Agamemnon murdered his own daughter and he was murdered as well. What comes around goes around. Iphagenia was a young innocent girl who never should have been sacriced. Helen wasn't worth the trouble. It would have been great if Agamemnon could have told Menaleus that the personal cost for him was too high.
Agamemnon murdered his own daughter and he was murdered as well. What comes around goes around. Iphagenia was a young innocent girl who never should have been sacriced. Helen wasn't worth the trouble.
Weak logic. The “was it necessary?” argument. Agamemnon didn’t choose his daughter over other choices. Artemis, the offended goddess, told the prophet Calchas that Iphigenia was the sacrifice required. Replacing a sheep or bull would anger the goddess and ensure disaster for the army and entire war. If one can’t accept the premises of the play and the people who wrote it, that gods exist and must be honored and obeyed, then perhaps one shouldn’t be involved in a discussion of it. Lol - “couldn’t he have just replaced her with a sheep?” Logic fail. Does killing a sheep change the winds? If sacrifice is rendering sacred a gift to god, then how is ignoring that god’s demand going to work? The belief is sacrificing what god wants will grant the god’s favor to you, thus the god will give you favorable winds. Artemis demanded his daughter. Could he have ignored that? Yes, and no Trojan war. He chose to put on the yoke of his fate. Personally I argue he deserved to die by his wife’s hand because of this. But Clytemnestra also knew the rules of gods vs men. In her speech imagining the victory night in Troy, she prays the victors don’t go too far to offend the gods there or bring on the curse of the vanquished. Why? Because she knows the gods punish those who offend them or disobey. Abraham also knew; he brought Isaac to the altar just the same.
Also remember in the book of Judges, Jephthah sacrifices his daughter to fulfill a vow he made to sacrifice the first thing that comes out of his house in return for victory in battle. The vow was rash, but Jephthah knew that once made, he cannot offend God by not fulfilling it.
I imagine, to a point, you are both right. The play was written, which influenced Shakespeare, to get the audience to think about their own lives, and the role of destiny and choice play. That if we are too rash in our thinking and we follow false Gods there is a price to pay. The question being - did he need to avenge Paris? The audience may have also thought about their own sacrifices. The wives and their slaves attended those players. Like all great profits (writers) Agamemnon was a great thinker. Exploring our humanity, what it is - reflecting more on what it should be. No different than the Christian Bible - as it's already mentioned. Homa was before then and I believe those short stories in the bible that were chosen from many - must have read Greek theology. The birth place of our understanding.
Homer’s Iliad story was know to the writers coming after his time. Interesting
Agamemnon murdered his own daughter and he was murdered as well. What comes around goes around. Iphagenia was a young innocent girl who never should have been sacriced. Helen wasn't worth the trouble. It would have been great if Agamemnon could have told Menaleus that the personal cost for him was too high.
Agamemnon murdered his own daughter and he was murdered as well. What comes around goes around. Iphagenia was a young innocent girl who never should have been sacriced. Helen wasn't worth the trouble.
Weak logic. The “was it necessary?” argument. Agamemnon didn’t choose his daughter over other choices. Artemis, the offended goddess, told the prophet Calchas that Iphigenia was the sacrifice required. Replacing a sheep or bull would anger the goddess and ensure disaster for the army and entire war. If one can’t accept the premises of the play and the people who wrote it, that gods exist and must be honored and obeyed, then perhaps one shouldn’t be involved in a discussion of it. Lol - “couldn’t he have just replaced her with a sheep?” Logic fail. Does killing a sheep change the winds? If sacrifice is rendering sacred a gift to god, then how is ignoring that god’s demand going to work? The belief is sacrificing what god wants will grant the god’s favor to you, thus the god will give you favorable winds. Artemis demanded his daughter. Could he have ignored that? Yes, and no Trojan war. He chose to put on the yoke of his fate. Personally I argue he deserved to die by his wife’s hand because of this. But Clytemnestra also knew the rules of gods vs men. In her speech imagining the victory night in Troy, she prays the victors don’t go too far to offend the gods there or bring on the curse of the vanquished. Why? Because she knows the gods punish those who offend them or disobey. Abraham also knew; he brought Isaac to the altar just the same.
Also remember in the book of Judges, Jephthah sacrifices his daughter to fulfill a vow he made to sacrifice the first thing that comes out of his house in return for victory in battle. The vow was rash, but Jephthah knew that once made, he cannot offend God by not fulfilling it.
I imagine, to a point, you are both right. The play was written, which influenced Shakespeare, to get the audience to think about their own lives, and the role of destiny and choice play.
That if we are too rash in our thinking and we follow false Gods there is a price to pay. The question being - did he need to avenge Paris?
The audience may have also thought about their own sacrifices. The wives and their slaves attended those players.
Like all great profits (writers) Agamemnon was a great thinker. Exploring our humanity, what it is - reflecting more on what it should be.
No different than the Christian Bible - as it's already mentioned. Homa was before then and I believe those short stories in the bible that were chosen from many - must have read Greek theology.
The birth place of our understanding.