Iphigenia

Iphigenia was the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra in Greek mythology, and one of the most tragic figures connected with the beginning of the Trojan War. When the Greek fleet gathered at Aulis to sail against Troy, the winds stopped, and the seer Calchas declared that Artemis was angry with Agamemnon. To appease the goddess, Agamemnon was told to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia. In some versions, she died at Aulis; in others, Artemis saved her at the last moment and carried her away to Tauris, where she became the goddess’ priestess (Apollodorus, Epitome 3.21–22; Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris).

Who Was Iphigenia?

Family and Background

Iphigenia was usually said to be the daughter of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and Clytemnestra, daughter of Tyndareus and Leda. Aeschylus (Agamemnon 1415–1418) has Clytemnestra name her as her child sacrificed by Agamemnon, and Euripides names her sisters Chrysothemis and Electra and her brother Orestes (Orestes 22–24). Homer never names Iphigenia: in the Iliad Agamemnon has three daughters, Chrysothemis, Laodice and Iphianassa, and a son Orestes (Iliad 9.142–145); later writers sometimes treated Iphianassa as another name for Iphigenia, and the Cypria made them two separate sisters. Pausanias adds that in Argos some said Iphigenia was a daughter of Theseus, and Stesichorus was among the poets who said so (Pausanias 2.22.7). Through her father, she belonged to the cursed House of Atreus, a family marked by betrayal, murder, revenge, and inherited guilt.

Daughter of Agamemnon

Iphigenia’s story is inseparable from Agamemnon’s role as leader of the Greek army. Agamemnon was the brother of Menelaus, whose wife Helen was taken to Troy by Paris. Because of the old oath sworn by Helen’s suitors (Apollodorus, Library 3.10.9), the Greek kings gathered to recover her. As the most powerful ruler among them, Agamemnon became commander of the expedition.

Daughter of Clytemnestra

Iphigenia was also central to the later hatred between Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. To Clytemnestra, the sacrifice or near-sacrifice of Iphigenia was not only a political act but the murder of her child. This grief became one of the main reasons she later killed Agamemnon after he returned from Troy (Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1412–1418).

Iphigenia and the Trojan War

The Greek Fleet at Aulis

Before the Greek army could sail to Troy, the fleet gathered at Aulis, a harbor in Boeotia. The army was ready, the ships were prepared, and the kings were assembled. But the winds would not blow, and the expedition could not begin (Apollodorus, Epitome 3.21; Aeschylus, Agamemnon 184–204).

The Anger of Artemis

The seer Calchas revealed that Artemis was angry. Ancient sources give different reasons for her anger. In the Cypria (as summarized by Proclus), Agamemnon killed a stag in the hunt and boasted that he was a better hunter than the goddess; Sophocles has him kill a stag in her grove (Electra 566–576); Apollodorus says he claimed that even Artemis could not have shot so well, and adds that Atreus had once failed to sacrifice a golden lamb to her (Epitome 3.21). In Aeschylus she is angry at the omen of two eagles devouring a pregnant hare (Agamemnon 134–155). Whatever the reason, Artemis stopped the winds and demanded payment before the Greeks could sail.

Calchas’ Prophecy

Calchas declared that the fleet would not leave Aulis unless Agamemnon sacrificed the fairest of his daughters, Iphigenia (Apollodorus, Epitome 3.21). This placed Agamemnon in one of the darkest situations in Greek mythology. As a father, he should protect his daughter. As commander, he was under pressure from the whole Greek army to make the war possible.

Iphigenia at Aulis

The False Wedding to Achilles

To bring Iphigenia to Aulis, Agamemnon sent word to Clytemnestra that their daughter was to marry Achilles; in Apollodorus it is Odysseus and Talthybius who go to fetch her, while in Euripides Agamemnon writes the letter himself (Apollodorus, Epitome 3.22; Euripides, Iphigenia at Aulis 98–105). Clytemnestra came with Iphigenia, believing she was taking part in a royal wedding. In truth, the wedding was a lie meant to bring Iphigenia to the place of sacrifice.

Clytemnestra Learns the Truth

When Clytemnestra learned what was planned, she was horrified. She begged Agamemnon to spare their daughter and condemned the deception. In Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis Agamemnon has second thoughts and sends a second letter to stop her coming, but Menelaus intercepts it; when the truth comes out, this moment becomes a family tragedy as much as a war story. The Greek army waits for wind, but inside Agamemnon’s family, trust has already been destroyed.

Achilles’ Role

Achilles was angered when he discovered that his name had been used in the false marriage plan. In Euripides’ version, he promises to defend Iphigenia, partly because he has been insulted by the deception and partly because he is moved by her danger; Iphigenia herself then refuses to let him fight the army for her. This brings tension into the Greek camp before the army ever reaches Troy.

The Sacrifice of Iphigenia

Iphigenia’s Choice

In some versions, Iphigenia is terrified and begs for her life. In Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis she first pleads with her father, then accepts death, saying that her sacrifice will allow the Greeks to sail and win freedom and glory for Greece (Iphigenia at Aulis 1368–1401). This change does not remove the horror of the story, but it gives Iphigenia a voice and a form of tragic courage.

Death at Aulis

One version says that Iphigenia was truly sacrificed. Aeschylus describes her father ordering the attendants to lift her over the altar like a goat, gagged so that she could not curse the house (Agamemnon 228–247). Her death allowed the winds to rise, and the Greek fleet sailed to Troy. In this version, the Trojan War begins with the blood of Agamemnon’s own daughter, making the whole expedition morally stained from the start.

Saved by Artemis

Another important version says that Artemis saved Iphigenia at the final moment. The goddess replaced her with a deer on the altar and carried Iphigenia away to Tauris (Apollodorus, Epitome 3.22; Cypria, in Proclus’ summary). Apollodorus adds that some said Artemis made her immortal. This version became central to later stories, especially Euripides’ Iphigenia in Tauris, where Iphigenia herself says she was snatched away and a deer was put in her place (Iphigenia in Tauris 26–30).

Iphigenia in Tauris

Priestess of Artemis

In the rescue version, Iphigenia did not die at Aulis. Artemis took her to Tauris, a distant land on the Black Sea, and made her a priestess (Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris). Herodotus says that the Tauri themselves identified the maiden goddess to whom they sacrificed castaways with Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon (Herodotus 4.103). There, Iphigenia served the goddess in a foreign temple. Her old Greek life was lost, and she lived far from her family, who believed she was dead.

The Taurian Custom

In Euripides’ Iphigenia in Tauris, the people of Tauris, whose king is Thoas, sacrifice strangers to Artemis. As priestess, Iphigenia must prepare foreign visitors for the rite, though others perform the killing. This creates a dark reversal: the girl who was nearly sacrificed now serves at a place where others are sacrificed.

A Life Between Death and Survival

Iphigenia’s life in Tauris is strange because she is both saved and exiled. She escapes death at Aulis, but she is removed from Greece and from her family. Her survival is not simple happiness; it is a life shaped by loss, ritual, and longing for home.

Iphigenia and Orestes

Orestes Comes to Tauris

Years later, Iphigenia’s brother Orestes came to Tauris with his friend Pylades. Orestes had killed Clytemnestra to avenge Agamemnon and was pursued by the Erinyes. Apollo told him to go to Tauris and bring back the image of Artemis to Athens, where he would find release (Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris).

The Brother and Sister Recognition

Orestes and Pylades were captured and brought to Iphigenia for sacrifice. At first, she did not know that one of the strangers was her brother. Iphigenia offered to spare one of them if he would carry a letter to Argos; when Pylades was about to take it, she read the letter aloud to him, and the contents revealed to Orestes who she was. Through questions, memories, and signs, the truth was confirmed. The recognition of Iphigenia and Orestes is one of the most important scenes in the later myth.

Escape From Tauris

Once Iphigenia recognized Orestes, she planned their escape. She used her role as priestess to trick the Taurians, claiming that the strangers were polluted by the blood of their mother and that the statue of Artemis needed purification by the sea. This allowed Iphigenia, Orestes, and Pylades to flee with the sacred image. At the end of the play Athena orders Orestes to found a sanctuary at Halae in Attica, where the image will be set, and tells Iphigenia that she will be keeper of the keys of Artemis at Brauron (Euripides, Iphigenia in Tauris 1446–1467). Pausanias reports the legend that Iphigenia landed at Brauron with the image of Artemis, and the Spartans claimed that the image of Artemis Orthia was the one that Orestes and Iphigenia took from the Tauric land (Pausanias 1.33.1, 3.16.7).

Iphigenia and the House of Atreus

The Family Curse

Iphigenia belonged to the House of Atreus, one of the most cursed families in Greek mythology. The crimes of Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Aegisthus, Orestes, and others are connected by cycles of revenge (Apollodorus, Epitome 2.10–14; 6.23). Iphigenia’s story is one of the most painful moments in that chain.

The Cause of Clytemnestra’s Revenge

When Agamemnon returned from Troy, Clytemnestra killed him with the help of Aegisthus. In Aeschylus she gives several reasons for the murder, and Iphigenia is the first she names (Agamemnon 1412–1418); Homer, by contrast, blames Aegisthus and Clytemnestra and says nothing of Iphigenia (Odyssey 3.193–198; 11.409–434). Agamemnon had sacrificed, or tried to sacrifice, their daughter for the sake of war. Clytemnestra never forgave him.

Orestes and the Next Generation

Orestes later killed Clytemnestra to avenge Agamemnon, continuing the family curse. In the Tauris version, Iphigenia and Orestes are reunited after these events. Their story offers one of the few moments of repair in the House of Atreus, as brother and sister escape together instead of destroying each other.

Iphigenia’s Role and Symbolism

The Cost of War

Before the Greeks can fight the Trojans, they must face the death of a Greek daughter. In Aeschylus the chorus recalls that Agamemnon made his child an offering to begin a war fought for a woman (Agamemnon 224–227), and Euripides makes Iphigenia speak of dying for Greece so that Greeks should not be carried off by barbarians (Iphigenia at Aulis 1378–1384).

Victim and Heroine

Iphigenia is deceived, brought to Aulis, and placed under the power of kings, soldiers, and gods. In Aeschylus she is voiceless; Euripides gives her speech and a choice.

Artemis and the Maiden

Iphigenia is strongly linked with Artemis, whether as the goddess who demands her sacrifice or as the goddess who saves her from it. Local cults kept the connection: Pausanias saw a shrine of the heroine Iphigenia at Megara and an Artemis surnamed Iphigenia at Hermione (1.43.1, 2.35.1), and he reports that Hesiod in the Catalogue of Women said she did not die but became Hecate by the will of Artemis (1.43.1). Whichever version is followed, the goddess shapes Iphigenia’s fate. In Tauris, Iphigenia becomes Artemis’ priestess, living under the same divine power that once nearly killed her.

Iphigenia in Ancient Literature

Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis

Euripides’ Iphigenia at Aulis is the most famous ancient treatment of Iphigenia before the Trojan War. It shows Agamemnon’s fear, Clytemnestra’s grief, Achilles’ anger, and Iphigenia’s movement from terror to acceptance. The play turns the Greek fleet’s delay into a deep family tragedy.

Euripides’ Iphigenia in Tauris

Euripides’ Iphigenia in Tauris tells the later version in which Iphigenia survives and becomes a priestess of Artemis. The play focuses on her meeting with Orestes, their recognition, and their escape from Tauris with the image of the goddess.

Aeschylus’ Agamemnon

Aeschylus’ Agamemnon remembers the sacrifice of Iphigenia as one of the dark causes behind Agamemnon’s death. Clytemnestra’s murder of Agamemnon is tied to the pain of losing their daughter at Aulis.

Later Mythic Tradition

Later summaries and local traditions kept both versions of Iphigenia’s fate alive. Some remembered her as dead at Aulis, or buried at Megara (Pausanias 1.43.1). Others linked her with Tauris, Brauron, Halae, and the worship of Artemis, or made her a daughter of Theseus (Pausanias 2.22.7). Hesiod made her Hecate (Pausanias 1.43.1). This variety shows how flexible her myth became in Greek religion and storytelling.

Misconceptions and Lesser-Known Facts

Iphigenia’s Fate Is Not the Same in Every Version

A common mistake is to say only that Iphigenia was sacrificed. In some myths, she did die at Aulis. In others, Artemis rescued her and replaced her with a deer. Both versions were known in antiquity.

Achilles Was Not Truly Her Bridegroom

In the famous Aulis story, Achilles’ name was used to lure Iphigenia to the camp. He did not arrange the marriage, and in Euripides’ version he is angered when he learns how his name has been used.

Iphigenia Was Not Responsible for the Trojan War

Iphigenia did not cause the war. The war was caused by the taking of Helen, the oath of Tyndareus, the choices of Paris, Menelaus, Agamemnon, and the will of the gods. Iphigenia became part of the war because others decided that her life was the price of sailing.

Her Story Explains Clytemnestra’s Hatred

Without Iphigenia, Clytemnestra’s murder of Agamemnon is harder to understand. The death or near-death of her daughter at Aulis gives Clytemnestra a strong motive for revenge after the Trojan War.

Iphigenia Later Saves Orestes

In the Tauris version, Iphigenia is not only saved; she later saves her brother. By recognizing Orestes and planning their escape, she helps bring part of the broken family back together.

Unraveling Iphigenia: The Daughter at the Beginning of War

Iphigenia’s story is one of the most painful myths connected with the Trojan War. The Greek fleet gathers for the expedition against Troy, but the price of sailing is placed on a young woman who did not choose the war. In the Tauris story she survives, becomes a priestess in a foreign land, and later helps save Orestes.

Iphigenia Sources

The story of Iphigenia at Aulis is told most fully in Euripides’ “Iphigenia at Aulis” (98–105, 1368–1401), where Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Achilles, and Iphigenia face the demand for her sacrifice before the Greek fleet can sail to Troy. Aeschylus’ “Agamemnon” (134–155, 184–247, 1412–1418) also recalls the sacrifice and connects it with Clytemnestra’s later revenge against Agamemnon; Sophocles gives the stag in Artemis’ grove (“Electra” 566–576) and Euripides the list of Agamemnon’s children (“Orestes” 22–24).

The later story of Iphigenia in Tauris is told in Euripides’ “Iphigenia in Tauris” (26–30, 1446–1467), where Iphigenia serves Artemis as priestess, recognizes her brother Orestes, and escapes with him and Pylades. The sacrifice and rescue are summarized in Apollodorus’ Epitome (3.21–22), and the stag and the substitution already stood in the Cypria (in Proclus’ summary), which also made Iphigenia and Iphianassa two sisters (Cypria fr. 14). Local traditions are in Pausanias (1.33.1, 1.43.1, 2.22.7, 2.35.1, 3.16.7) and Herodotus (4.103); Homer (Iliad 9.142–145) names three daughters of Agamemnon but not Iphigenia; Hesiod’s Catalogue of Women (fr. 71, in Pausanias 1.43.1) made her Hecate.

See Also: Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Orestes, Electra, Artemis, Achilles, Calchas, Pylades, Hecate