Originally posted by TOC:
However, the winds wouldn't blow the way they ought to blow to bring the ships to Troy, and Agamemnon grew desperate. So what did he do? Well, he sacrificed his daughter Iphigenia to the gods to get a favorable wind, of course.
I can't believe I'm getting involved in this, but as I had to do a lot of research into the story of Agamemnon for two of my AS Levels, I feel I must wade into this discussion. There are lots of different retellings of stories surrounding Atreus' family (Atreus being the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus), and in some, perhaps most, Agamemnon *did* sacrifice Iphigenia at Aulis. But I am aware that there is at least one version in which the goddess Artemis replaced Iphigenia with an animal, I think a goat, for Agamemnon to sacrifice. Iphigenia became a priestess and then later helped her brother Orestes while he was escaping the Furies after killing Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus (Agamemnon's cousin and Clytaemnestra's lover), but I will admit that I don't know so much about this part of the story as it was mainly Odysseus, Troy and Cassandra I had been concerned with.
Having said all that, and trying to get back onto the original subject, I think Lynn's story idea is an interesting one, if someone wished to navigate this minefield that has opened up to write it. And (with a bit of luck) this is all I'm going to say on this topic!
- Alisha
