An Unexpected Visitor

It is a cruel thing for wives to be separated from their husbands. Yet, it is even crueler for a mother to have her child pass away before she does. I HATE YOU AGAMEMNON! You are the cause of all my suffering. How dare you kill our daughter Iphigenia in order to receive favorable winds by the god Artemis. I don’t care if you initially were not going to go through with it. Why was there a sudden change in the wind? I bet you were probably afraid of the repercussions from the gods. Don’t you have a mind of your own? Obviously, it appears that I am more of a man than you are. I would never bow down to the gods. Over my dead body!! My children go first, before ANYONE else. Oh, Iphigenia I miss you so much. Not a day goes by that I don’t cry rivers. You were and still are the pride of my house.

I feel like I am suffocating in this Zeus forsaken home. Everyone around me appears unmoved by the news of my daughter. Am I the only one that finds Agamemnon’s actions unjustified? For example, the old men of Argos, the Chorus, pretend that they don’t know anything. Their silence is so loud that it is making me deaf. Oh no…the Chorus is calling for me. They tell me I have a visitor. How can they make me work during my mourning process? I don’t want to attend to the problems of the city at the moment. I just want to be alone.

.............

What a surprise! It was Aegisthus, King of Mycenae and son of Thyestes. Wait…Agamemnon told me never to talk to his enemy. What am I saying? Agamemnon is dead to me or at least not yet…Anyways, Aegisthus showed up and gave me his condolences for Iphigenia. Just to hear her name spoken by someone else made me feel like she was among the living. I couldn’t help it, but a tear drop escaped. He put his hand up to my face and wiped my tear ever so gently. He told me, “Don’t worry everything will be okay. I am here for you.” I am not sure how to explain it…but I felt an instant connection with him.

……….

For the next few days, we met up despite the Chorus’ suspicion. We talked for hours. I told him Iphigenia’s baby stories; about how I miss her calling me mommy; how I was tricked by my husband; and how I felt guilty for sending my daughter to her own death. Suddenly, Aegisthus put his arm around me and reassured me that I was not at fault. I couldn’t move. My cheeks all of a sudden turned a rosy color. My heart was beating so fast. I looked away. But after a long silence I looked at him again. All of his sudden his face grew solemn. I asked him what was the matter. He told me that he understood my grief. He had lost all his brothers to Agamemnon’s father Atreus (his uncle). I couldn’t believe it. Atreus cooked two of Thyestes’ children—Aegisthus’ brothers—and served them to him for dinner. Disgusting! I feel sick just thinking about it. Eating the corpse of your children…now that is going too far. Now I know where Agamemnon gets his BESTIAL behavior from.