Agamemnon

Agamemnon
/ag'euh mem"non, -neuhn/, n.
1. Class. Myth. a king of Mycenae, a son of Atreus and brother of Menelaus. He led the Greeks in the Trojan War and was murdered by Clytemnestra, his wife, upon his return from Troy.
2. (italics) a tragedy (458 B.C.) by Aeschylus. Cf. Oresteia.
[ < Gk Agamémnon- (s. of Agamémnon), < *Agaménmon-, equiv. to aga- great + men- (truncation of MENELAUS, meaning king) + -mon- suffix used in shortened names]

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In Greek legend, the son of Atreus, brother of Menelaus, and king of Mycenae and commander of the Greek forces that attacked Troy.

By his wife, Clytemnestra, Agamemnon had a son, Orestes, and three daughters. When Paris carried off Menelaus's wife, Helen, Agamemnon called on the Greeks to unite in a war of revenge against the Trojans. Artemis sent a calm or contrary winds to prevent the Greek fleet from sailing, and Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter Iphigeneia to appease the goddess. After the Trojan War he returned home, where he was killed by his wife and her lover, Aegisthus. His murder was avenged by Orestes. These events formed the basis of Aeschylus' great dramatic trilogy the Oresteia.

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 in Greek legend, king of Mycenae or Argos. He was the son (or grandson) of Atreus, king of Mycenae, and his wife Aërope and was the brother of Menelaus. After Atreus was murdered by his nephew Aegisthus (son of Thyestes), Agamemnon and Menelaus took refuge with Tyndareus, king of Sparta, whose daughters, Clytemnestra and Helen, they respectively married. By Clytemnestra, Agamemnon had a son, Orestes, and three daughters, Iphigeneia (Iphianassa), Electra (Laodice), and Chrysothemis. Menelaus succeeded Tyndareus, and Agamemnon recovered his father's kingdom.

      When Paris (Alexandros), son of King Priam of Troy (Trojan War), carried off Helen, Agamemnon called on the princes of the country to unite in a war of revenge against the Trojans (Trojan War). He himself furnished 100 ships and was chosen commander in chief of the combined forces. The fleet assembled at the port of Aulis in Boeotia but was prevented from sailing by calms or contrary winds that were sent by the goddess Artemis because Agamemnon had in some way offended her. To appease the wrath of Artemis, Agamemnon was forced to sacrifice his own daughter Iphigeneia.

 After the capture of Troy, Cassandra, Priam's daughter, fell to Agamemnon's lot in the distribution of the prizes of war. On his return he landed in Argolis, where Aegisthus, who in the interval had seduced Agamemnon's wife, treacherously carried out the murders of Agamemnon, his comrades, and Cassandra. In Agamemnon, by the Greek poet and dramatist Aeschylus, however, Clytemnestra was made to do the killing. The murder was avenged by Orestes, who returned to slay both his mother and her paramour.
 

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  • Agamemnon — {{Agamemnon}} Sohn des Atreus* und der Aerope*, Bruder des Menelaos*, Ehemann der Klytaimestra*, Vater des Orestes*, der Elektra*, der Iphigenie* und der Chrysothemis*. Als Atreus durch Aigisthos* ermordet und Thyestes** Herr von Mykene geworden… …   Who's who in der antiken Mythologie

  • AGAMEMNON — AGAMEM Roi de Mycènes et d’Argos, fils d’Atrée, et frère de Ménélas. Après le meurtre d’Atrée par Thyeste et son fils Égisthe, Agamemnon et Ménélas se réfugièrent chez Tyndare, roi de Sparte, et épousèrent ses filles, Clytemnestre et Hélène.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Agamemnon [1] — AGAMEMNON, ŏnis, soll ein Beynamen des Jupiters seyn, unter welchem er zu Sparta verehret worden, der ihm eben vom vorhergehenden Agamemnon gegeben worden. Potter. ad Lycophr. v. 335. Dagegen wollen andere, daß, weil Agamemnon ἐυρυκρείων, Jupiter …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon

  • Agamemnon — AGAMEMNON, ŏnis, Ἀγαμέμνων, όνος, (⇒ Tab. XXX.) 1 §. Aeltern. Sein Vater war Plisthenes, des Atreus Sohn, Apollod. lib. III. c. 2. §. 2. welcher ihn, den Menelaus und die Anaxibia, nach einigen, mit der Eriphyle, Scholiast. Eurip. ad Orest. v. 5 …   Gründliches mythologisches Lexikon

  • AGAMEMNON — Atrei ex Aerope fil. ut Homer. Il. α. ait, Plisthenis vero, ut Hesiod. in θεογον. et frater Menelai, Mycenarum et Argivorum Rex a Perseo IX. ab Atreo (sub quo Pelopidae Perseidas regnô summoverunt) IV. quasi ἄγαν μένων h. c. perseverans, qui… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Agamemnon — Agamemnon, des Atreus Sohn oder Enkel, Fürst von Mycene und Sicyon, führte die Griechen nach Troja zur 10jährigen Belagerung. Homer schildert ihn als guten König und tapfern Kämpfer. Nach seiner Rückkehr wurde er von seinem Weibe Klytemnestra und …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Agamemnon [1] — Agamemnon, Sohn des Atreus u. der Aërope, Bruder des Menelaos, floh mit demselben, nachdem ihr Vater ermordet worden war, nach Sparta,[176] wo er Klytämnestra, Tochter des Tyndareus, heirathete: er vertrieb darauf Ägisthos, seinen Vetter, aus… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Agamemnon [2] — Agamemnon (Papilio eques A. L.), Schmetterling, Untergattung der Ritterfalter, s.d …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Agamemnon — Agamemnon, Sohn des Atreus und der Aërope, Enkel des Pelops, Urenkel des Tantalos. Von Thyestes aus Mykenä vertrieben (s. Atreus), flüchteten er und sein Bruder Menelaos nach Sparta zu König Tyndareos und vermählten sich mit dessen Töchtern,… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Agamémnon — Agamémnon, Sohn des Atreus, Königs von Mykenä, und der Aerope, Bruder des Menelaos, Hauptanführer des griech. Heers vor Troja, nach seiner Rückkehr auf Anstiften seiner Gemahlin Klytaimnestra von Aigisthos ermordet; sein und seiner Nachkommen… …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Agamemnon — king of Mycenae, leader of the Greeks in the Trojan War, his name perhaps represents Gk. Aga medmon, lit. ruling mightily, from agan very much + medon ruler (see MEDITATION (Cf. meditation)) …   Etymology dictionary

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