Agamemnon

“ Shall Agamemnon fail his ships and people,
And the hosts of Hellas melt as melts the snow?
They cry, they thirst, for a death that shall break the spell,
For a Virgin’s blood: ’tis a rite of old, men tell.
And they burn with longing.—O God may the end be well!”
(But ambition drove him, till he consented to the sin of slaying his daughter, Iphigenia, as a sacrifice.) ”

“ Agamemnon.
Sooth, voice there is none, nor slumberous cheep
Of bird, nor whisper of sea; and deep 10
Is the hush of the winds on Euripus that sleep.
Old Servant.
Yet without thy tent, Agamemnon my lord,
Why dost thou pace thus feverishly?
Over Aulis yonder is night's peace poured:
They are hushed which along the walls keep ward.
Come, pass we within.
Agamemnon.
I envy thee,
Ancient, and whoso unperilled may pace
Life's pathway unheeded and unrenowned:
But little I envy the high in place.
Old Servant.
Yet the life of these is glory-crowned. 20
Agamemnon. ”

“ Was it fear made this meekness to the gods?
Agamemnon:
If cause be cause, 'tis mine for this resolve.
Clymemnestra:
What, think'st thou, in thy place had Priam done?
Agamemnon:
He surely would have walked on broidered robes.
Clymemnestra:
Then fear not thou the voice of human blame.
Agamemnon:
Yet mighty is the murmur of a crowd.
Clymemnestra:
Shrink not from envy, appanage of bliss.
Agamemnon:
War is not woman's part, nor war of words. ”

“ Agamemnon was convulsed with pain, but still not even for this did he leave off struggling and fighting, but grasped his spear that flew as fleet as the wind, and sprang upon Coon who was trying to drag off the body of his brother- his father's son- by the foot, and was crying for help to all the bravest of his comrades; but Agamemnon struck him with a bronze-shod spear and killed him as he was dragging the dead body through the press of men under cover of his shield: he then cut off his head, standing over the body of Iphidamas. ”

“ So the dream went to the tent of Agamemnon, and found him wrapped in sleep. It took the shape of Nestor, the old chief, whom the King honoured more than all besides.
Then the false Nestor spake: "Sleepest thou, Agamemnon? It is not for kings to sleep all through the night, for they must take thought for many, and have many cares. Listen now to the words of Zeus: 'Set the battle in array against Troy, for the gods are now of one mind, and the day of doom is come for the city, and thou shalt take it, and gain everlasting glory for thyself.'"
And Agamemnon believed the dream. ”

“ Than man may bear, should flee his wretched life.
Enter Agamemnon.
Agamemnon.
Hearing a shout I came; for in no whispers
The mountain-rock's child Echo through the host⁠1110
Cried, waking tumult. Knew we not the towers
Of Phrygia by the spear of Greeks had fallen,
No little panic had this clangour roused.
Polymestor.
Dear friend—for, Agamemnon, 'tis thy voice,
I hear and know—see'st thou what I endure?⁠1115
Agamemnon.
Ha, wretched Polymestor, who hath marred thee?,
Who dashed with blood thine eyes, and blinded thee?—,
Slew these thy sons? ”

“ Agamemnon.
The murmur of a people hath strange weight.
Clytemnestra.
Who feareth envy, feareth to be great.
Agamemnon.
'Tis graceless when a woman strives to lead.
Clytemnestra.
When a great conqueror yields, 'tis grace indeed.
Agamemnon.
So in this war thou must my conqueror be?
Clytemnestra.
Yield! With good will to yield is victory!
Agamemnon.
Well, if I needs must . . . Be it as thou hast said!
⁠Quick! Loose me these bound slaves on which I tread,
And while I walk yon wonders of the sea
God grant no eye of wrath be cast on me
From far! ”

“ With too much blood and too little brain these two may run mad; but, if with too much brain and too little blood they do, I’ll be a curer of madmen. Here’s Agamemnon, an honest fellow enough, and one that loves quails, but he has not so much brain as ear-wax; and the goodly transformation of Jupiter there, his brother, the bull, the primitive statue and oblique memorial of cuckolds, a thrifty shoeing-horn in a chain at his brother’s leg, to what form but that he is, should wit larded with malice, and malice forced with wit, turn him to? ”

“ SEWARD.
You are always great, sir, on Homer.
NORTH.
Agamemnon, in insolence of self-will, offends Chryses and a God. He refused Chyseis—He robs Achilles. In Agamemnon the Insolence of Human Self-will is humbled, first under the hand of Apollo—then of Jupiter—say, altogether, of Heaven. He suffers and submits. And now Achilles, who has no less interest in the Courts of Heaven than Chryses—indeed higher—in overweening anger fashions out a redress for himself which the Father of Gods and Men grants. And what follows? Agamemnon again suffers and submits. For Achilles—Patroclus' bloody corse! ”

“ Clytemnestra.
Wouldst fright me, like a witless woman? Lo,
This bosom shakes not. And, though well ye know,
I tell you . . . Curse me as ye will, or bless,
'Tis all one . . . This is Agamemnon; this,
My husband, dead by my right hand, a blow
Struck by a righteous craftsman. Aye, 'tis so.
Chorus.
Woman, what evil tree,
⁠What poison grown of the ground
Or draught of the drifting sea
⁠Way to thy lips hath found,
Making thee clothe thy heart
⁠In rage, yea, in curses burning
When thine own people pray? ”

“ To me too thraldom's day shall doubtless come,
Now thou hast died, who wast my god on earth."
Then in all kindness Agamemnon spake:
"Princess, no man on earth shall make thee thrall,
While Teucer liveth yet, while yet I live.
Thou shalt have worship of us evermore
And honour as a Goddess, with thy son,
As though yet living were that godlike man,
Aias, who was the Achaeans' chiefest strength.
Ah that he had not laid this load of grief
On all, in dying by his own right hand!
For all the countless armies of his foes
Never availed to slay him in fair fight." ”

“ The King started, yet ceased not from battle, but as Coön dragged his brother by the foot out of the press, calling upon the chiefs to help, then Agamemnon smote him with the spear, beneath the shield, and drove him to the ground, and after smote off his head with the sword. Thus did Agamemnon slay the two sons of Antenor.
For a while, while the wound was warm, the King fought as before; but when it grew cold and stiff, great pain came upon him, and he leapt into his chariot and bade the charioteer drive him to the ships, for that he could fight no more. ”

“ Woe's me, woe's me, for this slavish lying,
The doom of craft and the lonely dying,
⁠The iron two-edged and the hands that slay!
Clytemnestra.
⁠And criest thou still this deed hath been
⁠My work? Nay, gaze, and have no thought
⁠That this is Agamemnon's Queen.
⁠'Tis He, 'tis He, hath round him wrought
⁠This phantom of the dead man's wife;
He, the old Wrath, the Driver of Men astray,
⁠Pursuer of Atreus for the feast defiled;
⁠To assoil an ancient debt he hath paid this life;
A warrior and a crownèd King this day
⁠Atones for a slain child. ”

“ At sight of him lord Agamemnon waxed glad, and he spake, and addressed him with winged words:Old Sir, I would that even as is the spirit in thy breast, so thy limbs might obey, and thy strength be firm. But evil old age presseth hard upon thee; would that some other among the warriors had thy years, and that thou wert among the youths. To him then made answer the horseman, Nestor of Gerenia: "Son of Atreus, verily I myself could wish that I were such a one as on the day when I slew goodly Ereuthalion. But in no wise do the gods grant to men all things at one time. ”

“ For Agamemnon is patient when he is attacked in the assembly, but when the army goes out to battle he has the power even of life and death. Does he not say- 'When I find a man skulking apart from the battle, nothing shall save him from the dogs and vultures, for in my hands is death'? ”

“ But prithee Agamemnon tell me what moot-point was it you argued to day; for tho' I plead no causes my self, yet I have had a share of letters in my time; and that you may not think me sick of them now, have three libraries, the one Greek, the other two Latin; therefore as you love me tell me what was the state of the question:" "The poor and the rich are enemies," said Agamemnon: "And what is poor," answered Trimalchio? "Spoke like a gentleman," replyed Agamemnon. But making nothing of the matter, "If it be so," said Trimalchio, "where lies the dispute? And if it be not so, 'tis nothing." ”

“ They cluster up towards the Palace Door, as though to force an entrance, when the great Door swings open, revealing Clytemnestra, who stands, axe in hand, over the dead bodies of Agamemnon and Cassandra. The body of Agamemnon is wrapped in a rich crimson web. There is blood on Clytemnestra's brow, and she speaks in wild triumph.
Clytemnestra.
Oh, lies enough and more have I this day
Spoken, which now I shame not to unsay.
How should a woman work, to the utter end,
Hate on a damnèd hater, feigned a friend ”

“ But tell me the subject of your speech today, Agamemnon, for, though I don’t plead cases myself, I studied literature for home use, and for fear you should think I don’t care about learning, let me inform you that I have three libraries, one Greek and the others Latin. Give me the outline of your speech if you like me.” “A poor man and a rich man were enemies,” Agamemmon began, when: “What’s a poor man?” Trimalchio broke in. “Well put,” Agamemnon conceded and went into details upon some problem or other, what it was I do not know. ”

“ It seems to me that Aeschylus' imagination realized all the confused passions in Clytemnestra's mind, but that his art was not yet sufficiently developed to make them all clear and explicit. She is in suspense; does Agamemnon know her guilt or not? At least, if she is to die, she wants to say something to justify or excuse herself in the eyes of the world. A touch of hysteria creeps in; why could he not have been killed in all these years? Why must he rise, like some monster from the grave, unkillable? ”

“ But Agamemnon, ever affectionately careful of his brother, will not suffer such unequal risk: some more stalwart warrior shall be found to maintain the honour of the Achæans. Old Nestor rises, and loudly regrets that he has no longer the eye and sinews of his youth—but the men of Greece, he sees with shame, are not now what they were in his day. Stung by the taunt, nine chiefs spring to their feet at once, and offer themselves for the combat. Conspicuous amongst them are Diomed, the giant Ajax, and King Agamemnon himself ”

“ Agamemnon was a son of Atreus according to Homer, and was the brother of Menelaus. In a later account he is described as the son of Pleisthenes, who was the son of Atreus. He was king over Argolis, Corinth, Achaia, and many islands. He married Clytemnestra, daughter of Tyndarus, king of Sparta, by whom he had three daughters Chrysothemis, Iphigenia and Electra, and one son Orestes. When Helen was carried off by Paris, Agamemnon was chosen to be commander-in-chief of the expedition sent against Troy by the Greeks, as he was the mightiest prince in Greece. ”

“ The truth is, this whole accusation of Diomed is only a feint to serve the designs of Agamemnon; for, being desirous to persuade the Greeks against their departure, he effects that design by this counterfeited anger and licence of speech; and, seeming to resent that Agamemnon should be capable of imagining that the army would return to Greece, he artfully makes use of these reproaches to cover his argument. ”

“ Some of the Elders draw swords with the Leader; others have collapsed with weakness. Men from Agamemnon's retinue have gathered and prepare for battle, when, before they can come to blows, Clytemnestra breaks from her exhausted silence. ”

“ Agamemnon is a prominent figure in Greek heroic legend, and the details of his story differ. He ruled at Mycenæ and exercised lordship over much of the Peloponnesus. Therefore, when Paris carried off Helen, the wife of Menelaus, Agamemnon was the natural leader of the expedition against Troy. His quarrel with Achilles is the starting-point of the Iliad. ”

“ Then he named for her husband Menelaus, King of Lacedaemon. He was a very brave man, but not one of the strongest; he was not such a fighter as the gigantic Aias, the tallest and strongest of men; or as Diomede, the friend of Ulysses; or as his own brother, Agamemnon, the King of the rich city of Mycenae, who was chief over all other princes, and general of the whole army in war. The great lions carved in stone that seemed to guard his city are still standing above the gate through which Agamemnon used to drive his chariot. ”

“ Then Agamemnon, the king of men, and Ulysses, the man of many devices, rose up; and the stately heralds brought the holy oath-offerings to the gods, and mixed the ruddy wine in the mixing-bowl, from which they gave portions to the Achaian and the Trojan chiefs. Agamemnon raised his hands to heaven and prayed, “O Father Zeus, most great and glorious! O Sun, who seest and hearest all things! O ye Rivers, and thou, Mother Earth! be ye all witnesses to our oaths! If Paris shall kill Menelaus, then let him keep Helen and all her possessions ”

“ Till the arrival of Agamemnon, they occupy our attention, as the prophetic organ, not commissioned indeed but employed by heaven, to proclaim the impending horrors. Succeeding to the brief intimation of the watcher who opens the play, they seem oppressed with forebodings of woe and crime which they can neither justify nor analyse. The expression of their anxiety forms the stream in which the plot flows—every thing, even news of joy, takes a colouring from the depth of their gloom. ”