# Aigisthos — The Libation Bearers character guide

> Aigisthos in The Libation Bearers by Aeschylus.

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0001-the-libation-bearers

## Snapshot

Clytemnestra's lover and co-conspirator, holding Agamemnon's throne as a tyrant whose rule rests on fear rather than consent.

## Who they are

Aigisthos rules Argos beside Clytemnestra, and the Chorus of loyal slave women regard him as a usurper who keeps his grip through intimidation. He is the man Orestes could have bought off with a large blood-price and lived comfortably beside—the option the play keeps on the table to make the hero's refusal meaningful. His presence turns the household into occupied territory, so that every libation at the grave and every whispered oath is also a political act. He is the target the whole first half of the play quietly aims at.

## In the story

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

Enters as the 'sower of wrong'; his death unstrings Clytemnestra.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters/aigisthos
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_libation_bearers_se/characters