This presentation presents the story of a once fierce warrior feared by his kingdom for his excellent leadership in a battlefield. The story of Agamemnon, a key person in one of the famous tales in the world, "The Iliad", is hereby told to explore his life and his death—all throughout his kingship.

1. THE STORY OF AGAMEMNON
Written by Aeschylus
Prepared by Regine Kyle Regida | BSE English 4

2. About the
Author
Creator of the
presentation and her
resources.
Narration of the story of
Agamemnon in
Homer’s The Illiad.
The characters, setting,
and the theme of the
story.
Background information
about Aeschylus and
his life.
About the
Story
Context of
the Story
Credits and
References
01 02 03 04
TABLE OF CONTENTS

3. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
His Name
Aeschylus (Aiskhylos),
also often recognized as
the father of tragedy.
His Legacy
He was arguably the
founder of all serious
Greek drama.
His Career
Was one of the first of
the three early Greek
tragedians along with
Sophocles and Euripides.
His Life
It is believed that he was
born in about 525 or 524
BCE in Eleusis, Greece.

4. Aeschylus was once a youngster who worked in a vineyard until
one day, according to him, the god Dionysius visited his dreams
commanding him to pursue the undiscovered art of tragedy.
His first play was performed when he was only 26 years old and
15 years later, he won his first reward at Athens’ annual
Dionysia playwriting competition.

5. Aeschylus and his brother Cynegeirus fought to defend Athens
against Darius’ Persian army at the Battle of Marathon in 490 CE.
Although they were victorious in this war, Cynegeirus died on
the battle and Aeschylus grieved a lot on it.
Later on, he died because of a tortoise that fell out of the sky
after an eagle dropped it on his head. There were no mentions of
his works in his tombstone except for his military achievements.

6. ABOUT THE STORY
Agamemnon was the king of
Mycenae and the leader of the Greek
Army in the Trojan War of Homer’s
The Iliad.
He was a great warrior but a selfish
ruler.

8. The story takes place in the kingdom of Sparta where the two
families involved initiated the events that led to the uprising of
the Trojan War around 1500 BC.
The effects of their violence became a generational curse. And
so, the misery and tragedy has forever haunted the royal house
of Mycenae. The family became full of suffering, incest,
violence, and betrayal.

9. THE STORY OF AGAMEMNON
Agamemnon and his brother Menalaus are the royal sons of King
Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae. However, their
childhood was destroyed by a series of murders and unfortunate
events.
Their mother had an affair with their father’s brother, Thyestes
of Mycenae. This became King Atreus’ motive to kill their
mother, Queen Aerope, because of her unfaithfulness.

10. King Atreus did not kill his brother Thyestes. Instead, he killed
his brother’s children (Agamemnon and Menelaus’ cousins).
After killing them, he cooked them and served them as a meal
without King Thyestes’ knowledge.
Little did he know that there was a survivor among the children
of Thyestes—Aegisthus. Aegisthus avenged the death of his
brothers and sisters by killing King Atreus. As a result, Thyestes
gained the Mycenean throne.

11. Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus was exiled from
Mycenea as ordered by the now king Thyestes. They found
refuge in Sparta where they grew up to become fierce and
powerful warriors. Even the Spartan King Tyndareus admired
the spirit of the siblings.
The two of them trained so hard until they were old enough to
go through a war. Agamemnon devises a plan to attack King
Thyestes, his uncle, as a revenge for the death of their father.
The Kingdom of Sparta joined to support the mighty warriors.

12. They attacked the kingdom of Mycenae with the leadership of
Agamemnon. They successfully took down King Thyestes and
became victorious in the war. From then on, Agamemnon
reclaimed the Mycenean throne as the rightful heir. Finally, he
is now honored as King Agamemnon of Mycenae.
The courage of Menelaus was honored by King Tyndareus of
Sparta. So, he entrusted his daughter Helen, the most beautiful
woman in the world, to be married with Menelaus. They
eventually become the rulers of the Kingdom of Sparta where
the people took an oath to protect the marriage of the two.

13. One normal day, the Trojans visited the Spartan shore Aulis. The
Trojans were warmly welcomed by the Kingdom of Sparta
where they were entertained by the people including their
beautiful queen, Queen Helen.
Prince Paris from the Kingdom of Troy fell in love with the
queen’s beauty. This is not surprising anymore as Aphrodite, the
goddess of love, made a promise to the Trojan Prince that he will
be marrying the most beautiful woman in the world.

14. Confident of the goddess of love’s promise, the Paris took Helen
with him to the Kingdom of Troy. Helen willingly escaped with
the fairest man of Troy and abandoned her now ex-husband
King Menelaus of Sparta.
King Menelaus discovered the disappearance of his wife only to
find out she had fled to the Kingdom of Troy with Prince Paris.
He was angered by this betrayal and called off the allied
kingdoms that ignited the ten-year Trojan War.

15. With the citizen of Spartan’s oath to protect the marriage of
King Menalaus and Queen Helen, they joined the forces against
the Kingdom of Troy. His brother Agamemnon, the king of
Mycenae, also joined his insurgence.
The Greek troops began to assemble in the shore of Aulis to
prepare for the revolt against the Roman kingdom. King
Agamemnon of Mycenae became their leader, so he took charge
of the Greek forces in their voyage to the Kingdom of Troy.

16. The Greeks were ready to sail; but King Agamemnon has
forgotten that the goddess of hunt Artemis cursed him after
killing one of her stags and bragging about it. The goddess took
the wind in all the seas around King Agamemnon’s presence to
make sure he never sails again.
He knew very well what could appease the angered goddess. He
had no choice but to face the hardest decision he will ever make.
He summons his daughter Iphigenia to the port and commanded
her to make herself presentable as she is arranged to marry the
renowned war-hero Achilles.

17. Iphigenia got excited. She gracefully went to the shore but lo
and behold—there was no Achilles but only the goddess Artemis
who demanded the sacrifice of her life to lift the curse bestowed
upon the arrogance of her king father. Iphigenia politely
accepted her fate and called it a noble cause.
The curse was immediately lifted, and the wind started blowing
for King Agamemnon once again. All in return for the sacrifice
of his own daughter. His wife, Queen Clytemnestra, is forever
enraged towards him. She fell out of love and began an affair
with his cousin Aegisthus as he battles in the Trojan War.

18. Agamemnon has proven how powerful of a warrior he is—
deadly with the spear, killing Trojan soldiers and hundreds of
unnamed defenders. The successfully outnumbered the Trojan
forces and made them retreat to their city walls. Indeed,
Agamemnon is the best soldier except he is not the only one.
Achilles, an immortal demigod, is also blessed with enormous
strength. It’s because as an infant, his mother goddess Thetis
dipped his body aside from his heels into the River Styx. And
once again, Agamemnon’s arrogance and jealousy took the best
of him and wanted to be better than Achilles.

19. As a war prize in the retreat of the Trojan warriors, Agamemnon
demanded to be given two women slaves to sleep with. The
Trojans offered Chryseis, daughter of god Apollo’s priest; and
Briseis, daughter of a priest in Lynessus. Agamemnon spent most
of the night with Chryseis until one chaotic day.
God Apollo was angered by the sacrifice of his priest’s daughter.
He showered the troops of Agamemnon with infected arrows
and was left with no choice but to return Chryseis for peace.
Briseis took place of her cousin’s job to sleep with Agamemnon.
But Achilles, who has fallen in love with Briseis, got mad.

20. Achilles refused to fight in the war, breaking the promise of
protecting the marriage of the rulers of Sparta. Not even the
great King Odysseus of Ithaka can persuade him. Lacking with
manpower, the war turns in the Trojans’ favor. But their power
did not last when they killed Patroclus—Achilles’ best friend.
The demigod warrior called for his mother, goddess Thetis, to
make him a stronger armor to avenge Patroclus’ death. He
rejoined the war and won; brutally dragged the dead body of the
royal son of Troy, Prince Hector, all around the city of the
kingdom.

21. King Priam of Troy humbly approached Achilles requesting to
retrieve the dead body of his mighty son. The demigod would
not agree with the offer unless the king gives him lots of gold.
King Priam failed to meet the conditions, but his daughter
Polyxena has captivated the warrior’s heart.
Achilles accepted the king’s daughter in exchange for Prince
Hector’s remains. He got fond of Polyxena and shared even his
deepest secret—his heel as his weakness. Unknowingly, the
princess is certain in avenging her brother Hector. Achilles dies
in the hands of Paris—betrayed and killed through his heel.

22. The death of the war-hero awakened revolt within the Greek
warriors. And goddess Athena, the protector of Achilles, looked
for a worthy warrior who deserves to receive the mighty arms of
the deceased demigod. To his surprise, Agamemnon seemed to
have lost the trust of his force.
None of them nominated him worthy of the war-hero’s arms.
Between, Prince Ajax of Salamis and King Odysseus of Ithaka,
the force entrusted Achilles’ arms to the latter. From then on,
King Odysseus became the strategist of the Greek force. And his
wits were able to retrieve the long-gone Queen Helen of Sparta.

23. Victorious in the war despite having lost a lot of force and
caused many casualties, the Greek forces is finally going home
after the ten-year Trojan War. But their violence brought them
to the most horrifying fate they will have to face—a suffering
they will pass to their children; and their children’s children.
King Agamemnon had the worst fate of them all. He was
unaware of the tragedy that awaits him after being far from
home for a decade. The King of Mycenae, because of his
arrogance and jealousy, set forth his own fall and awakened
another curse for generations to come.

24. His wife, Queen Clytemnestra, has long awaited his return;
never forgetting her rage for the sacrifice of her daughter
Iphigenia. She prepared him a great feast to celebrate. After the
meal, she made his way to the bathroom to let him rest and feel
relieved.
But before he even fully submerge in the tub, Aegisthus, his
cousin and is now the new husband of Queen Clytemnestra,
stabbed him with a battle axe until he bleeds to death. He
survived the war only to be deceived by his own wife who
betrayed their marriage and be killed by his worst enemy.

25. The tragedy did not end there. The prince of the house of
Mycenae, Orestes, has learned about the murder of his father.
Orestes and his sister Electra decides to kill their mother and her
affair who is also their uncle out of rage. They stabbed the lovers
until they too, bleed to death.
The royal house of Mycenae became the royal house of
murderers—people who will never find happiness in their own
families. Forever carrying the curse of tragedy: the great
suffering, incest, violence, and betrayal. Thereby concludes the
story of Agamemnon.

26. Look after yourself. For you
may be the curse of your
generation to come.

27. CREDITS: This presentation template was created
by Slidesgo, including icons by Flaticon and
infographics & images by Freepik
THANKS!
Submitted by:
Regine Kyle B. Regida
BSE English 4
Submitted to:
Dr. Stephen P. Soliguen
Instructor

28. CREDITS AND REFERENCES
Ancient Literature. (2022, January 11). Aeschylus - Who Was Aeschylus? Tragedies,Plays,Facts,Death. Ancient
Literature. Retrieved February 1, 2023, from https://ancient-literature.com/greece_aeschylus/
Bowers, G. (2006, November 1). The Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid. Read-Aloud-Plays. Retrieved February 1,
2023, from https://www.kyrene.org/cms/lib/AZ01001083/Centricity/Domain/893/illiad_odyssey_epic_plays.pdf
Cartwright, M. (2018, September 18). Agamemnon (Person). World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 1, 2023,
from https://www.worldhistory.org/Agamemnon_(Person)
Greek Mythology. (2021, April 14). Agamemnon. Greek Mythology. Retrieved February 1, 2023, from
https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Agamemnon/agamemnon.html
Schmit, K. (2021, August 23). King Agamemnon and the Trojan War. Study.com | Take Online Courses. Earn College
Credit. Research Schools, Degrees & Careers. Retrieved February 1, 2023, from
https://study.com/learn/lesson/agamemnon-trojan-war-king.html