“for I will not lend myself to thy husband’s subtle tricks; no! for it will be my name that kills thy child, although it wieldeth not the steel. Thy own husband is the actual cause, but I shall no longer be guiltless..”
~ ‘Iphigenia at Aulis’ by Euripides (Edward P. Coleridge translation. GB5 - p. 433)
The play opens at Agamemnon’s tent on the sea coast at Aulis, where Agamemnon is facing a dilemma and is writing and rewriting a letter. The Greek army is stranded at the coast due to unfavorable winds and not able to set out for the war with Troy. Agamemnon had reluctantly agreed to sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to appease Artemis so that the fleet could sail. He had sent a letter to his wife Clytemnestra asking her to bring Iphigenia to Aulis so she could wed Achilles. But, he is now having second thoughts and has written another letter to his wife to not get their daughter. He explains the situation to his attendant and gives him the letter. But his brother Menelaus intercepts the attendant, snatches the letter and confronts him, calling him a coward. He says Agamemnon wanted the leadership of all the Greeks and needs to do what is right since he has the responsibility.
Clytaemnestra arrives with Iphigenia and baby Orestes, joyfully expecting a wedding. They accidentally meet Achilles, who knows nothing about the wedding. Clytaemnestra is distraught at learning the truth, and Achilles is upset that his name was used for this treachery, vowing to make things right. Clytaemnestra confronts her husband, and Iphigenia pleads with her father not to ‘destroy her before her time’ and says that she was the first to call him father. Agamemnon says that he loves his family but is duty-bound to his armies. Achilles returns and says that he cannot prevent the sacrifice since he faced violent opposition from the entire army, including his own Myrmidons.