New day, new haiku!
This one is for Queen Clytemnestra, mother of Iphigenia [link to her poem:
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/3921056/iphigenia/]
Now let me not lie, at first when I first read about her I didnt like her but after I did more research, I couldnt help but feel bad for her as she wasnt one dimensional. I found that in one variant before she was Agamemnon's wife, she was married to King Tantalus of Pisa and has a son whom Agamemnon slew before her eyes before taking her to bride.
Bear in mind Agamemnon was known to be a skilled warrior but arrogant and selfish as a ruler. He angered Artemis by boasting he was a superior hunter and killed one of her sacred stags. Artemis made the winds weak so he could not participate in the Trojan War. And so he lured his daughter Iphigenia and her mother under the pretense of marriage to Achilles...only for her mother to watch another child die before her eyes.
I cant imagine what Clytemnestra was subjected to being married to Agamemnon but to see two children die before her eyes...I can see her already having resentment towards her Warrior husband and with the death of her daughter, she snapped and wanted vengeance. I'm sure the cogs were turning in her head as she had an affair with his cousin,
Aegisthus. Depending on the myth variant, she was either seduced by him or chose to enter into it. Both were planning the death of Agamemnon. I believe Aegisthus's own father was betrayed by Agamemnon's. (Hence the cogs of vengeance turning).
And when her husband returned from Troy, he was slain, he and his lover, Cassandra. Some myths say she slew him, some myths said the angry loves did the deed together.
But it's hard not to feel some sympathy for her.
Vengeance is a never ending cycle that can cause great harm in the long run. That's one thing I've learned from her myth.
That, and hell hath no fury like that of a woman scorned...
Anyway, thank you all for growing followers, I'm forever humbled and grateful for the support🙏🌹💜
Here's the link for the growing collection:
https://hellopoetry.com/collection/132853/the-women-of-myth/Be back with another one!
Much love,
Lyn 💜
