IPHIGENIA (daughter of Agamemnon)

Agamemnon, son of Atreus, intended to sacrifice Iphigenia to Artemis to secure favorable winds for his fleet at Aulis.^9,10,5,11 He wrote a letter to his wife, tricking Iphigenia into coming to Aulis under the pretext of marrying Achilles.^12,13,14,15 Upon her arrival, the army gathered to see her as she was prepared to leave her chariot for a wedding ceremony.^16,17,3 When she saw her father, she ran to embrace him affectionately, not knowing the sword he placed to her throat.^{17,18,11,14,19} She questioned why the marriage of Paris and Helen should cause her ruin, noting that she was the destroyer of Ilium and the Phrygians in the minds of some.^20,18,21,7 Achilles threatened to place his weapons at the altar to prevent her slaughter, but Agamemnon placed her on a pyre and cut her cheek.^22,23,12,13

At the last moment, Artemis replaced Iphigenia with a deer and spirited her away from the altar.^12,9,24,8 The goddess transported her to the land of the Taurians, a barbarian country far from her native Hellas.^9,25,26 Artemis appointed Iphigenia as the priestess in her temple, where she holds the official religious office and performs rites for strangers.^12,9,27,1,28 In this foreign city, she must hide from a goddess and a king, living without marriage, children, or friends.^29,30,3 The Tauri near Scythia sacrifice shipwrecked people to her, identifying the sacrificial maiden as Iphigenia, a deity among them.^31,32

Iphigenia holds the office of killing foreigners in her current location.³³ She lives with female attendants from Hellas provided by the king, and an old spear of Pelops hangs in her rooms.^34,35 She possesses a tablet written by a captive who felt pity for her, which she intends to use to send news to her friends in Argos.^36,28 She fears the loss of her country, brother, and sister, viewing her fate as unhappy and directed by the Fates.^24,3 She speaks to the Chorus, emphasizing their shared fate and female nature to secure their silence for her escape plans.^24,37

Iphigenia believes she will return to Argos, destined to be brought there by Orestes, who holds the scepter in that land.^38,8,3,14 She identifies Mycenae as her home, thanking it for raising her brother, and inquired about the fate of Electra, who remained a virgin in the house.^{14,39,40,26,41} Some accounts state she did not die but became Hecate, while others say she landed at Brauron while fleeing the Tauri.^32,42,43 She serves as the key-holder for the goddess at Brauron, performing holy rites and requesting a golden vessel for rituals for the dead.^38,8,25 A native of Hellas lost while still a child, she remains bound to the maiden daughter of Leto and Zeus, her fate intertwined with the mysteries of the sea and the altar.^26,44,3