Clytemnestra

by Costanza Casati

“Men who find solace only in other men are to be distrusted,” Castor told Clytemnestra and Helen one morning as they were watching Theseus and Pirithous fight in the gymnasium. “They don’t respect anyone else, let alone a woman.”

There is nothing more powerful than a strong-willed woman. That is what you have always been and must be no matter what others do to you. It is easier for a man to be strong, for we are encouraged to be so. But for a woman to be unbent, unbroken, that is admirable.

As for queens, they are either hated or forgotten. She already knows which option suits her better. Let her be hated forever. * * *

“Why do I have to pay the consequences for something I didn’t do?” “Life is like that.”