# Clytemnestra — The Eumenides character guide

> Clytemnestra in The Eumenides by Aeschylus.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the Ghost of Clytemnestra, The Ghost

**First appearance:** 0001-the-eumenides

## Snapshot

A murdered queen whose ghost rises to shame the sleeping Furies, demanding they avenge her death at her own son's hands.

## Who they are

Clytemnestra appears only as a dream, showing the wound in her throat and taunting the Furies for letting her killer escape. She reminds them of the offerings she once poured and burned for them, and of the shame she now endures among the dead while her son goes unpunished. Her reproach wakes the hunt again, making her the engine that drives the chase into Athens.

## Relationships

### [The Furies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eumenides_se/characters/the_furies)

_friendship_

Clytemnestra's ghost rouses the Furies to avenge her murder, making them her allies in the pursuit of blood justice.

### [Hermes](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_eumenides_se/characters/hermes)

_professional_

Clytemnestra's ghost enlists Hermes as a messenger to guide the Furies and assist in her cause for vengeance.

## In the story

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

Mentioned as the ghost who awakens the Furies to pursue Orestes.

## Links

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