AGAMEMNON.
Ques. Who was Agamemnon?
Ans. He was king of Mycenæ, and commander-in-chief of the Grecian forces during the siege of Troy. The combined fleet was detained for a long time at Aulis, owing to the wrath of Diana, whom Agamemnon had offended by killing one of her favorite deer. Calchas, the soothsayer, was consulted; he declared that the goddess could only be appeased by the sacrifice of Iphige´nia, the oldest daughter of the monarch. She was accordingly led to the altar, but Diana was moved with pity, and carried the maiden with her to Tauris, leaving a hind in her place. The quarrel of Agamemnon with Achil´les, and the troubles that resulted, form the principal subject of Homer’s Iliad. In the division of captives, after the taking of Troy, Cassandra, one of the daughters of Priam, fell to the lot of Agamemnon. This princess had been endowed by Apollo with the gift of prophecy, but as she refused afterwards to listen to the suit of that god, he decreed that no one should attach any credit to her predictions. It was so in the present instance. Clytemnestra, the queen of Agamemnon, believing, and perhaps hoping, that her husband would not return, had given a promise of marriage to Ægisthus, who already considered himself king of Mycenæ. Cassandra warned Agamemnon against returning thither, but her prediction was disregarded. Agamemnon was assassinated immediately on his arrival at Mycenæ; according to the tragic poets, it was Clytemnestra who dealt the fatal blow.