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220px-Gérin Clytemnestre hésitant avant de frapper Agamemnon endormi Louvre 5185

Aegisthus and Clytaemnestra are about to murder Agamemnon

679px-William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - The Remorse of Orestes (1862)

Orestes was pursued by the Furies for committing matricide

Clytaemnestra in Greek mythology was daughter of Leda and Tyndareus, king of Sparta. She was unhappily married to the king of Mycenae, Agamemnon, and  eventually murdered him with the assistance of Aegisthus, his cousin. She  was the mother of Iphigenia, Electra, and Orestes (the former being sacrificed by her father to Artemis and the latter two conspiring to kill their mother). She was later killed by her son and her husband's nephew (Pylades), aided by Electra.

Warning in The Odyssey[]

The dead Agamemnon as a shade in the Land of the Dead tells Odysseus of that story of his death, and makes an analogy of Clytaemnestra, telling Odysseus not to make a big deal of his return to Ithaca, in case Penelope his wife would also be unfaithful, having not seen Odysseus for almost twenty years.

Family[]

Lelegid/Lacadaemonid Genealogy in Greek mythology
 
 
Poseidôn
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lelex
 
Cleocharia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Myles
 
Euhippe
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Clete
 
Eurotas
 
 
Zeús
 
 
 
Taygete
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lapithes of the Lapiths
 
Orsinome
 
 
 
 
 
Sparta
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Lacedaemon
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Acrisius of Argos
 
Eurydice
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Amyclas
 
Diomede
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Zeús
 
Danaë
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Philomela
 
Cynortas
 
 
 
Argalus
 
 
 
 
 
 
Perseus
 
Andromeda
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gorgophone
 
Oebalus
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hippomenes
 
Tyndareus
 
 
 
Leda
 
 
 
Zeús
 
Polycaste
 
Icarius
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Castor
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Polydeuces
 
 
Penelope
 
Odysseus of Ithaca
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agamemnon of Mycenae
 
Clytaemnestra
 
 
 
 
 
Helen
 
Menelaus
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Telemachus
Preceded by:
Aerope
Queen of Mycenae
Mythic
Succeeded by
Hermione
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