Iphigenia

Iphigenia is a figure in Greek mythology, the daughter of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and Clytemnestra, and the sister of Orestes. She is best known for her involvement in the myths surrounding the Greek expedition against Troy, where her fate is tied to whether the fleet can sail.

In the mythic tradition, the Greeks must appease Artemis in order to secure favorable winds for their voyage to Troy. The details vary by source: in many versions, Agamemnon contemplates sacrificing his daughter, with outcomes ranging from Artemis rescuing or sparing her to her being sacrificed; in other variants she is sent to Tauris to serve as a priestess of Artemis. The core themes are piety, duty, and the conflict between human and divine demands.

The most influential literary treatments are Euripides’ two tragedies, Iphigenia at Aulis and Iphigenia in Tauris. Iphigenia at Aulis dramatizes the crisis at the outset of the expedition and the strain it places on family loyalties. Iphigenia in Tauris portrays her as a priestess of Artemis in Tauris, where she encounters her brother Orestes (with his companion Pylades) and helps them escape, after which they return with the sacred statue of Artemis to Greece.

Iphigenia’s story has shaped later art and culture, including the opera Iphigénie en Tauride by Gluck, which adapts the myth for a different era. Across its variants, the tale of Iphigenia has served as a focal point for themes of filial duty, the limits of human sacrifice, and the intervention of the divine.