Back

Iphigenia at Aulis

 Onwards

Hyginus: Fabulae
Iphigenia

Agamemnon, with his brother Menelaos, were chosen as leaders of the Achaeans after Paris carried Helen, the wife of Menelaos, back to Troy.

A storm raised by the wrath of Artemis kept the Achaeans in Aulis: it is said because, when out hunting a deer, Agamemnon had arrogantly disparaged Artemis.

When he consulted the priests, Calchas told Agamemnon that this could only be expiated if he sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia. Hearing this, Agamemenon began to raise objections.

Odysseus persuaded him to change his mind; Odysseus, with Diomedes, was sent to fetch Iphigenia.

When he met her mother, Clytemnestra, Odysseus pretended that Iphigenia would be given in marriage to Achilles.

They returned to Aulis with her. When her father was about to sacrifice her, Artemis took pity on the young girl, and, interposing a mist, substituted a deer in her place.

She bore Iphigenia through the clouds to the land of the Taurians and made her a priestess in her temple in Tauris.

Calchas, the exiled Trojan priest whose accurate predictions helped the Achaeans to victory

Mirror frame
5th century BC
The Anger of Achilles
Agamemnon has revealed to Achilles that his daughter Iphigenia is not to be married to him, but will instead be sacrificed in order to appease the goddess Diana, allowing the Achaean fleet to set sail for Troy. As Iphigenia's mother, Clytemnestra, looks on, Achilles angrily draws his sword.

Jacques-Louis David
1819
Iphigenia is dragged to the altar

Etruscan painted terra-cotta slab
7th-6th BC
Iphigenia, head bowed, stands on the right of the altar. Behind her, almost concealed, is a deer standing on its hind legs, which was substituted for her by Artemis as a sacrificial victim. Behind the altar stands Calchas, the priest, raising the sacrificial knife above the terrified girl. Apollo and Artemis watch the action unfold.

Apulian red figure volute krater
c. 350 BC
Agamemnon turns away, covering his head in grief as his daughter is dragged screaming to the altar, where Calchas waits. In the sky, a deer bears Iphigenia aloft, where Artemis awaits her.

Roman fresco from Pompeii, believed to be based on a lost painting by Timanthus from 4th century BC which Pliny described as a model for the expression of grief.

To first pageTo next page

Site Map   What's New   Search