Iphigeneia at Aulis
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| Iphigenia at Aulis | |
 Anger of Achilles by Jacques-Louis David |
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| Written by | Euripides |
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| Chorus | Greek Women |
| Characters | Agamemnon Menelaus Clytemnestra Iphigenia Achilles attendant |
| Setting | Port of Aulis |
Iphigenia at Aulis is the last extant work of the playwright Euripides. Written between 408, after the Orestes, and 406 BC, the date of Euripides' death, the play was first produced the following year[1] by his son or nephew, Euripides the Younger,[2] and won the first place at the athenian City Dionysia.
The play revolves around Agamemnon, the leader of the Greek coalition before and during the Trojan War, and his decision to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to allow his troops to set sail and preserve their honour by doing battle against Troy. The conflict between Agamemnon and Achilles over the fate of the young woman presages a similar conflict between the two at the beginning of the Iliad.
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[edit] Background
The Greek force is waiting at Aulis, with its ships ready to sail for Troy, but it is unable to depart due to a strange lack of wind. After consulting the seer Calchas, the Greek leaders learn that this is no mere meteorological abnormality but rather the will of the goddess Artemis, who has checked the winds because Agamemnon has caused her offense.
Calchas informs the general that, in order to placate her, he must sacrifice his eldest daughter, Iphigenia. Agamemnon, in spite of his horror, must consider this seriously, because his assembled troops, who have been waiting at port and are increasingly restless, may rebel if their bloodlust is not satisfied. He sends a message to his wife, Clytemnestra, telling her to bring Iphigenia to Aulis, on the pretext that the girl is to be married to the Greek warrior Achilles before he sets off to fight.
[edit] Plot
At the start of the play, Agamemnon has second thoughts about going through with the sacrifice and sends a second message to his wife, telling her to ignore the first. Clytemnestra never receives it, however, because it is intercepted by Menelaus, Agamemnon's brother, who is enraged that he should have changed his mind.
To Menelaus, this is not only a personal blow (for it is his wife, Helen, with whom the Trojan prince Paris ran off, whose retrieval is the main pretext for the war); it may also lead to mutiny and the downfall of the Greek leaders should the rank and file discover the prophecy and realise that their general has put his family above their pride as soldiers.
The brothers debate the matter and, eventually, each seemingly changes the other's mind: Agamemnon is now ready to carry out the sacrifice, but Menelaus is apparently convinced that it would be better to disband the Greek army than to have his niece killed. By this time, Clytemnestra is already on her way to Aulis with Iphigenia and her baby brother Orestes, making the decision of how to proceed all the more difficult.
Iphigenia is thrilled at the prospect of marrying one of the great heroes of the Greek army, but she, her mother and the ostensible groom-to-be soon discover the truth. Achilles is furious at having been used as a prop in Agamemnon's plan and vows to defend Iphigenia—initially more for the purposes of his own honour than to save the innocent girl.
Clytemnestra and Iphigenia try in vain to persuade Agamemnon to change his mind, but the general believes that he has no choice. As Achilles prepares to defend the young woman by force, she has a sudden change of heart, deciding that the heroic thing to do would be to let herself be sacrificed. She is led off to die, with her mother Clytemnestra so distraught as to presage Agamemnon's mariticide.
In addition to all this, a messenger arrives at the end of the play to inform Clytemnestra that, at the last minute, just as Agamemnon was about to kill his daughter, Artemis, apparently appeased, switched the body of Iphigenia with that of a deer, which was sacrificed in her stead. Iphigenia is swept off by the gods, thus paving the way for the plot of another of Euripides's plays.
[edit] Cultural influence
Iphigenia at Aulis has had a significant influence on modern art. Greek director Michael Cacoyannis based his 1977 film Iphigenia (starring Irene Papas as Clytemnestra) on Euripides's script. The play also formed the basis for the 2003 novel The Songs of Kings by Barry Unsworth, as well as the P.D.Q. Bach cantata Iphigenia in Brooklyn. Neil LaBute drew heavily on the story of Iphigenia for his short play Iphigenia in Orem, one of his Bash series.
[edit] Translations
- Jane Lumley (1537–1578), ca. 1555
- Robert Potter, 1781 - verse
- Edward P. Coleridge, 1891 - prose: full text
- Arthur S. Way, 1912 - verse
- Florence M. Stawell, 1929 - verse
- Charles R. Walker, 1958 - verse
- Paul Roche, 1998 - verse (Euripides: Ten Plays (Signet))
- James Morwood, 2002 - verse
- T.A.Buckley 1892 [1] full text
- G.Theodoridis 2007 [2] full text
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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Plays by Euripides
Cyclops | Alcestis | Medea | Heracleidae | Hippolytus | Andromache | Hecuba | The Suppliants | Electra | Heracles | The Trojan Women | Iphigeneia in Tauris | Ion | Helen | Phoenician Women | Orestes | Bacchae | Iphigeneia at Aulis | Rhesus (spurious)
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