Iphigenia, daughter of Agamemnon, a voluntary victim saved by Artemis. Iphigenia in Taurida Father of Iphigenia 9 letters crossword clue

For tragedians who worked on this plot, the most common version of the myth was the following.

Mythology

Iphigenia (aka Iphimede, saved by Artemis) is the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra (according to Stesichorus and others, their adopted daughter and the natural daughter of Theseus and Helen). She was born in the year when Agamemnon promised Artemis the most beautiful gift ever born.

When the Greeks set off for Troy and were ready to set off from the Boeotian harbor of Aulis, Agamemnon (or Menelaus) insulted Artemis by killing a doe dedicated to her while hunting. Artemis was angry with Agamemnon for this, and also because Atreus did not sacrifice the golden lamb to her. The goddess sent calmness, and the Greek fleet could not set off. The soothsayer Calhant declared that the goddess could only be appeased by sacrificing Iphigenia, the most beautiful of Agamemnon’s daughters, to her. Agamemnon, at the insistence of Menelaus and the army, had to agree to this. Odysseus and Diomedes went to Clytemnestra for Iphigenia, and Odysseus lied that she was being given as a wife to Achilles. Kalkhant sacrificed her.

When she arrived there and everything was ready for the sacrifice, Artemis took pity and at the very moment of the slaughter she replaced Iphigenia with a goat, and kidnapped her on a cloud and took her to Taurida, instead of her a calf was placed on the altar.

Iphigenia in Tauris

According to an early version, Artemis made Iphigenia immortal. According to Hesiod in the List of Women and Stesichorus in the Oresteia, she did not die, but by the will of Artemis she became Hecate. According to Euphorion, she was sacrificed at Bravron and replaced with a she-bear. According to version, the goddess settled her on the White Island, named her Orsilokha and made her the wife of Achilles. According to Dictys of Crete, Achilles rescued Iphigenia and sent her to Scythia. Achilles followed Iphigenia to the White Island. She is revered by the Taurus as a goddess. According to another version, Iphigenia is the daughter of Agamemnon and Astynome. The Tauro-Scythians took her prisoner and made her a priestess of Artemis, that is, Selene.

According to the most famous version, in Tauris Iphigenia became a priestess of Artemis and killed wanderers brought there by a storm in front of her altar. Here Iphigenia was found by her brother Orestes, who arrived in Tauris, together with his friend Pylades, on the orders of the Delphic oracle, to take to Hellas the image of Artemis of Taurida, which, according to legend, fell from the sky. They returned home together. There was also disagreement about the place of death and burial of Iphigenia.

Returning from the Taurians, she landed in Bravron, leaving a wooden image of Artemis there, went to Athens and Argos (from Bravron the image was taken to Susa, and then Seleucus I gave it to the inhabitants of Syrian Laodicea). Orestes built a temple in Attica in Galla (next to Bravron), where the image is placed; Iphigenia was later buried in Bravron. According to the Megarian version, she died in Megara, where her sanctuary is. According to another version, the image of Artemis was kept in the temple of Artemis Orthia in Sparta. The image was also shown in Rhodes, Comana, and Syria. The statue of Iphigenia was in Aegir (Achaea). The Temple of Artemis Iphigenia was in Hermione.

In general, the name and cult of Iphigenia is found everywhere where Artemis was revered.

Agamemnon's daughter Ithianassa is also identified with Iphigenia.

Iphigenia on the world map

A rock called Iphigenia is located in Crimea within the village of Beregovoye (Kastropol)

The plot in ancient art

The protagonist of the tragedy of Aeschylus “Iphigenia [in Aulis]” (fr. 94 Radt), the tragedy of Sophocles “Iphigenia [in Aulis]” (fr. 305-308 Radt), the tragedies of Euripides “Iphigenia in Aulis” and “Iphigenia in Tauris”, the tragedy of an unknown author “Iphigenia in Aulis”, the tragedy of Polyidas (?) “Iphigenia in Tauris”, the tragedies of Ennius and Naevius “Iphigenia”, the comedy of Rintho “Iphigenia [in Aulis]” and “Iphigenia in Tauris”.

See Lycophron. Alexandra 180-199.

Image in new and contemporary art

: Samuel Koster, drama Iphigenia
- : Jean Rotrou, tragedy of Iphigenia in Aulis
: Johann Jakob Löwe, opera Iphigenia (libretto by Anton Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel)
: Racine, tragedy of Iphigenie
: Reinhard Kaiser, opera Iphigenia
: André Campra, opera Iphigenia in Taurida
: Domenico Scarlatti, opera Iphigenia in Aulis
: Antonio Caldara, opera Iphigenia in Aulis
: Leonardo Vinci, opera Iphigenia in Tauris
: Karl Heinrich Graun, opera Iphigenia in Aulis
: Niccolò Yomelli, opera Iphigenia in Aulis
: Tiepolo, fresco Sacrifice of Iphigenia
: Tommaso Traetta, opera Iphigenia in Taurida
: Baldassare Galuppi, opera Iphigenia in Tauris
: Gluck, opera Iphigenia in Aulis
: Gluck, opera Iphigenia in Taurida
1779: Vicente Martin y Soler, opera Iphigenia in Aulis
1779-: Goethe, tragedy of Iphigenia in Tauris
: Niccolo Piccini, musical tragedy Iphigenia in Tauris
: Luigi Cherubini, opera Iphigenia in Aulis
: Simon Mayr, opera Iphigenia in Aulis (libretto by Apostolo Zeno)
: Alfonso Reyes, dramatic poem Merciless Iphigenia
1924: Teresa de la Parra, novel Iphigenia
: Mircea Eliade, drama Iphigenia
: Gerhart Hauptmann, drama Iphigenia at Delphi
: Gerhart Hauptmann, drama Iphigenia in Aulis
: André Jolivet, music for the production of Racine's tragedy Iphigenie in Aulis
: Ildebrando Pizzetti, opera Iphigenia
: Rainer Werner Fassbinder, film Iphigenia in Tauris by Johann Wolfgang Goethe
: Michalis Cacoyannis film Iphigenia (music by Mikis Theodorakis)
: Volker Braun, drama Iphigenia on the loose

In astronomy

(112) Iphigenia - an asteroid discovered in 1870

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Excerpt characterizing Iphigenia

Some of the generals, in a quiet voice, in a completely different range than when they spoke at the council, conveyed something to the commander-in-chief.
Malasha, who had been waiting for dinner for a long time, carefully came down from the floor with her bare feet, clinging to the ledges of the stove with her bare feet, and, getting mixed up between the legs of the generals, slipped through the door.
Having released the generals, Kutuzov sat for a long time, leaning on the table, and kept thinking about the same terrible question: “When, when was it finally decided that Moscow was abandoned? When was what was done that resolved the issue, and who is to blame for this?”
“I didn’t expect this, this,” he said to Adjutant Schneider, who came to him late at night, “I didn’t expect this!” I didn't think that!
“You need to rest, Your Grace,” said Schneider.
- No! “They will eat horse meat like the Turks,” Kutuzov shouted without answering, hitting the table with his plump fist, “they too will, if only...

In contrast to Kutuzov, at the same time, in an event even more important than the retreat of the army without a fight, in the abandonment of Moscow and its burning, Rostopchin, who appears to us as the leader of this event, acted completely differently.
This event - the abandonment of Moscow and its burning - was as inevitable as the retreat of the troops without a fight for Moscow after the Battle of Borodino.
Every Russian person, not on the basis of conclusions, but on the basis of the feeling that lies in us and lay in our fathers, could have predicted what happened.
Starting from Smolensk, in all the cities and villages of the Russian land, without the participation of Count Rastopchin and his posters, the same thing happened that happened in Moscow. The people blithely waited for the enemy, did not rebel, did not worry, did not tear anyone to pieces, but calmly waited for their fate, feeling the strength in themselves in the most difficult moment to find what they had to do. And as soon as the enemy approached, the richest elements of the population left, leaving their property; the poorest remained and set fire and destroyed what was left.
The consciousness that it will be so, and will always be so, lay and lies in the soul of the Russian person. And this consciousness and, moreover, the premonition that Moscow would be taken, lay in the Russian Moscow society of the 12th year. Those who began to leave Moscow back in July and early August showed that they were expecting this. Those who left with what they could seize, leaving their houses and half their property, acted this way due to that latent patriotism, which is expressed not by phrases, not by killing children to save the fatherland, etc. by unnatural actions, but which is expressed imperceptibly, simply, organically and therefore always produces the most powerful results.
“It is a shame to run from danger; only cowards are fleeing Moscow,” they were told. Rastopchin in his posters inspired them that leaving Moscow was shameful. They were ashamed to be called cowards, they were ashamed to go, but they still went, knowing that it was necessary. Why were they going? It cannot be assumed that Rastopchin frightened them with the horrors that Napoleon produced in the conquered lands. They left, and the first to leave were rich, educated people who knew very well that Vienna and Berlin remained intact and that there, during their occupation by Napoleon, the inhabitants had fun with the charming Frenchmen, whom Russian men and especially ladies loved so much at that time.
They traveled because for the Russian people there could be no question: whether it would be good or bad under the rule of the French in Moscow. It was impossible to be under French control: that was the worst thing. They left before the Battle of Borodino, and even faster after the Battle of Borodino, despite appeals for protection, despite statements by the commander-in-chief of Moscow about his intention to raise Iverskaya and go to fight, and to the balloons that were supposed to destroy the French, and despite all that nonsense that Rastopchin talked about in his posters. They knew that the army had to fight, and that if it couldn’t, then they couldn’t go to the Three Mountains with the young ladies and servants to fight Napoleon, but that they had to leave, no matter how sorry it was to leave their property to destruction. They left and did not think about the majestic significance of this huge, rich capital, abandoned by the inhabitants and, obviously, burned (a large abandoned wooden city had to burn); they left each for themselves, and at the same time, only because they left, that magnificent event took place, which will forever remain the best glory of the Russian people. That lady who, back in June, with her araps and firecrackers, rose from Moscow to the Saratov village, with a vague consciousness that she was not Bonaparte’s servant, and with fear that she would not be stopped on the orders of Count Rastopchin, did simply and truly that great the case that saved Russia. Count Rostopchin, who either shamed those who were leaving, then took away public places, then gave out useless weapons to drunken rabble, then raised images, then forbade Augustine to take out relics and icons, then seized all the private carts that were in Moscow, then one hundred and thirty-six carts carried away a balloon made by Leppich, either hinting that he would burn Moscow, or telling how he burned down his house and wrote a proclamation to the French, where he solemnly reproached them for ruining his orphanage; either accepted the glory of burning Moscow, then renounced it, then ordered the people to catch all the spies and bring them to him, then reproached the people for this, then expelled all the French from Moscow, then left Madame Aubert Chalmet in the city, who formed the center of the entire French Moscow population , and without much guilt he ordered the old venerable postal director Klyucharyov to be captured and taken into exile; either he gathered people to the Three Mountains to fight the French, then, in order to get rid of these people, he gave them a person to kill and he himself left for the back gate; either he said that he would not survive the misfortune of Moscow, or he wrote poems in French in albums about his participation in this matter - this man did not understand the significance of the event that was taking place, but just wanted to do something himself, to surprise someone, to do something patriotically heroic and, like a boy, he frolicked over the majestic and inevitable event of the abandonment and burning of Moscow and tried with his small hand to either encourage or retard the flow of the huge stream of people that carried him along with it.

Helen, having returned with the court from Vilna to St. Petersburg, was in a difficult situation.
In St. Petersburg, Helen enjoyed the special patronage of a nobleman who occupied one of the highest positions in the state. In Vilna, she became close to a young foreign prince. When she returned to St. Petersburg, the prince and the nobleman were both in St. Petersburg, both were claiming their rights, and Helen was faced with a new task in her career: to maintain her close relationship with both without offending either.
What would have seemed difficult and even impossible for another woman never made Countess Bezukhova think twice about it, and it was not without reason that she apparently enjoyed the reputation of being the smartest woman. If she began to hide her actions, to extricate herself from an awkward situation by cunning, she would thereby ruin her case, recognizing herself as guilty; but Helen, on the contrary, immediately, as truly great person, who can do whatever she wants, put herself in the position of being right, in which she sincerely believed, and everyone else in the position of guilt.
The first time a young foreign person allowed himself to reproach her, she, proudly raising her beautiful head and turning half a turn to him, firmly said:
- Voila l"egoisme et la cruaute des hommes! Je ne m"attendais pas autre chose. Za femme se sacrifie pour vous, elle souffre, et voila sa recompense. Quel droit avez vous, Monseigneur, de me demander compte de mes amities, de mes affections? C"est un homme qui a ete plus qu"un pere pour moi. [This is the selfishness and cruelty of men! I didn't expect anything better. The woman sacrifices herself to you; she suffers, and this is her reward. Your Highness, what right do you have to demand from me an account of my affections and friendly feelings? This is a man who was more than a father to me.]

Iphigenia. Painting by A. Feuerbach, 1862

Soon all the comrades-in-arms of the Atrides gathered in Aulis and were ready to sail to Ilion a second time. But their departure was slowed down for a long time: Artemis raised a wind unfavorable for the Greeks over the sea. The goddess was angry with Agamemnon because he once killed a doe dedicated to her and, having killed, proudly exclaimed: “Artemis herself could not have killed the fleet-footed beast more dexterously!” The Achaeans, eager to fight the enemy, had to wait for a change in the wind and spend time in inaction. To keep them busy and relieve boredom, Palamedes invented various games; but neither games nor combat exercises could calm the warriors. To complete the misfortunes, destructive, widespread diseases appeared in the Achaean camp; the grumbling troops were ready to rebel against their leaders. At this time, the prophetic Calchas announced to the leaders of the Achaean army: only then will the goddess bow to mercy and turn away death from the Achaeans, when the daughter of Agamemnon, Iphigenia, is sacrificed to her.

Initially, Calchas' fortune telling was known only to Agamemnon, Menelaus and Odysseus. Agamemnon did not agree to put to death the most beloved of his daughters and was rather ready to renounce the campaign and all glory; he called the herald Talthybius to him and ordered him to go around the tents of the Achaeans and disband the squads. Menelaus tried with all his might to convince his brother of the need to sacrifice his daughter for the common good; He convinced and begged him for a long time, and Agamemnon finally gave in, sent a messenger to his wife with a letter and ordered her to immediately send Iphigenia to the Aulid camp: Achilles, Agamemnon wrote, does not want to go on a campaign until he receives Iphigenia’s hand. Soon, however, fatherly love in all its strength awakened again in the king’s heart; secretly from everyone, he wrote a letter to Clytemnestra at night and ordered her not to send her daughter to Aulis: Achilles allegedly agreed to postpone the marriage. That same night he gave this letter to one of his old slaves and ordered him to hurry to Argos. Menelaus, afraid that his brother would abandon his decision to sacrifice his daughter to the angry Artemis, wandered around his tent all night and caught a slave with a letter at the very moment he wanted to leave the camp. Having read the letter, Menelaus hastily entered the tent of King Agamemnon and began to reproach him and shower him with bitter reproaches. “Do you remember, brother,” he exclaimed indignantly, “how you, wanting to acquire supreme power over the army, begged all the Achaeans to go to battle against Troy? At that time you opened your doors to everyone and was kind to everyone, tried to please everyone , even the most insignificant in the army. But how quickly you changed, as soon as you achieved what you wanted: even your best friends did not recognize you, no one had access to you, this is not what worthy men do: the more their fate exalts them, the more they worry! about friends. When the wind was blowing against us at sea and the squads were grumbling and were ready to leave the camp and disperse in different directions, you were amazed and asked everyone in despair what you should do at that time, lest you lose power; over the army, not to lose glory. And when Calchas, enlightened by the revelation of the gods, ordered you to sacrifice your daughter to Artemis, you expressed your readiness to submit to the will of the angry goddess and sent a messenger for Iphigenia. Now, secretly from everyone, you send a new letter to your wife - you do not order her to send it. daughter, don’t you want to sacrifice her for our common good! You act the same as many: you strive for power and glory, but as soon as it comes to sacrifice, you retreat shamefully, refusing what has already been given to you. Just know: such weakness is disastrous; whoever wants to become the first among the people must be valiant and firm."

The reproaches of his brother filled the heart of King Agamemnon with sorrow and anger, but he curbed his anger and attempted to respond to Menelaus’s caustic speech calmly, without anger and passion. “Tell me,” he answered, why are you angry with me, what do you want from me? Do you want me to return Elena to you? But I cannot fulfill your desire, you see for yourself. You should first take care of your wife more carefully: it’s your fault that I did not save; and why should I atone for your guilt with a heavy, terrible sacrifice? And why should you not seek honor for me? I’m ready to commit a disastrous deed, but I changed my mind, changed my intention; you are mad, reproaching me: I cannot give my daughter to the slaughter in order to return my wife to you! I will never raise my hand against my daughter; I would be tormented day and night and shed bitter tears. , if he had committed this bloody deed."

The brothers continued to argue and reproach each other, when a herald entered and announced to Agamemnon that Iphigenia had already arrived in the camp. Clytemnestra herself brought her to Aulis, and she also brought Orestes. Tired of the long and difficult journey, they stopped outside the camp, at a spring, unharnessed their tired horses and set them loose across the meadow. The Achaeans hurried in crowds to look at the beautiful daughter of their leader and, not knowing anything about Agamemnon’s intentions, asked each other why the king ordered to bring his daughter to the military camp. Some believed that Agamemnon promised his daughter’s hand to one of the leaders and wanted to marry before setting off on a campaign; others thought that the king missed his family - that’s why he demanded both his wife and children to come to Aulis; some said: “It was not without reason that the princess arrived in our camp: she was doomed to sacrifice to Artemis, the ruler of Aulis.” Agamemnon himself was driven into despair by the news of the arrival of his wife and children. How can he now look at Clytemnestra? She went to him in the confidence that she was leading her daughter to the wedding altar, and must now find out that it was a deception: their daughter would not go to the wedding altar, but to the altar of the wrathful goddess! And Iphigenia herself - how she will burst into tears when she learns about her fate, how she will pray to her father so that he does not give her to death, does not condemn her to slaughter! Even Orestes, a baby, will not yet be able to understand what work is happening in the family, but he, too, will raise a cry and begin to cry after the others.

It was hard for Agamemnon; He suffered and grieved and did not find salvation for himself. His suffering appearance touched the heart of Menelaus: Menelaus felt sorry for him, and the unfortunate maid also felt sorry for him; He approached his brother, repented to him that he had insulted him with reproaches and angry, sarcastic speech, and renounced all his demands. “Wipe away your tears, brother, forgive me: I take back everything that I told you before. My mind has darkened; I was insane, like a weak-minded, passionate-hearted youth; now I see what it’s like to raise your hand against your children! Disband the squads, let’s disperse home; I will not allow you to make such an unheard of terrible sacrifice for me!” The noble word of his brother pleased Agamemnon, but did not dispel his sadness. “You said a kind, generous word, Menelaus,” answered Agamemnon, “but I cannot save my daughter now. The hosts of the Achaeans, gathered here in Aulis, will force me to sacrifice her. Calchas will proclaim the will of the goddess before all the people; what if the old man and agreed to remain silent - Odysseus knows his fortune-telling. Odysseus is ambitious and cunning and loved by the people; if he wants, he will disturb the whole army: they will kill you and me, and then Iphigenia if I flee from them to my kingdom - they, with the whole army, will kill him. They will follow me, destroy my cities and devastate my country. With such helpless grief the gods have visited me! I ask you one thing, brother: make sure that Clytemnestra knows nothing about the fate of her daughter until the very time when she falls under the sacrificial knife. At least this will ease my grief."

Meanwhile, Clytemnestra and Iphigenia entered the camp of Aulis and approached their husband’s tent. Menelaus left his brother, and Agamemnon went alone to meet his wife and children and tried to hide his sadness and despair. As soon as he had time to say a few words with Clytemnestra, Iphigenia ran up to him and, joyful, tenderly hugged her father. “How glad I am to see you again, after a long separation! But why are you so gloomy, what are you preoccupied with?” - “The leader has a lot to worry about, my child!”

- “Oh, you are full of worries, father; clear your brow, look at us: we are with you again; be cheerful, leave your severity.” - “I’m glad, child, that I see you so cheerful.” - “I’m glad, but tears are flowing from my eyes!” - “It pains me to think that soon we will part again, and part for a long time.” - “Oh, if only we could go on a journey with you.” - “Soon you will set off on a journey - a long journey, and during that journey you will remember your father!” - “Am I going to go alone or with my mother?” - “Alone: both father and mother will be far from you.” - “Whatever it is, my father, just quickly return to us from the campaign!” - “Before I set out on a campaign, I need to make a sacrifice here, and at this sacrifice you will not be an idle spectator.” Agamemnon could not continue further; conversation with her daughter, who had no presentiment of her imminent death; his eyes filled with tears again and, having caressed his daughter, he ordered her to go to the tent prepared for her. After Iphigenia had left, Clytemnestra began to ask her husband about the family and wealth of their daughter’s fiancé and about what had been prepared for the wedding celebration and what preparations still needed to be made. It was hard for Agamemnon to hide the murderous truth from his wife; He answered her questions gloomily and briefly and advised her to finally return from Aulis back to Mycenae and stay there until the wedding day: it is indecent, he said, for a woman to live in a military camp, between men, and the daughters left at home need mother's care and supervision. Clytemnestra did not listen to her husband and did not agree to leave him in charge of arranging the marriage celebration. Inconsolable, Agamemnon then left his tent and went to Calchas: he hoped that the seer would find, perhaps, a means to save his daughter from death.

A little later, Achilles hurriedly approached Agamemnon’s tent and began asking the slaves where he could find the king. Achilles could not control his Myrmidons: they demanded that Agamemnon either sail immediately from Aulis to the shores of Troy, or disband his squads; and Pelidus himself, whose heart ached due to fame, became unbearable for idle inaction. Clytemnestra heard the voice of Achilles and, having learned from the slaves who it was, came out of the tent to him and greeted him in a friendly manner, calling him his betrothed son-in-law. “What kind of engagement are you talking about?” the amazed Achilles asked her. “I never sought the hand of your daughter Iphigenia, and Agamemnon never said a word to me about the wedding.” Then Clytemnestra was ashamed and, embarrassed, stood in front of Achilles, lowering her eyes to the ground: her speech to the young man now seemed obscene to her, and who had not thought of marrying their daughter. Achilles tried to calm the confused queen. “Don’t be embarrassed,” he told her, “and don’t be angry with the one who made fun of you; forgive me that, amazed by your speeches, I saddened and confused you.” Then an old slave, whom Agamemnon had sent with a secret letter to Mycenae, came out to them from the tent; That slave served Clytemnestra’s father and followed her to her husband’s house. Trembling with fear, he revealed to his mistress that Agamemnon intended to sacrifice his daughter to Artemis. Clytemnestra was horrified, fell at the feet of Achilles and, sobbing, hugged his knees, “I am not ashamed,” she said, “to fall at your feet: I am mortal, you are the son of an immortal goddess. Help us, save my daughter Iphigenia. Wedding crown I placed it on her head when I brought her here to Aulis, and now I must dress her in grave vestments. Eternal shame will be on you if you do not protect and save us. I conjure you with everything that is dear to you, by your divine mother. protect us; you see, I do not seek protection at the altars, but fall at your knees. We have no defender here, no person who would stand for us; if you reject my prayers, my daughter will perish.”

Achilles was touched by the queen’s prayers and sobs and was indignant at Agamemnon for daring to abuse his name in order to deceive his wife and kidnap her daughter. Pelid raised the loudly moaning Clytemnestra and said to her: “I will be your protector, queen! I swear by Nereus, the divine parent of my mother Thetis: none of the Achaeans gathered in Aulis, not even Agamemnon himself, will touch your daughter Iphigenia. I would be the most despicable of cowards if I would allow my name to attract people to death! If I allow Agamemnon to carry out what he has planned, I will forever tarnish my name! This is what Pelid spoke to the queen and gave her advice - to first try to beg her husband, to soften his heart with prayer, for a kind word coming from the heart sometimes has more power than force. Having once again promised to be a vigilant defender of Iphigenia, Achilles left.

Returning to his tent with the firm intention of sacrificing his daughter to Artemis, Agamemnon with a feigned calm expression said to his wife: “Bring Iphigenia to me; I have already prepared everything for her marriage: the sacred water, the sacrificial flour, and the heifers whose blood is sprinkled are ready.” at marriages, altars of Artemis." “Sweet speeches flow from your lips,” exclaimed Clytemnestra, full of anger and horror. “The deed that you have planned is a terrible, villainous deed! Come here to us, my daughter, and know what your father wants to do to you; take it.” Orestes with me." And when Iphigenia entered her father’s tent, Clytemnestra continued: “Look, here she stands in front of you - submissive, ready to obey your will in everything. Tell me: do you really want to give your daughter to slaughter?” “Woe to me, the unfortunate one,” Agamemnon exclaimed in despair. “I am lost, my secret is revealed!” “I know everything,” Clytemnestra continued. “Your very silence and your sighs expose you. Why are you dooming our daughter to death? To return Helen to Menelaus? To tell the truth, a great goal worthy of bloody, terrible victim! Because of an evil wife, sacrifice children, give away for obscene things that are most dear to us! When you go to a foreign land and I return home, how will I look at Iphigenia’s empty chambers and what will I say to the other daughters when they ask me about my sister? And you - how dare you raise your hands to the gods, stained with the blood of your daughter: why should a child killer pray to the gods! Tell me also: why should our daughter Iphigenia fall victim at the altar of the goddess? Why don’t you call the leaders gathered in Aulis and tell them: “Do you want, Argives, to sail to the Phrygian land? Let’s cast lots for the sacrifice: let the lot decide whose daughter should fall at the altar of Artemis.” Why doesn't Menelaus want to sacrifice his daughter Hermione? After all, you are going to war because of his resentment? Why are you silent? Answer - convict me if my word is false; If I’m telling the truth, come to your senses, don’t raise your hand against Iphigenia, don’t give her up to be slaughtered!”

Then Iphigenia herself fell at Agamemnon’s feet and, sobbing, began to beg him for mercy. “Oh, my father!” said the maiden. “If only the mouth of Orpheus were given to me, moving mountains! But my word is powerless, my strength is in tears and lamentations. I pray and conjure you: do not destroy me; the light of the sun is sweet to me, do not send me away to the abode of darkness! What do I care about Paris and Helen? Is it my fault that Paris kidnapped his wife from the king of Sparta! Oh, my brother, intercede for my sister; cry with me, pray to my father with your infant tears, so that he does not condemn me to death. ! Have pity on me, father, have mercy on me! That's what Iphigenia said.

Agamemnon was implacable and did not change his decision. “I know what I’m doing!” he exclaimed. “I love Iphigenia no less than you, wife; it’s hard for me to give her as a sacrifice to Artemis, but I can’t help but fulfill the will of the goddess. You see what a strong army we are surrounded by, how many mighty, copper-armored leaders have gathered here in Aulis: none of them will be near Troy unless I sacrifice my daughter, - Calchas announced this; and the squads of the Achaeans in Aulis are worried and grumbling that we have not sailed to Ilion for so long: they are impatient. take revenge on the daring kidnapper of Menelaus' wife. If I resist the will of the goddess, proclaimed by Calchas, the Achaeans will kill us all. It is not for the sake of Menelaus that I sacrifice my daughter, but for the good of all Hellas, the Achaeans will force me to do this!"

Thus spoke Agamemnon, and having spoken, he left the tent. And as soon as he had time to leave, a noise arose in the camp of Aulis, screams and the ringing of weapons were heard; Achilles hastily ran to Agamemnon's tent and began to put on armor, as if preparing to go into battle. The entire Achaean army was in excitement. Odysseus revealed to the people what he had heard from Calchas, and the soldiers became agitated and were ready to force Agamemnon to sacrifice his daughter. Achilles stood alone against everyone and solemnly announced that he would not allow the knife to be raised against Iphigenia, promised to him as his wife; Everyone rushed at the valiant young man, even the Myrmidons themselves, and would have stoned him on the spot if he had not managed to escape. In a countless crowd, with menacing shouts, the Achaeans, led by Odysseus, then went to the tent of Agamemnon and intended to immediately seize Iphigenia and lead her to the altar of Artemis. Achilles, dressed in battle armor, with a sword in his hand, was waiting for the crowd at the royal tent; he decided to repel the force by force and not betray Iphigenia. A bloody, terrible slaughter was to break out in Aulis in front of the tent of King Agamemnon.

Iphigenia suddenly broke free from the arms of her sobbing mother and exclaimed with heroic firmness: “Don’t cry, my mother, and don’t complain about your father: we cannot go against the will of fate. Our defender is generous and courageous, but he cannot defend you and me. Listen, what the gods have put on my heart. I no longer fear death and willingly go to the altar to die for the cause of Hellas. The eyes of all the Argives are now fixed on me, I open the way for them to hostile Troy, I will fall here, in Aulis, as a sacrifice for the honor of the Achaean wives. : a barbarian will never again dare to kidnap an Argive woman. A happy death will crown me with unfading glory - the glory of the liberator of my native land! The valiant son of Peleus should not sacrifice his life to save the maiden and fight for her with the entire Argive army. No, if Artemis chose. me as a sacrifice, I will not resist the will of the goddess and will willingly go to her altar. I am glad to fall under the priest’s knife, but you sail from Aulis to the shore of Troy, destroy her strongholds: the ruins of Troy will be my monument.”

"Generously your word, noble daughter of Agamemnon Iphigenia! – Achilles exclaimed enthusiastically. “Oh, how happy I would be if the gods were willing to give me your hand!” But think: death is terrible for the human soul; If you wish, I am ready to save you and take you from here to my home with my wife." - "The daughter of Tyndareus caused a lot of enmity between husbands, a lot of murders; Because of me, no blood will be shed: you will not raise your hand against any of the Achaeans, and you yourself will not fall under their swords.”

“If this is your will, worthy daughter of Hellas,” said Achilles, “I do not dare to contradict you and leave you; but if, when you come to the place of slaughter, you tremble in your heart and change your thoughts, then I will hasten to your aid and save you.” you from under the priest's knife."

After these words, Pelid left. Iphigenia began to console her sobbing mother and persuaded her not to grieve for her, not to mourn her, who was dying such a glorious death; then she called her father’s servants and ordered them to lead her to the place where the altar of Artemis was located in Aulis. Clytemnestra, at the insistence of her daughter, remained in the tent. The unfortunate queen began to sob loudly when she was left alone, and, sobbing, fell to the ground, tormented by grief and despair.

Sacrifice of Iphigenia at Aulis. Fresco from Pompeii

In front of the Achaean camp in Aulis, in a flowering meadow, in a sacred oak grove, stood the altar of Artemis; The Greeks gathered here and stood in a thick crowd around the altar of the goddess. Iphigenia, accompanied by servants, walked through the amazed crowd and stood next to her father. A heavy sigh escaped Agamemnon's chest; he turned away from his daughter and covered his face, wet with tears, with his clothes. Iphigenia, turning to her father, said: “Look at me, why are you turning your eyes away from me? I was not forced - I voluntarily came here to die for the Achaean people. Be happy, everyone, and may the gods grant you victory and a speedy return to native land! Let none of the Argives touch me: I myself will approach the altar and fearlessly present myself before the priest."

The entire army of the Greeks was amazed, seeing the heroic courage and generosity of the princess. The herald Talfibius ordered the crowd to remain silent. The prophetic priest Calchas, standing at the altar, drew a sharp sacrificial knife and put it in a golden basket, then put a crown on Iphigenia’s head. Achilles then approached the altar; He took a basket with sacrificial flour and a vessel with sacred water and, walking around the altar, sprinkled it with that water and thus cried out to Artemis: “Accept, O goddess, the sacrifice brought to you by the Achaean people and King Agamemnon; bow down to mercy, send us a prosperous voyage and victory over the people of Priam!" The Atrides, the entire Achaean army and all its leaders stood silently, with their eyes cast down to the ground. Calchas took the knife and raised it over the maiden: everything around fell silent; The Achaeans stood silently and, holding their breath, waited for the fateful moment. Suddenly, before the eyes of the Greeks gathered in Aulis, a great miracle took place! Calchas struck, but the minute the knife touched Iphigenia’s neck, the maiden disappeared, and in the place where she stood, a wounded doe appeared, enveloped in death trepidation. Calchas screamed in amazement, and the entire army of the Achaeans screamed. “You see, Achaeans?” the prophetic elder joyfully exclaimed. “This is the sacrifice the goddess chose for herself: she did not want her altar to be stained with the blood of the noble Iphigenia. Rejoice: the goddess has reconciled with us; she will now send us a happy voyage and victory over the power of Ilion “Be of good cheer; today we will leave Aulis and set off across the Aegean Sea.”

When the sacrificial animal was burned on the altar, and Calchas once again called on the goddess for help, the army joyfully and hastily ran to the ships: a fair wind was already beginning to blow. Agamemnon went to the tent to inform his wife about how the sacrifice ended; both of them were sure that Iphigenia was included in the host of immortals.

Based on materials from the book by G. Stoll “Myths of Classical Antiquity”

Their ships have gathered in the harbor of Aulis, in Boeotia, and are waiting for a fair wind. But there is still no tailwind. It turned out that Agamemnon angered Artemis. Either he killed a doe dedicated to her, which under no circumstances should have been killed, or he just killed a doe, but he boasted that Artemis herself could have envied such a shot. So the goddess became angry. She caused a calm, and the Greek fleet could not set off. We turned to the soothsayer for advice. The soothsayer Calhant declared that the goddess could only be appeased by sacrificing Iphigenia, the most beautiful of Agamemnon’s daughters, to her. At the insistence of Menelaus and the army, Agamemnon had to agree to this. Odysseus and Diomedes went to Clytemnestra for Iphigenia, and Odysseus lied that she was being given as a wife to Achilles.

Iphigenia arrived from Mycenae, accompanied by her mother and brother Orestes, happy and proud that she had been chosen by the famous hero. But in Aulis she learned that instead of a wedding, death awaited her on a sacrificial altar.

When Iphigenia was brought to the place, and everything was ready for the sacrifice, Artemis took pity and at the very moment of the slaughter she replaced Iphigenia with a doe, and abducted her on a cloud and carried her to Tauris.

Myth Iphigenia in Aulis

...the herald entered and announced to Agamemnon that Iphigenia had already arrived in the camp. Clytemnestra herself brought her to Aulis, and she also brought Orestes. Tired of the long and difficult journey, they stopped outside the camp, at a spring, unharnessed their tired horses and set them loose across the meadow. The Achaeans hurried in crowds to look at the beautiful daughter of their leader and, not knowing anything about Agamemnon’s intentions, asked each other why the king ordered to bring his daughter to the military camp. Some believed that Agamemnon promised his daughter’s hand to one of the leaders and wanted to marry before setting off on a campaign; others thought that the king missed his family - that’s why he demanded both his wife and children to come to Aulis; some said: “It was not without reason that the princess arrived in our camp: she was doomed to sacrifice to Artemis, the ruler of Aulis.” Agamemnon himself was driven into despair by the news of the arrival of his wife and children. How can he now look at Clytemnestra? She went to him in the confidence that she was leading her daughter to the wedding altar, and must now find out that it was a deception: their daughter would not go to the wedding altar, but to the altar of the wrathful goddess! And Iphigenia herself - how she will burst into tears when she learns about her fate, how she will pray to her father not to give her up to death, not to condemn her to slaughter! Even Orestes, a baby, will not yet be able to understand what work is happening in the family, but he, too, will raise a cry and begin to cry after the others.

It was hard for Agamemnon; He suffered and grieved and did not find salvation for himself. His suffering appearance touched the heart of Menelaus: Menelaus felt sorry for him, and the unfortunate maid also felt sorry for him; He approached his brother, repented to him that he had insulted him with reproaches and angry, sarcastic speech, and renounced all his demands. “Wipe away your tears, brother, forgive me: I take back everything I told you before. My mind was darkened; I was crazy, like a weak-minded, passionate-hearted youth; I see now what it’s like to raise your hand against your children! Disband the squads, let's go home; I will not allow you to make such an unheard of terrible sacrifice for me!” The noble word of his brother pleased Agamemnon, but did not dispel his sadness. “You said a kind, generous word, Menelaus,” answered Agamemnon, “but now I cannot save my daughter. The army of Achaeans gathered here will force me to sacrifice her. Calchas will proclaim the will of the goddess before all the people; and even if the elder agreed to remain silent, Odysseus knows his fortune-telling. Odysseus is ambitious and cunning and loved by the people; If he wants, he will outrage the entire army: they will kill you and me, and then Iphigenia. If I flee from them to my kingdom, they, with the whole army, will follow me, destroy my cities and devastate my country. This is how helpless grief the gods visited me! I ask you one thing, brother: make sure that Clytemnestra knows nothing about the fate of her daughter until the very time when she falls under the sacrificial knife. At least this will ease my grief.”

Meanwhile, Clytemnestra entered the camp and approached her husband’s tent. Menelaus left his brother, and Agamemnon went alone to meet his wife and children and tried to hide his sadness and despair. As soon as he had time to say a few words with Clytemnestra, Iphigenia ran up to him and, joyful, tenderly hugged her father. “How glad I am to see you again, after a long separation! Just why are you so gloomy, what are you preoccupied with?” - “The leader has a lot to worry about, my child!” - “Oh, it’s full of worries, father; clear your brow, look at us: we are with you again; be cheerful, leave your sternness.” - “I’m glad, child, that I see you so cheerful.” - “I’m glad, but tears are flowing from my eyes!” - “It pains me to think that soon we will part again, and part for a long time.” - “Oh, if only we could go on a journey with you.” - “Soon you will set off on a long journey, and during that journey you will remember your father!” - “Am I going to go alone or with my mother?” - “Alone: both father and mother will be far from you.” - “Whatever happens, my father, just quickly return to us from the campaign!” - “Before I set out on a campaign, I need to make a sacrifice here, and at this sacrifice you will not be an idle spectator.” Agamemnon could not continue further; conversation with her daughter, who had no presentiment of her imminent death; his eyes filled with tears again and, having caressed his daughter, he ordered her to go to the tent prepared for her. After Iphigenia had left, Clytemnestra began to ask her husband about the family and wealth of their daughter’s fiancé and about what had been prepared for the wedding celebration and what preparations still needed to be made. It was hard for Agamemnon to hide the murderous truth from his wife; He answered her questions gloomily and briefly and advised her to finally return back to Mycenae and stay there until the wedding day: it is indecent, he said, for a woman to live in a military camp, among men, and the daughters left at home need supervision and mother's worries. Clytemnestra did not listen to her husband and did not agree to leave him in charge of arranging the marriage celebration. Inconsolable, Agamemnon then left his tent and went to Calchas: he hoped that the seer would find, perhaps, a means to save his daughter from death.

A little later, Achilles hurriedly approached Agamemnon’s tent and began asking the slaves where he could find the king. Achilles could not control his Myrmidons: they demanded that Agamemnon either sail immediately to the shores of Troy, or disband his squads; and Pelidus himself, whose heart ached due to fame, became unbearable for idle inaction. Clytemnestra heard the voice of Achilles and, having learned from the slaves who it was, came out of the tent to him and greeted him in a friendly manner, calling him his betrothed son-in-law. “What kind of engagement are you talking about? - the amazed Achilles asked her. “I never sought the hand of your daughter, and Agamemnon never said a word to me about the wedding.” Then Clytemnestra was ashamed and, embarrassed, stood in front of Achilles, lowering her eyes to the ground: her speech to the young man now seemed obscene to her, and who had not thought of marrying their daughter. Achilles tried to calm the confused queen. “Don’t be embarrassed,” he told her, “and don’t be angry with the one who played a joke on you; Forgive me that I, amazed by your speeches, saddened and confused you.” Then an old slave, whom Agamemnon had sent with a secret letter to Mycenae, came out to them from the tent; That slave served Clytemnestra’s father and followed her to her husband’s house. Trembling with fear, he revealed to his mistress that Agamemnon intended to sacrifice his daughter to Artemis. Clytemnestra was horrified, fell at the feet of Achilles and, sobbing, hugged his knees, “I am not ashamed,” she said, “to fall at your feet: I am a mortal, you are the son of an immortal goddess. Help us, save my daughter. I placed the wedding crown on her head when I brought her here, and now I must dress her in grave vestments. Eternal shame will be yours if you do not protect and save us! I conjure you with everything that is dear to you, by your divine mother I conjure you - protect us; you see, I do not seek protection at the altars, but fall at your knees. We have no defender here, no person who would stand up for us; if you reject my pleas, my daughter will perish.”

Achilles was touched by the queen’s prayers and sobs and was indignant at Agamemnon for daring to abuse his name in order to deceive his wife and kidnap her daughter. Pelid raised Clytemnestra, who was moaning loudly, and said to her: “I will be your protector, queen! I swear by Nereus, the divine parent of my mother Thetis: none of the Achaeans, not even Agamemnon himself, will touch your daughter. I would be the most despicable of cowards if I allowed people to be brought to death in my name! If I allow Agamemnon to carry out what he has in mind, I will forever tarnish my name!” This is what Pelid spoke to the queen and gave her advice - to first try to beg her husband, to soften his heart with prayer, for a kind word coming from the heart sometimes has more power than force. Having once again promised to be a vigilant defender of Iphigenia, Achilles left.

Returning to his tent with the firm intention of sacrificing his daughter to Artemis, Agamemnon with a feigned calm expression said to his wife: “Bring your daughter to me; I have already prepared everything for her marriage: the sacred water, the sacrificial flour, and the heifers whose blood is sprinkled on the altars of Artemis at the time of marriage are ready.” “Sweet words flow from your lips,” exclaimed Clytemnestra, full of anger and horror. - The thing that you have planned is a terrible, villainous thing! Come here to us, my daughter, and know what your father wants to do to you; take Orestes with you.” And when Iphigenia entered her father’s tent, Clytemnestra continued: “Look, here she stands before you - submissive, ready to obey your will in everything. Tell me: do you really want to give your daughter to the slaughter? “Woe to me, the unfortunate one,” Agamemnon exclaimed in despair. “I’m dead, my secret is revealed!” “I know everything,” Clytemnestra continued. - Your very silence and your sighs expose you. Why are you dooming our daughter to death? To return Helen to Menelaus? To tell the truth, a great goal, worthy of a bloody, terrible sacrifice! Because of an evil wife, sacrifice children, give away for obscene things that are most dear to us! When you go to a foreign land and I return home, how will I look at my daughter’s empty chambers and what will I say to other daughters when they ask me about my sister? And you - how dare you raise your hands to the gods, stained with the blood of your daughter: why should a child killer pray to the gods! Tell me also: why exactly our daughter should fall victim at the altar of the goddess? Why don’t you call the leaders and tell them: “Do you want, Argovians, to sail to the Phrygian land? Let us cast lots for the sacrifice: let the lot decide whose daughter should fall at the altar of Artemis.” Why doesn't Menelaus want to sacrifice his daughter Hermione? After all, you are going to war because of his resentment? Why are you silent? Answer - convict me if my word is false; If I’m telling the truth, come to your senses, don’t raise your hands against your daughter, don’t give her up to be slaughtered!”

Then Iphigenia herself fell at Agamemnon’s feet and, sobbing, began to beg him for mercy. “Oh, my father! - said the maiden. - If only I were given the mouth of Orpheus, which moved mountains! But my word is powerless, my strength is in tears and lamentations. I pray and conjure you: do not destroy me; The light of the sun is sweet to me, do not send me to the abode of darkness! What do I care about Paris and Helen? Is it my fault that Paris kidnapped the wife of the king of Sparta! Oh, my brother, intercede for your sister; cry with me, pray to my father with your baby tears, so that he does not condemn me to death! Have pity on me, father, have mercy on me!”

Agamemnon was implacable and did not change his decision. “I know what I’m doing! - he exclaimed. - I love my daughter no less than you, wife; It’s hard for me to give her as a sacrifice to Artemis, but I can’t help but fulfill the will of the goddess. You see what a strong army we are surrounded by, how many mighty, copper-armored leaders have gathered here in Aulis: none of them will be near Troy unless I sacrifice my daughter, - Calchas announced this; and the squads of the Achaeans are worried and grumbling that we have not sailed to Ilion for so long: they are impatient to take revenge on the daring kidnapper of Menelaus’ wife. If I resist the will of the goddess as proclaimed by Calchas, the Achaeans will kill us all. It is not for the sake of Menelaus that I sacrifice my daughter, but for the good of all Hellas; The Achaeans will force me to do this!”

Thus spoke Agamemnon, and having spoken, he left the tent. And as soon as he had time to leave, a noise arose in the camp, screams and the ringing of weapons were heard; Achilles hastily ran to Agamemnon's tent and began to put on armor, as if preparing to go into battle. The entire Achaean army was in excitement. Odysseus revealed to the people what he had heard from Calchas, and the soldiers became agitated and were ready to force Agamemnon to sacrifice his daughter. Achilles stood alone against everyone and solemnly announced that he would not allow a knife to be raised against the maiden promised to him as his wife; Everyone rushed at the valiant young man, even the Myrmidons themselves, and would have stoned him on the spot if he had not managed to escape. In a countless crowd, with menacing shouts, the Achaeans, led by Odysseus, then went to the tent of Agamemnon and intended to immediately seize Iphigenia and lead her to the altar of Artemis. Achilles, dressed in battle armor, with a sword in his hand, was waiting for the crowd at the royal tent; he decided to repel the force by force and not betray Iphigenia. A bloody, terrible slaughter was about to break out in front of the tent of King Agamemnon.

Iphigenia suddenly broke free from the arms of her sobbing mother and exclaimed with heroic firmness: “Don’t cry, my mother, and don’t complain about your father: we cannot go against the will of fate. Our defender is generous and courageous, but he cannot defend you and me. Listen to what the gods have put on my heart. I no longer fear death and willingly go to the altar to die for the cause of Hellas. The eyes of all the Argovians are now fixed on me, I open the way for them to the hostile Troy, I will fall victim for the honor of the Achaean wives: a barbarian will never again dare to kidnap an Argovian woman. A happy death will crown me with unfading glory - the glory of the liberator of my native land! The valiant son of Peleus should not sacrifice his life to save the maiden and because of her enter into battle with the entire Argive army. No, if Artemis chose me as a sacrifice, I will not resist the will of the goddess and will willingly go to her altar. I am glad to fall under the priest’s knife, but you are sailing to the shores of Troy, destroy its strongholds: the ruins of Troy will be my monument.”

“Your word is generous, noble daughter of Agamemnon! - Achilles exclaimed enthusiastically. - Oh, how happy I would be if the gods were willing to give me your hand! But think: death is terrible for the human soul; If you wish, I am ready to save you and take you from here to my home as my wife.” - “There was a lot of enmity between husbands, a lot of murders were caused by the daughter of Tyndareus; Because of me, no blood will be shed: you will not raise your hand against any of the Achaeans, and you yourself will not fall under their swords.” “If such is your will, worthy daughter of Hellas,” said Achilles, “I do not dare to contradict you and leave you; but if, when you come to the place of slaughter, your heart trembles and your thoughts change, then I will hasten to your aid and save you from under the priest’s knife.”

After these words, Pelid left. Iphigenia began to console her sobbing mother and persuaded her not to grieve for her, not to mourn her, who was dying such a glorious death; then she called her father’s servants and ordered them to lead her to the place where the altar of Artemis was located. Clytemnestra, at the insistence of her daughter, remained in the tent. The unfortunate queen began to sob loudly when she was left alone, and, sobbing, fell to the ground, tormented by grief and despair.

In front of the Achaean camp, in a flowery meadow, in a sacred oak grove, stood the altar of Artemis; The Greeks gathered here and stood in a thick crowd around the altar of the goddess. Iphigenia, accompanied by servants, walked through the amazed crowd and stood next to her father. A heavy sigh escaped Agamemnon's chest; he turned away from his daughter and covered his face, wet with tears, with his clothes. The virgin, turning to her father, said: “Look at me, why are you turning your eyes away from me? I was not forced - I voluntarily came here to die for the Achaean people. Be happy, everyone, and may the gods grant you victory and a speedy return to your native land! Let none of the Argovians touch me: I myself will approach the altar and fearlessly appear before the priest.”

The entire army of the Greeks was amazed, seeing the heroic courage and generosity of the princess. The herald Talfibius ordered the crowd to remain silent. The prophetic priest Calchas, standing at the altar, drew a sharp sacrificial knife and put it in a golden basket, then put a crown on the head of the maiden. Achilles then approached the altar; He took a basket with sacrificial flour and a vessel with sacred water and, walking around the altar, sprinkled it with that water and thus cried out to Artemis: “Accept, O goddess, the sacrifice brought to you by the Achaean people and King Agamemnon; bow down to mercy, send us a safe voyage and victory over the people of Priam!” The Atrides, the entire Achaean army and all its leaders stood silently, with their eyes cast down to the ground. Calchas took the knife and raised it over the maiden: everything around fell silent; The Achaeans stood silently and, holding their breath, waited for the fateful moment. Suddenly, before the eyes of everyone, a great miracle takes place! Calchas struck, but the minute the knife touched the maiden’s neck, the maiden disappeared, and in the place where she stood, a wounded doe appeared, enveloped in death trepidation. Calchas screamed in amazement, and the entire army of the Achaeans screamed. “You see, Achaeans? - the prophetic old man exclaimed joyfully. - This is the kind of sacrifice the goddess chose for herself: she did not want her altar to be stained with the blood of the noble Iphigenia. Rejoice: the goddess has made peace with us; She will now send us a happy voyage and victory over the power of Ilion! Take heart; Today we will leave Aulis and set off across the Aegean Sea.”

When the sacrificial animal was burned on the altar and Calchas once again called on the goddess for help, the army joyfully and hastily ran to the ships: a fair wind was already beginning to blow. Agamemnon went to the tent to inform his wife about how the sacrifice ended; both of them were sure that their daughter was introduced to the host of immortals.

Iphigenia was kidnapped by the goddess and transferred to the shore of distant Scythia; here she was supposed to serve as a priestess in one of the temples of Artemis.

Iphigenia in Tauris

In Tauris (present-day Crimea), Artemis made Iphigenia a priestess in her temple. The girl had to sacrifice in front of the sacred statue of Artemis any foreigner who would be brought to her by the king of the Taurians Foant, a great admirer of Artemis. Seventeen for long years Iphigenia served Artemis.

All these years she knew nothing about her homeland, about her family and friends. She did not know that after a ten-year siege Troy fell, that her father returned to Mycenae as a winner, but fell victim to a conspiracy in which her mother Clytaemestra participated, that her brother Orestes punished the murderers, and then, on orders Delphic oracle arrived in Taurida, together with his friend Pylades, to take to Hellas the image of Artemis of Taurida, which, according to legend, fell from the sky. In Taurida, brother and sister met and returned to their homeland together.

The return from Tauris did not bring Iphigenia freedom - she still remained a servant of Artemis. Iphigenia became a priestess on the shores of Attica, in Bravron, in the new temple of Artemis. There she lived, never knowing the warmth of family, until death interrupted her joyless life.

The name and cult of Iphigenia is found wherever Artemis was worshiped.

A rock called Iphigenia is located in Crimea within the village of Beregovoye (Kastropol).

The asteroid Iphigenia, discovered in 1870, is named after Iphigenia (112).

The myth of Iphigenia in Tauris

[Iphigenia's brother Orestes killed his mother in revenge for the murder of his father Agamemnon. By this he angered the Erinyes, who pursued him for a long time]

In despair, he again fled to Delphi, and Apollo, in order to forever save the unfortunate man from the persecution of the Erinyes, ordered him to sail to Tauris and bring from there an image of Artemis to the Athenian land. Orestes equipped the ship and set off along with his inseparable friend Pylades and some other young men. Arriving at the deserted, rocky coast of a barbarian country, they hid their ship in a craggy bay, closed from everywhere, and, going out onto land, set off to look for a temple in which there was an image of Artemis. This temple was located not far from the shore; in it, the Scythians sent a bloody demand to the goddess: they slaughtered all the foreigners who arrived in their country at her altar. Orestes wanted to immediately climb over the temple fence or break down the gate and steal the image of Artemis, but Pylades stopped him and advised him to postpone the matter until night: at night it would be safer and easier to steal the image of the goddess. Pylades's advice was accepted, and the young men went back to the ship, and here they waited for night to fall.

In that temple the priestess was Iphigenia, sister of Orestes, transferred here from Aulis by Artemis. Iphigenia had already spent many years in Tauris, languishing in melancholy and not finding the strength in herself to serve the goddess, to perform the rituals celebrated in the Scythian temple; According to her duty as a priestess, she had to take part in Scythian sacrifices, in the slaughter of foreigners who fell into the hands of the Scythians. Although the unfortunate victims were not killed by her hand, she had the responsibility of sprinkling them with sacred water beforehand. It was hard, unbearable for the girl to look at the despair and torment of the unfortunate people; her heart bled. So she languished in the country of wild barbarians and with great sorrow remembered her beautiful homeland, where, as it seemed to her, the days close to her heart flowed peacefully and happily.

At night, before Orestes and Pylades approached the temple, Iphigenia had a terrible dream. She dreamed that she was in her homeland, in her father’s palace. Suddenly the ground shook under her, and she ran away from the house, and when she later looked back, she saw how the walls and beams of the palace were collapsing to the ground. Only one column remained in place, and this column spoke in a human voice. She, like a priestess, washed this column, sobbing loudly. This dream filled her with fear and horror: who could this vision point to if not her brother Orestes? Orestes, the support of her family, was gone: for whomever she sprinkled with sacred water was doomed to death.

The next day, early in the morning, together with the servants in front of the temple, she made a sacrifice for her dead brother and sobbed loudly about the unfortunate fate of her family, about her dear brother and about her own fate. At that time, a shepherd came running to her from the seashore and told her to hurry up with preparations for a human sacrifice: two young men from the Greek land landed on their ship on the shore and were captured. “We drove,” the shepherd said, “our bulls to the sea, to where a high cliff rises, washed away by the constant surf of the sea waves. One of us saw two young men on the shore and said quietly: “You see, there, on the shore, two deities are sitting.” One of us raised his hands and began to pray, but another of his comrades, smiling, said to him: “These are two shipwrecked youths. They hid in this cave, knowing the country’s custom of sacrificing all foreigners who land on our shores.” Almost all of us agreed with this opinion and already wanted to grab the young men to sacrifice to our goddess. But then one of the strangers stood up, groaning and shaking his head and arms, and exclaimed: “Pylades, don’t you see this terrible pursuer, don’t you see how she wants to strangle me? And here comes another, she spews out fire and death, winged, in one hand she holds my mother, with the other she drops a whole mountain on me. Where should I run?” Sometimes he roared like an ox, sometimes he barked like a dog. In fear, we looked motionless at the young men, and suddenly the young man who was uttering piercing screams rushes at our herd with a drawn sword, furiously inflicting severe wounds on the bulls, thinking that he was pursuing the Erinyes. Then we prepared to fight back; They gathered the whole people - it would be difficult for us shepherds to cope with such young men full of strength. After much delirium, the young man finally fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth, and then, taking advantage of the favorable moment, we, along with all the people, rushed at him. But a friend hastened to his aid, wiped the foam from his face, covered his body with clothes and fought off all the blows thrown at him. The young man soon came to his senses and, seeing crowds of people surrounding him and throwing stones at him, he exclaimed: “Pilades, arm yourself with a sword and follow me!” So he said, and both with drawn swords rushed at us. We ran away. But while the young man was pursuing one part of the crowd, the other returned and again began to throw stones at him. The battle did not stop for a long time. Finally, tired, the young men fell to the ground, we ran up, knocked the swords out of their hands with stones, and tied them up. They were then brought to the king, and the king sent us here so that you could prepare the sacred water for the sacrifice as quickly as possible.” Having said this, the shepherd hurried to his comrades.

Soon the temple servants bring bound Orestes and Pylades. According to ancient custom, the priestess untied their hands so that they could be sacrificed to the goddess free, and sent servants to the temple to make the usual preparations for the sacrifice. Now left alone with the unfortunate young men doomed to slaughter, the priestess, full of compassion, says to them: “Poor thing, what mother gave birth to you on the mountain? Who is your father? Woe to your sister, if you have a sister, a sister who is deprived of such brothers. The intentions of the gods are shrouded in darkness; no one foresees the danger; It is difficult to know in advance what is in store for a person, grief or joy. Tell me, boys, where are you from? Has a long journey brought you to this country, where you must remain forever?” So she said, and Orestes answered her: “Why do you mourn our grief, O maiden; It is not wise to complain for a long time about death when it is so close and inevitable. Let what is destined by fate be accomplished, do not mourn us, we know the customs of this land.” “But what is your name,” Iphigenia continued to ask the young men, what country are you from? - “Why do you need to know our names? You must sacrifice our bodies, not our names. Unhappy - that's our name. There is no need for you to know where our homeland is; but if you absolutely want to know this, know this; We come from Argos, from the glorious city of Mycenae.” - “Are you really telling the truth! Tell me then, do you know about the famous Troy? They say it was taken and destroyed!” - “Yes, it’s true, the rumor did not deceive you.” - “And Elena is again in the house of Menelaus? And the Achaeans returned to their homeland? And Calchas? And Menelaus? - “Elena is again in Sparta with her former husband, Calchas is killed, Odysseus has not yet returned to his homeland.” - “But is Achilles, son of Thetis, alive?” - “No, Pelidas is gone: in vain he celebrated his wedding feast in Aulis.” - “Yes, it was a celebration of an imaginary marriage; This is what everyone who saw it says.” - “But who are you, virgin, who knows so much about Greece?” - “I myself am from Hellas; but in my early youth grief befell me. Tell me what happened to the leader of the Achaean army, the one who was considered so lucky.” - “Who did you ask about? The leader I knew was not one of the lucky ones.” - “I asked about Agamemnon, son of Atreus.” - “I don’t know about him, maiden, stop asking.” - “No, tell me, I conjure you with the gods, I beg you!” “He died, the unfortunate one, and with his death he caused the death of others. It was his own wife who killed him. But I beg you, do not continue asking questions.” - “Tell me, young man, are the children of the murdered man alive, is the truthful, courageous Orestes alive, and do they remember in that family about the sacrificed Iphigenia? " - "Electra, daughter of Agamemnon, is still alive; her sister died because of a worthless wife, and her son wanders everywhere and cannot lay his head anywhere.”

Terrible news about parental home deeply shocked the poor maiden. Only one thing consoled her in her boundless grief: her brother Orestes, whom she considered dead, was still alive. She stood for a long time with her face covered and wrung her hands in despair, finally, turning to Orestes, she asked: “Friend, if I save you from death, can you deliver a letter to my relatives - it was written by a captured Greek. For this service you will receive freedom along with your life. But your comrade, unfortunately, must die, the local people demand it.” - “Your speeches are beautiful, oh maiden, with only one thing I do not agree with: that my friend should die. It would be unfair if I myself fled from here and left here to perish the one who never left me in a moment of danger. No, give him the message and let me die.” Here a dispute began between the generous friends: Pilade also did not want to return to his homeland without a friend. Finally, Orestes won the victory: “Live, my dear, and let me die. I am not sorry to leave a bitter life over which the wrath of the gods weighs; but you are happy; There is no stain on your house, but crimes and disasters weigh heavily on mine. Live for my sister Electra, who is betrothed to you, do not betray her; go to your father’s house, to Phocis, and when you are in Mycenae, erect a monument to me, and let Electra shed tears for me and dedicate a lock of her hair to me.” Pylades promised to fulfill his friend’s will, took the priestess’s message and vowed to deliver it to its destination, unless a storm arose and the waves swallowed the message. But so that the news would not be lost even in this case, Pylades asked the priestess to tell him the contents of the letter. “Tell Orestes,” she said, “Agamemnon’s son in Mycenae: Iphigenia, your sister, whom you consider dead, is alive and sends you this message.” “Where is she,” Orestes exclaimed, “has she really returned from the kingdom of shadows?” - “You see her in front of you. But do not interrupt me: let him secretly take me to Argos, from the barbarian country, and free me from the duties of sacrificing people to Artemis. In Aulis, the goddess saved me, sent a doe in my place, and my father killed her, imagining that he was striking me. The goddess herself brought me to this country. Here are the contents of the letter." “Oh, it’s not difficult for me to fulfill my oath,” exclaimed Pylades. “I immediately fulfill my promise and hand over to you, Orestes, my sister’s letter.” Overjoyed, Orestes hugged his sister and exclaimed: “Dear sister! Let me hug you! I can hardly believe my luck! How wonderfully you have discovered yourself!” “Back, stranger,” exclaimed Iphigenia, “why are you boldly touching the clothes of the priestess, which no mortal dares to touch!” " - "Sister, daughter of my father Agamemnon! Don't run away from me! Before you is the brother whom you despaired of seeing.” - “Are you my brother, a foreigner? Shut up, don't deceive me. Was Orestes banished from Mycenae? - “Yes, your brother is not there, unfortunate one; you see Agamemnon’s son before you.” - “But can you prove it?” - "Listen. Do you know about the dispute between Atreus and Thyestes over the golden ram? You know how you embroidered this dispute on beautiful fabric. You embroidered on another fabric how Helios, indignant at Atreus, who treated Thyestes to such a terrible dish, turned his chariot aside. When your mother washed you in Aulis, you gave her a lock of hair as a souvenir. I heard all this from Electra. But this is what I myself saw: in Mycenae, in the women’s upper room, you hid the spear with which Pelops struck Oenomaus.” “Yes, you are my brother,” Iphigenia exclaimed and embraced her brother. - Oh, my dear! What a blessing that I see you and can hug you.”

The brother and sister indulged in the joy of the meeting for a while, but Pylades reminded them of the upcoming dangers. Orestes informed his sister about the purpose of his arrival in Tauris and asked her advice on how to steal the statue of Artemis and escape together. Iphigenia's plan was like this. Under the pretext that the statue of the goddess was desecrated by the approach of strangers, two brothers who stained themselves with matricide, it - this statue - together with the sinful victims must be washed in the waves of the sea. The ablution should take place at the place where Orestes' well-equipped ship is hidden. On this ship Iphigenia thought to escape from Taurida.

While Iphigenia was carrying a statue of the goddess from the temple, the king of this country, Thoas, approached her to see whether the foreigners had been sacrificed to Artemis, and was quite surprised when he saw the image of the goddess in the hands of the priestess. Iphigenia ordered him to stand at a distance, in the portico of the temple, since the image of the goddess had been desecrated by criminal foreigners. “The goddess,” Iphigenia told him, “is angry: untouched by anyone, her image moved from its place and closed its eyes. He must be washed with sea water, and foreigners must also be washed before sacrificing them.” The king, who deeply respected the priestess, believed her words and praised her undertaking. He ordered the strangers' hands to be chained, their faces to be covered, and several servants to be taken for safety. The priestess then ordered that the people remain away from the place where the ritual of ablution was to take place, and that the king, in her absence, cleanse the temple with fire. The solemn procession, lit by torches, reached out to the sea. In front walked a priestess with an image of the goddess, behind her were chained strangers, next to them were servants, behind them were the lambs intended for the purification sacrifice. The king remained in the temple.

Arriving at the seashore, the priestess ordered the servants to withdraw to such a distance that they could not see the ceremony. Then she herself led the young men to the place where the ship was hidden behind a rock. From afar, the ministers heard the hymns that accompanied the cleansing. They waited a long time for the end of the ritual, and finally, fearing that the strangers would free themselves from their shackles and insult the priestess, they decided to violate her command and approached the place of purification. There they saw a Greek ship near the shore with fifty oarsmen on it; the young men, doomed to sacrifice, freed from their shackles, were ready to lead the priestess onto the ship along the stairs lowered from the ship. The Taurians quickly ran up, grabbed the maiden, grabbed the ropes and oars of the ship and exclaimed: “Who is kidnapping our priestess?” “I, her brother Orestes, son of Agamemnon, free my sister, who was kidnapped from me.” But the Taurians did not let her go and wanted to take her with them. A terrible fight began between them and both young men. The Taurians were repulsed, Orestes and his sister managed to board the ship and take with them the image of Artemis. Their comrades greeted them joyfully and, with all their might, guided the ship towards the exit from the narrow bay. But just as they were approaching the strait, a huge wave threw them back. Then Iphigenia, raising her hands to the sky, prayed to Artemis: “Oh, daughter of Latona, let your priestess leave this inhospitable shore and reach Hellas. Forgive me for my deception. Your brother is dear to you, immortal, and it is fitting for me to love my brother.” The maiden's plea was joined by the loud pleas of the oarsmen, who worked with all their might to move the ship forward. But the storm nailed him to the rock. While the Greeks struggled against the force of the waves raised by the storm, the servants hurried to the king to inform him of what had happened. Thoas quickly gathered all the people to go with him in pursuit of the foreigners. But while Thoas was approaching the ship, Pallas Athena appeared to him in the air, blocked his path and said: “Where are you heading, king? Listen to me; I am the goddess Athena. Leave your anger. By order of Apollo, the insane son of Agamemnon arrived here to take his sister to Mycenae and the image of Artemis to Attica. You will not be able to capture and kill Orestes in this storm, for Poseidon, to please me, is leveling the surface of the Ocean’s waters for him.” Thoas submitted to the will of the goddess and fate. He left his anger at Orestes and Iphigenia and allowed the temple servants who helped Iphigenia during the rituals to return to their homeland with her.

Thus, invisibly accompanied by Pallas Athena and Poseidon, Orestes and Iphigenia returned to Hellas. From then on Orestes was no longer pursued by the Erinyes; he freed himself from insanity and erected a temple on the shores of Attica dedicated to Artemis and where Iphigenia was the priestess. Then Orestes returned to Mycenae, where Alet, the son of Aegisthus, took the throne. Orestes killed Aletus and regained his father's inheritance. His friend Pylades married Electra and with her retired to his native Phocis.

Character ancient greek mythology. Daughter of the king of Mycenae, sacrificed to the goddess Artemis. Saved by the goddess at the last moment, she was transferred to Taurida, where she became a priestess.

Origin story

Initially, Iphigenia in the myths of the ancient Greeks was not a separate character, but one of the epithets of Artemis. This name meant – Strong-Born or Mighty. Artemis Iphigenia was revered in different places later, when Iphigenia had already emerged as an independent character. The name Iphigenia remained closely associated with the name of Artemis later, when the images of these two characters in mythology diverged. Wherever Artemis was revered, the cult of Iphigenia was also found there.

Legends about the life of Iphigenia and plots related to the heroine were developed by Greek tragedians and many others. wrote two tragedies - about the times when the heroine was in Aulis and Tauris.

In the 17th century, the plot of the myth of Iphigenia was developed in his work by the French playwright Jean Racine. The playwright wrote a five-act tragedy, which was first staged at Versailles, the residence of the French kings. The basis for the plot of the tragedy was the story of Agamemnon, who was forced to sacrifice his daughter in order to appease the goddess.

In the play, Agamemnon either agrees to sacrifice his daughter, then changes his mind and tries to save the girl. The king writes fake letters on behalf of , in which he either invites the girl to become the hero’s wife, or claims that Achilles has changed his mind about getting married. The plot also features a maiden secretly in love with Achilles named Erifil, who suddenly turns out not to be who she was thought to be.

A century later, he took up the story of Iphigenia. In the drama “Iphigenia,” the scene of action is Tauris, and the heroine is trying to save her own brother Orestes from death.

In the twentieth century, the image of Iphigenia penetrated into cinema. In 1977, Greek director Michalis Cacoyannis directed a film adaptation of the ancient tragedy called “Iphigenia,” using the work of Euripides as the basis for the script. The role of Iphigenia in the film was played by actress Tatiana Papamoskhu, who was 13 years old at the time of filming. The film's ending is not as clear-cut as the myth, declaring that Iphigenia was saved by Artemis. In the film, the young heroine disappears into a cloud of smoke, and viewers can only guess what happens next.

In the tragedy “Iphigenia in Aulis” Euripides begins the story of the heroine. Iphigenia travels with her mother to Aulis, lured there by deception. The king announced that he was going to give his daughter to the hero Achilles, while in fact he planned to sacrifice the girl to the goddess Artemis, who established calm on the sea and did not allow the Greeks to sail to Troy.

Tormented by doubts, Agamemnon changes his mind and sends a slave to meet his wife and daughter, who must give them a letter in which the king cancels his order to arrive. This letter, however, is intercepted by the king's brother. Menelaus accuses the king of cowardice.

Iphigenia and Clytemnestra had already arrived. The king's wife speaks with Achilles and understands that the hero does not know about the supposedly upcoming wedding. Agamemnon's slave tells Clytemnestra why she and her daughter were actually called here. Clytemnestra attacks her husband, and the hero Achilles undertakes to defend Iphigenia. However, the girl herself agrees to accept death, and at the moment when Iphigenia goes to the slaughter, a tailwind rises. The girl, however, did not die. Artemis spared the heroine and transferred her to Tauris, where Iphigenia became a priestess.

Euripides tells the continuation of the story in the tragedy “Iphigenia in Tauris”. Here the plot begins with Orestes, the brother of Iphigenia, going to Tauris. The young man must get a wooden image of Artemis there and deliver it to Hellas. The task is not as simple as it seems, since it is the custom of the inhabitants of Taurida to grab strangers and sacrifice them to the goddess.

Iphigenia herself still serves as a priestess. A girl prepares captured foreigners for sacrifice. At night, the heroine has a dream, from which it follows that Orestes, the heroine’s brother, is in danger of death. Iphigenia promises to release one of the foreigners who agrees to flee and take a letter to Orestes to Hellas.

Having recognized her own brother among the future victims, Iphigenia helps him with the statue of Artemis. The priestess convinces the inhabitants of Taurida that due to contacts with strangers, the wooden statue of the goddess has become unclean and now needs to be washed in the sea. The fugitives manage to take out the statue, board the ship and sail away undetected. In the finale, the goddess appears to the king of Tavria, who orders him to leave the fugitives alone and not to pursue them, since this is the will of the gods.

Myths and legends

Iphigenia is the daughter of the Mycenaean king Agamemnon from the Spartan princess Clytemnestra. The Mycenaean king promised to present the goddess Artemis with the most beautiful creature born that year as a gift. And it had to happen that just this year the king himself would have a daughter.

After some time, the king had to fulfill his promise. This happened when the Greeks were preparing to fight Troy. The army was already ready, the Greeks were about to sail on ships from the harbor of Aulis in Boeotia. King Agamemnon was hunting and accidentally killed the sacred doe of Artemis. The goddess was offended and angry. Even Atreus, the father of the Mycenaean king, insulted the goddess when he did not sacrifice a golden lamb, and now Agamemnon showed disrespect.

Out of revenge, Artemis sent calmness to the sea, and the Greek ships could not sail. The soothsayer proclaimed that the only way to appease Artemis was to sacrifice the king’s daughter Iphigenia, the most beautiful of the king’s daughters, to the goddess. The army and the king's brother Menelaus insisted that Agamemnon submit to the will of the gods.

To take her daughter away from Clytemnestra without difficulty, the cunning Odysseus was sent. He lied that they were going to marry the girl to the hero Achilles, and left with Iphigenia to the place where the Greeks were going to make a sacrifice. By the time Iphigenia arrived, everything was already prepared for the sacrifice, and the seer was to slay the maiden.

At the very last moment, when the girl was about to be slaughtered, the goddess Artemis took pity and saved Iphigenia, replacing the girl with a goat. The goddess, riding on a cloud, carried Iphigenia herself to Taurida. Having kidnapped her, Artemis made the girl immortal. According to one version, the goddess turned the girl into a moonlight deity. According to another version, Iphigenia became the wife of Achilles on the Isles of the Blessed, where the hero ended up after his death.

Once in Tauris, Iphigenia became a priestess of Artemis. When storms brought wanderers to those parts, Iphigenia sacrificed these unfortunates to the goddess. Orestes, the brother of Iphigenia, received a command from the oracle at Delphi to sail to Tauris in order to get there the image of the goddess Artemis that miraculously fell from the sky and take it to Hellas. Arriving, Orestes found Iphigenia in Tauris and took his sister, returning home with her.

In Crimea there is the Iphigenia rock, named after the ancient Greek heroine, and another rock nearby, which received the name of Orestes, the girl’s brother.

Quotes

“God does not sleep and does not go blind, and he always knows

If you were forced to take an oath unconsciously and dishonestly.”

“...tell me, Atrid, what kind of blessing do you think you can call on a knife with a prayer, raised on a child, on your own flesh and blood, Agamemnon?<...>And if God, while devouring the baby, still expected prayers from the mother, he would be stupid...”

Iphigenia, Greek - daughter and Clytaemestra.

became tragic heroine truly classical scale - but not of his own free will, but “by the ill-fated lot of fate.” When the united Achaean troops, led by Agamemnon, were stuck with their entire fleet in the Boeotian harbor of Aulis due to the lack of a fair wind, the soothsayer Kalkhant announced: the calmness was sent by the goddess because Agamemnon killed her sacred doe. To appease the angry goddess, Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter Iphigenia to her. At first Agamemnon did not want to hear about it, but a sense of duty and responsibility to the army he led forced him to obey. The messenger he sent informed Iphigenia that she should immediately arrive in Aulis, since he himself wanted to marry her. Happy and proud that the choice of the famous hero fell on her, Iphigenia arrived from Mycenae, accompanied by her mother and brother Orestes. But in Aulis she learned that instead of a wedding, death awaited her on a sacrificial altar.

Naturally, Iphigenia did not want to die. She was young and beautiful, and besides, her love for Achilles awoke, who opposed her sacrifice. Clytaemestra, as befits a mother, also protected her with all her might. Agamemnon would willingly take back his decision, but in this case he could not use his authority as commander-in-chief. In battle, his word was law, but until hostilities began, he was forced to submit to the will of the army, and the army demanded sacrifice. Finally, the dispute in the Achaean camp and in the soul of Agamemnon, the commander-in-chief and father, was resolved by Iphigenia herself. For the sake of the success of the common cause, she agreed to voluntarily give her life.

When Iphigenia approached the altar, deathly silence reigned: the heroism of the girl touched the hearts of the warriors. The priest Kalkhant called on Artemis to accept the sacrifice and grant the Achaeans a happy voyage and victory over Troy. He raised a knife over Iphigenia - and then a miracle happened. As soon as the tip of the knife touched the girl’s body, Iphigenia disappeared, and Kalkhant’s knife pierced in her place the doe placed on the altar by Artemis. The goddess kidnapped Iphigenia, took her to distant Taurida (present-day Crimea) and made her a priestess of her temple. There, Iphigenia had to sacrifice in front of the sacred statue of Artemis any foreigner who would be brought to her by the king of the Taurus, Foant, a great admirer of Artemis. For seventeen long years Iphigenia served the Tauride Artemis, all the time fearing that she would have to plunge a knife into the same unfortunate victim as she herself was in Aulis.

All these years, Iphigenia knew nothing about her homeland, about her family and friends. She did not know that Troy had fallen after a ten-year siege, that her father had returned to Mycenae as a victor but had fallen victim to a conspiracy in which his wife Clytamestra participated, that her brother Orestes had punished the murderers, and then, on the advice of Apollo, had gone to Tauris to cleanse himself of mother's shed blood.

Orestes, accompanied by his cousin Pylades, reached Tauris and entered the temple of Artemis, but was captured by the soldiers of Foant, just like Pylades. Iphigenia, who was supposed to sacrifice them to Artemis, began to look for ways to avoid fulfilling her gloomy duty. To begin with, she informed Foant that the goddess required the sacrifice of only one stranger. Pylades showed himself to be a true friend, voluntarily offering his life if Iphigenia would give freedom to Orestes. But his sacrifice was not needed. Having learned that the prisoners were her fellow countrymen, Iphigenia began to ask them about Mycenae and soon learned that Orestes was her brother, and Pylades was her cousin. Then Iphigenia decided to save them, and at the same time save herself by fleeing Taurida.

Illustration “Iphigenia in Tauris”, drawing by A. Kaufmann

Iphigenia skillfully put her decision into action. She convinced King Foant that before the sacrifice, the statue of Artemis and both strangers must be cleansed in sea water. The king agreed, but assigned a detachment of soldiers as an honor guard. Arriving at the rock under which Orestes’ ship dropped anchor, Iphigenia ordered the soldiers to leave, since no one was allowed to see the sacrament of purification. As soon as the warriors left, Iphigenia untied the brothers and boarded the ship, taking with her the statue of Artemis. The rowers leaned on the oars, but soon a sudden storm returned the ship to the shore. And yet, the fugitives managed to escape the vengeance of the king of the Tauri thanks to the intervention of Athena, who ordered Foant to release them.

The return from Taurida did not bring Iphigenia freedom - she still remained a servant of Artemis. True, the goddess allowed her to exchange a distant foreign land for her native land and refused human sacrifices. Iphigenia became a priestess in the new temple of Artemis on the shores of Attica, in Bravron. There she lived, never knowing the warmth of family, until death interrupted her joyless life.

Iphigenia is one of the most significant images Greek myths and still does not leave the stage: she main character tragedies of Euripides “Iphigenia in Tauris” and “Iphigenia in Aulis” (approximately 415 - 414 and 408 - 406 BC), “Iphigenia in Aulis” by Racine (1674), “Iphigenia in Tauris” by Goethe (1787) and - relatively recently - “Iphigenia of Tauria” by Selakhatin Batu (1942). To no lesser extent, the fate of Iphigenia also attracted composers: after Kaiser (1699), Campra (1704), Scarlatti (1713), Vinci (1725), Porpora (1735), Graun (1748), Iommelli (1751), Traetta (1763) and others, the myth of Iphigenia was used by Gluck in “Iphigenia in Aulis” (1774) and “Iphigenia in Tauris” (1779). So far, the last in this series is R. Strauss (libretto by G. von Hofmannsthal).

In the illustration: painting by V. Serov “Iphigenia in Tauris”, 1893.

Iphigenia is depicted on numerous antique vases, on Pompeian frescoes, and on a number of reliefs. From works contemporary artists First of all, Tiepolo’s “Sacrifice of Iphigenia” (c. 1717), Feuerbach’s “Iphigenia” (1862), Romanelli’s “Sacrifice of Iphigenia” (c. 1660) and the painting of the same name by Cornelius (mid-19th century) in the Moravian Gallery in Brno.

In the Attic Vravron (formerly Bravron) remains of a vast sanctuary of Artemis, one of the oldest in Greece, have been preserved. According to tradition, in a cave near the temple there was the “tomb of Iphigenia.”

P.S. I would like to add that it is not difficult to notice that human sacrifices were not something unusual for the ancient Greeks. Also note the similarity of the legend of Iphigenia with the biblical myth of Abraham and his son (as well as the Islamic Ibrahim).

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Mythology

Iphigenia in Tauris

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Image in new and contemporary art

In astronomy

Write a review about the article "Iphigenia"

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Iphigenia in Tauris

The myth of Iphigenia in Tauris

Origin story

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