Source Verification: Clytemnestra

Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.

What the Sources Attest

What is Clytemnestra famous for?

She is famous for killing her husband Agamemnon, the commander of the Greeks at Troy, on the day he came home. Aeschylus's Agamemnon shows her standing over his body and the body of Cassandra. She says she cast a robe around him like a fishing net and struck him three times. She glories in the deed before the elders of Argos rather than denying it.

Source: Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1380-1395

Why was Agamemnon killed by his wife?

The sources give three answers. In Aeschylus, Clytemnestra says she did it for Iphigenia, the daughter Agamemnon sacrificed at Aulis to calm the winds from Thrace. Homer's Odyssey puts the blame on Aegisthus, who seduced her while the king was away. Pindar leaves the question open, asking whether it was Iphigenia's slaughter or another man's bed that drove her. Euripides's Electra adds her anger at Cassandra.

Source: Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1412-1425

How did Clytemnestra kill Agamemnon?

Aeschylus's Agamemnon has her throw a robe around him like a net so that he could not escape, then strike him twice and a third time after he fell. Cassandra foresees the murder in a bath. Other sources differ. Homer has Aegisthus strike him down at a feast. Sophocles has the pair use an axe. Apollodorus says she gave him a shirt with no sleeves and no neck and he was cut down while putting it on.

Source: Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1380-1395

Why did Clytemnestra kill Cassandra?

Aeschylus gives her own answer. Over the bodies she calls Cassandra her husband's captive and concubine, and says her death brought an added relish of delight to her own bed. Cassandra foresees it herself, saying the queen will pay her back for being brought home. In Homer's Odyssey Agamemnon's ghost hears Cassandra's cry as Clytemnestra kills her beside him. Pindar says Clytemnestra sent both of them to the Acheron with a bronze blade.

Source: Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1431-1445

What happened to Clytemnestra after she killed Agamemnon?

She ruled with Aegisthus, whom Homer's Odyssey says reigned seven years over Mycenae. In the eighth year her son Orestes came home and killed them both. Apollodorus says Orestes had been raised in Phocis and went to Mycenae with Delphi's leave. In Aeschylus she begs him by the breast that nursed him and warns him of a mother's avenging hounds. Her ghost then rouses the Furies against him.

Source: Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 908-930

Who was Clytemnestra in Greek mythology?

She was a daughter of Leda and Tyndareus of Sparta and the sister of Helen. Apollodorus says Leda lay with Zeus and with Tyndareus on the same night, so that Helen and Pollux were children of Zeus and Clytemnestra and Castor were children of Tyndareus. She married Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and bore him Orestes, Electra, Chrysothemis and Iphigenia.

Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.10.7

Where Accounts Differ

who struck Agamemnon down
Clytemnestra's motive
the robe, the bath and the weapon
whether Iphigenia died at Aulis
how Orestes killed Clytemnestra

Who struck Agamemnon down differs by source. Homer's Odyssey names Aegisthus as the killer, with Clytemnestra's aid, at a feast in his house. Aeschylus's Agamemnon makes Clytemnestra the one who strikes. Sophocles's Electra has the pair split his head with an axe. Euripides's Electra credits her guile and the hand of Aegisthus. Apollodorus's Epitome names both.
Her motive is disputed in the ancient sources themselves. Aeschylus and Sophocles give her the sacrifice of Iphigenia. Homer's Odyssey blames Aegisthus's seduction. Pindar's eleventh Pythian ode asks whether it was Iphigenia or an adulterous bed. Euripides's Electra adds her anger at Cassandra. Aeschylus also has her claim the old avenging spirit of Atreus's house acted through her.
The means of the murder vary. Aeschylus describes a net-like robe cast around him, and Cassandra's vision places the death in a bath. Apollodorus describes a shirt without sleeves or neck. Euripides's Orestes speaks of an inextricable robe. The weapon is a sword in Aeschylus, a bronze blade in Pindar and an axe in Sophocles.
Iphigenia's fate is told two ways. Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides's Electra treat her as killed at Aulis. Apollodorus's Epitome says Artemis carried her off and left a deer at the altar in her place.
The order of the killings by Orestes differs. Aeschylus's Libation Bearers has Aegisthus die first, Sophocles's Electra has Clytemnestra die first, and Euripides's Electra has Electra lure her mother to her death with a false report of a birth. Homer's Odyssey only hints at her death.
The passage of Apollodorus's Epitome naming Tantalus as her first husband at 2.15 is restored from Tzetzes, as Frazer notes. The same fact appears in the transmitted text at Epitome 2.16 and in Euripides's Iphigenia at Aulis, which this page cites instead.

Sources

Primary sources

Homer, Odyssey 3.262-275
Homer, Odyssey 3.303-310
Homer, Odyssey 11.405-434
Homer, Odyssey 24.192-202
Pindar, Pythian Ode 11.17-11.35
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 905-910
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1107-1125
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1256-1260
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1380-1395
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1412-1425
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1431-1445
Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1497-1505
Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 523-535
Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 885-900
Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 908-930
Aeschylus, Eumenides 94-115
Aeschylus, Eumenides 117-135
Aeschylus, Eumenides 657-665
Aeschylus, Eumenides 734-740
Aeschylus, Eumenides 752
Sophocles, Electra 90-100
Sophocles, Electra 516-530
Sophocles, Electra 530-550
Sophocles, Electra 560-575
Sophocles, Electra 1404-1416
Sophocles, Electra 1466-1480
Euripides, Electra 5-10
Euripides, Electra 1011-1030
Euripides, Electra 1030-1050
Euripides, Electra 1102-1110
Euripides, Electra 1123-1132
Euripides, Electra 1139-1145
Euripides, Electra 1206-1226
Euripides, Orestes 20-30
Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 1146-1155
Apollodorus, Library 3.10.6
Apollodorus, Library 3.10.7
Apollodorus, Epitome 2.16
Apollodorus, Epitome 3.22
Apollodorus, Epitome 6.23
Apollodorus, Epitome 6.24
Apollodorus, Epitome 6.25