseis, who was unfortunately the daughter of a priest of Apollo, Chryses. Chryses begged Agamemnon to bring him his daughter back, even offering him all of his riches, but this begging amused Agamemnon further and he decided to keep Chryseis. Chryses in response prayed to Apollo for help and the god unleashed plagues upon the Achaean Army. After learning about this from Calchas, Agamemnon was pestered to give Chryseis back to her father, which he eventually reluctantly agreed, though he did demand that he receive Achilles's bride prize, Briseis, as a replacement.

Achilles then withdrew from the battle, depriving the Greek armies of their strongest soldier. Agamemnon realized this, and sent Ajax the Great and Odysseus to bargain him back, though these attempts were unsuccessful. Patroclus joined the war effort in Achilles's place, but was killed by Hector. Hector took Patroclus's armor and every major member of the Greek armies, including Agamemnon himself, attempted to retrieve the armor back, but they were also unsuccessful. Achilles eventually caught win of the situation, and returned to avenge Patroclus, turning the tides of the war again.

Agamemnon summoned every last prince he knew and led the army into battle once more. They finally captured Troy, and Agamemnon took Cassandra as another one of his bride prizes.

### Return to Greece

Agamemnon and Cassandra managed to sail to Argolis in a stormy voyage before sailing back to Mycenae. Cassandra kept telling Agamemnon to not return home, that his wife Clytemnestra would kill them both, though he didn't listen. When they returned home, Agamemnon decided to take a quick bath where Clytemnestra snuck up on him and killed him with an ax.

When he died, Agamemnon was sent to the ninth layer of Hell, Treachery, for his many crimes against his fellow man.

## Myths and Legends

Agamemnon is a common Greek figure told about in the *Iliad* and the *Odyssey*. The name in Greek (Ἀγαμέμνων) translates to very "steadfast", "unbowed" or "resolute", and comes from \*Ἀγαμέδμων (\*Agamédmōn),