From the Bookshelf of Reading Ancient Classics…

[close] Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis deals with Agamemnon’s decision to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, to the goddess Artemis in exchange for fair winds to sail to Troy. It questions the processes of power, decision making, and free will; in particular, it explores the relationship between societal pressure & ideological justification. Agamemnon feels pressured by the army to wage war on Troy and to sacrifice Iphigenia. He bows to that pressure, and then tries to find higher ideological justifications for his weakness. The war & the sacrifice become the will of the gods, a necessity for protecting Greece against the threat of the barbarian Other. What happens at the end of the play? Is Iphigenia killed, or does the goddess save her at the last minute? Is Clytemnestra’s silence a sign of submission and acceptance, or an ominous threat?

We read Iphigenia at Aulis for the Greek tragedy read-along in May 2020.