Clytemnestra
Agamemnon's
wife and the daughter of the Spartan king Tyndareus and Leda,
as well as the sister of Helen of
Troy and Timandra.
Because her father had neglected a certain sacrifice to Aphrodite
the goddess cursed him, saying all three daughters would be adulteresses.Clytemnestra was initially married to Thyestes'
son Tantalus who was an old man, and who was killed by either Atreus
or Agamemnon soon after the wedding.
With her second husband Agamemnon Clytemnestra had two sons, Orestes
and Chrysothemis, and two daughters, Electra
and Iphigenia.
Initially, she loved her husband, but when he sacrificed Iphigenia to the
goddess Artemis she
swore to kill him. On his departure Agamemnon left a singer in his palace
to entertain Clytemnestra. As long as the singer was there, she did not fall
for Aegisthus, but
Aegisthus took the singer away, thus making Clytemnestra easy to seduce.
When Agamemnon returned from Troy Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus murdered
him and Cassandra,
whom he had brought with him as a prisoner of war and mistress.
Together with Aegisthus she ruled Mycenae
for seven years, and they had three children: Erigone, Aletes and Helen. They
were both killed by her son Orestes.