Agamemnon facts for kids

The Mask of Agamemnon which was discovered by Heinrich Schliemann in 1876 at Mycenae. It is now believed to pre-date the legendary Trojan War

Agamemnon (Greek: Ἀγαμέμνων) was a legendary king of Mycenae, as told in The Iliad. The son of Atreus and Aerope, he was the brother of Menelaus, and the commander of the unified Greek forces in the Trojan War. His wife was Clytemnestra, with whom he sired Iphigenia, Electra or Laodike, Orestes and Chrysothemis. Homer's Iliad tells the story of his quarrel with Achilles, the greatest of the Greek warriors, in the final year of the war. Upon his return home from Troy, Agamemnon is murdered by Aegisthus, the lover of Clytemnestra. The story of his return home and subsequent murder is featured in the Odyssey (5.266).

Images for kids

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  Achilles' surrender of Briseis to Agamemnon, from the House of the Tragic Poet in Pompeii, fresco, 1st century AD, now in the Naples National Archaeological Museum

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  Giovanni Battista Tiepolo - The Sacrifice of Iphigenia

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  Jacques-Louis David - The Anger of Achilles

See also

In Spanish: Agamenón para niños