Agamemnon (died 1183 BC) was the king of Mycenae from 1215 to 1283 BC, succeeding Thyestes. He was descended from Tantalus, and was from a family that was infamous for rape, murder, incest, and treachery, and when he returned home from leading the Hellenic forces during the Trojan War, he was murdered by Aegisthus, who was adulterous with Agamemnon's wife.
Biography[]
Agamemnon in battle.
Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, and was the brother of Menelaus of Sparta. Agamemnon's family was notorious for rape, murder, incest, and treachery, and he was a descendant of Tantalus, a mortal who was confined in Tartarus for eternity, being tortured by his inability to drink water or eat food that was in front of him but would leave his reach. He succeeded his father after his father was killed by Aegisthus, an enemy of Atreus' family (he was born to his father Thyestes and his sister Pelopia; Thyestes raped Pelopia to give birth to him, as a prophecy said that their son would kill Atreus). Agamemnon effectively ruled Ancient Greece, and was a powerful ruler.
When King Menelaus' wife Helen of Troy was taken to Troy by Prince Paris of Troy as his wife, Menelaus called on the Greek cities to ally against Troy and seize the city. Agamemnon was chosen to lead the 100,000 Greek troops from a variety of realms across the sea, and after landing on Mysia in northwest Turkey and defeating the locals, they headed south for a few hundred miles, they arrived at Troy in 1193 BC. They laid siege to the city for ten years, and Agamemnon was not a brave warrior, remaining behind the battle lines and giving orders while not actually leading his men. Agamemnon ordered the sack of Troy once the city fell to Odysseus' Trojan Horse strategy ten years later in 1183 BC, and the city burned to the ground as its last people fled to far-off places.
Agamemnon's homecoming was unfortunate, for he found that Aegisthus was having a covert relationship with Agamemnon's wife Clytemnestra. He was murdered by Aegisthus and Clytemnestra when he returned home along with his followers.
In a later myth, in 422 BC, Kassandra the Eagle Bearer was tasked by Hades with recruiting four heroes to guard the gates to the Underworld after slaying Cerberus. One of these heroes was Agamemnon, who resided in the Pit of Deprivation in the Chasm of Torment. Kassandra fought Agamemnon and defeated him, tasking the Mycenaean with guarding the Gate of the Unbowed.
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