# Clytemnestra — Agamemnon character guide

> Clytemnestra in Agamemnon by Aeschylus.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Queen Clytemnestra, Clytemnestra Lord

**First appearance:** 0002-i

## Snapshot

Queen of Argos whose beacon-lit imagination races ahead of the news, already seeing Troy's fall and the perils it brings home.

## Who they are

Clytemnestra rules the palace and the watchfires while her husband spends ten years at Troy, and her mind works with a vividness that unnerves the elders who remember this house's bloody history. Her hatred and fear of Agamemnon drive her dangerously far, yet she checks herself with a self-deprecating apology for womanly anxiety, a performance that hides calculation. She matters because every early scene asks whether her joy at victory is genuine or a mask, and the answer shapes the whole arc of the homecoming.

## Relationships

### [Agamemnon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/agamemnon_se/characters/agamemnon)

_family_

Husband and wife, but their marriage is poisoned by betrayal, sacrifice, and murderous intent.

### [Cassandra](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/agamemnon_se/characters/cassandra)

_rivalry_

Clytemnestra sees Cassandra as her husband's war prize and rival, while Cassandra foresees her own murder by Clytemnestra.

### [Aigisthos](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/agamemnon_se/characters/aigisthos)

_romantic_

Lovers and co-conspirators in the murder of Agamemnon, bound by shared vengeance and adultery.

### [Zeus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/agamemnon_se/characters/zeus)

_psychological_

Clytemnestra invokes Zeus to justify her revenge for the sacrifice of her daughter Iphigenia.

### [Aeschylus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/agamemnon_se/characters/aeschylus)

_professional_

Aeschylus as playwright crafts Clytemnestra as a complex, vengeful character driving the tragedy.

### [Agamemnon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/agamemnon_se/characters/agamemnon)

_family_

Husband and wife, but their marriage is poisoned by betrayal, sacrifice, and murderous intent.

## In the story

### [Family Trees](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/agamemnon_se/chapters/family-trees)

Listed as a chief character in the family tree.

### [Endnotes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/agamemnon_se/chapters/endnotes)

Her silent scene is compared to Cassandra's silence and Prometheus's silence; her beacon speech is noted for its vivid imagination and excitement; her hatred and fear of Agamemnon are highlighted.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/agamemnon_se/characters/clytemnestra
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/agamemnon_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/agamemnon_se/characters