Book 14: Agamemnon

Agamemnon by Aeschylus is a Greek tragedy portraying the treacherous death of Agamemnon upon his return from Troy. A portion of the play is devoted to recounting some of the events in Greece prior to the sailing of the Greek army: how Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter to the gods to receive a fair breeze for launch and how some in Greece spoke poorly of him for taking all of the young men of Greece with him because of his brother's unfaithful wife. Upon his return, his wife greets him as a hero, but the play quickly darkens as the Trojan slave girl that he brings with him foretells of the imminent death of both Agamemnon and herself. The murders take place off stage. Then the chorus moves to investigate the cry of the king and finds his wife standing over his dead body with the bloody weapon in her hands. She justifies herself by claiming that he deserved this fate for what he did to their daughter. Her co-conspirator Aegisthus joins her crowing that Agamemnon deserved his death because of the way Agamemnon's father had treated his own. The two end by setting themselves up as rulers, while the chorus prays that Agamemnon's son will return from exile to take revenge upon the two traitors.

I had not previously read Agamemnon. Another classic ancient tragedy, it is a bit depressing to read; but yet a truthful tale of the wickedness of which man is capable. Greed and self-gain are clear motivating factors in the actions of the murderers, and their defenses are just as universal today. It wasn't their fault that he is dead. They blame the victim claiming it was his own fault that he is lying there dead and try to wrap their crimes in the cloak of justice where ancient law allowed for the family member of someone slain to avenge the blood of the dead by killing their murderer. I'd recommend the play for ages 14 and up.