Background:
Iphigenia at Aulis was written in
410 B.C.E. and is the last play that Euripides wrote. The play
was produced a few years after his death and won first prize at the
festival of Dionysia. Iphigenia at Aulis is the precursor
to Iphigenia at Tauris and
sets the background for the fate of Iphigenia. This
play mainly focuses on Agamemnon, Iphigenia's father. Agamemnon
is faced with a very difficult decision of whether he should sacrifice
his daughter to allow his troops to set sail.
The Greek troops are waiting at Aulis to set sail
and advance to Troy because they cannot travel without wind.
There is a lack of wind because it's being controlled by the goddess
Artemis. Artemis was offended by Agamemnon and therefore decided
to punish him and his army by making it impossible to set sail.
In order to please Artemis and get the necessary wind, Agamemnon is
told he must sacrifice his daughter. Agamemnon realizes the
horror of killing his own daughter but must not dismiss the idea
because his troops are getting anxious and might rebel against
him. Agamemnon decides to send a message to his wife to send
their daughter to Aulis for marriage to Achilles before he leaves for
battle.
Plot Summary:
In the prologue,
Agamemnon struggles with the idea of sacrificing his daughter. He
has second thoughts and decides he cannot go through with it and sends
another letter to his wife telling her to ignore the first
letter. Clytemnestra doesn't get the letter though because
Menelaus intercepts it. Menelaus is outraged that Agamemnon would
not go through with the sacrifice and does not want it to be stopped (Episode 1).
Menelaus is especially upset with Agamemnon because one of the main
reasons the Greeks are going to battle with Troy is to rescue his wife
Helen. Furthermore, not sacrificing Iphigenia could lead to a
mutiny and the destruction of the Greek army.
Agamemnon and Menelaus debate with one another and
change each other's minds. Menelaus now believes they should not
sacrifice his niece and Agamemnon believes it would be better if they
did. At this point, Clytemnestra is on her way to Aulis with
Iphigenia and their baby son, Orestes. Clytemnestra's and
Iphigenia's presence in Aulis makes the decision increasingly difficult
(Episode 2).
Iphigenia is thrilled at the idea of marrying a
soldier but she, Clytemnestra, and Achilles soon find out the real
truth of her being brought to Aulis. Achilles feels used by
Agamemnon and vows to protect Iphigenia from her father and her death (Episode 3).
Clytemnestra is very upset with Agamemnon as well
because she was lured to Aulis so their daughter could be killed, she
cannot believe that her husband is willing to sacrifice
Iphigenia. Achilles is still prepared to protect Iphigenia no
matter what happens and Agamemnon believes he has no choice but to
sacrifice his daughter. Iphigenia suddenly changes her mind and
decides the right thing to do is nobly die for the better of the
Greeks. She is led to the altar to be sacrificed and her mother
is deeply hurt. (Episode
4).
Although everyone believes Iphigenia gets killed,
the messenger informs Clytemnestra that she is saved last minute by
Artemis. Apparently Artemis is appeased, saves Iphigenia
replacing her body with that of a deer and gives the troops wind for
their battle (Episode
5 - Exodos).
Analysis:
Similar to
Euripides' Iphigenia at Tauris,
Iphigenia at Aulis is also a
controversial play. There are many questions raised surrounding
the emphasis on the process of decision making in reference to the
mythological traditions. Therefore, human choice and myth are
controversial elements of the genre. Decision making is something
many characters face and is very important in plot development, it can
also dramatically change the progress of the play. It is
necessary in tragedies that the characters are free to decide either
way no matter what the gods pressure or what ambiguities there may be
(Sorum). The character must also, in turn accept responsibility
for the outcome of their decision which creates problems in many
cases. In the case of Iphigenia at Aulis, Agamemnon is faced with
a most difficult decision that involves many dimensions. He must
decide whether he should sacrifice his daughter to please Artemis so
his Greek troops can sail to Troy. If he decides to kill his
daughter there are many obvious emotions that would follow, which
Agamemnon would bear responsibility for. If he, however, decides
to let her live, his troops may attack and destroy him and not fight
the battle of Troy. In either case, Agamemnon would be
responsible for the outcome of his decision whether intended or
not.
In a play such as Iphigenia at Aulis, characters
change their minds frequently and change one another's minds as
well. The play, on the whole can be read as a "dramatization of
indecision itself" (Sorum). The play must also take into account
Iphigenia's final choice, a decision that bears much importance as
well.
As choice is a very important element in the
tragedy, so is myth. The contrasting elements, myth and choice go
hand in hand in the development of the tragedy as a whole. The
myth aspect of Iphigenia at Aulis
does exploits several parts of the plays. "The most frequent
products of this exploitation may be, first, the irony made possible by
the audience's 'divine' knowledge of the past and the future stories
and, second, the broadened scope of implication created by allusions to
similar or contrasting cycles. A third use of myth that is
particularly 'Eurpidean' arises from the interaction of an accepted
version of the myth and the dramatic fiction in such a way as to
demonstrate the mundane reality underlying the myth or to produce a
tension because the plot it irreconcilable with the traditional story"
(Storum). In the case of Iphigenia
at Aulis when choice is emphasized so much, the myth creates
another element which is to alter the actual story of Iphigenia.
The influence of choice and myth in Iphigenia
at Aulis provide necessary tools to analyze the play
appropriately.
Structural
Analysis:
Prologue - Background
and conflict given by Agamemnon, lines
1st Stasimon - Choral Ode, lines 165-298
1st Episode - Old Servant and Menelaus discuss
Iphigenia's fate, lines 300-535
2nd Stasimon - Choral Ode, lines 535-582
2nd Episode - Agamemnon and Clytemnestra argue
about Iphigenia's fate, lines 582-749
3rd Stasimon - Choral Ode, lines 749-801
3rd Episode - Achilles, Clytemnestra, and
Iphigenia discuss the sacrifice, lines 801-1034
4th Stasimon - Choral Ode, lines 1034-1086
4th Episode - Clytemnestra and Agamemnon
discuss sacrifice further, lines 1086-1498
5th Stasimon - Choral Ode, lines 1498-1529
5th Episode
- Messenger informs
Clytemnestra of Artemis' rescue, lines 1529-1622
Exodos - Final Ode "With joy, son of
Atreus, go to the Phrygian land, and with joy return, when you have
taken splendid spoils, I pray, from Troy," lines 1622-1629
Works Cited:
Euripides.
Translated by: Moses Hadas, and John McLean. Ten Plays by Euripides. Iphigenia at Aulis. New York:
Bantam Books,
1950.
The actual text of Iphigenia at Auliswritten by
Euripides and translated by Moses Hadas and John McLean can be found in
Ten Plays by Euripides.
The book is comprised of ten of Euripides plays including Iphigenia at
Tauris.
"Iphigenia at Aulis." Theatre History. 2006. 20
Nov 2006. <http://www.theatrehistory.com>.
This website traces the origins of Iphigenia at
Aulis and goes further into the meaning of Iphigenia's sacrifice and
what the decision means for Agamemnon and the Greeks. It also
discusses Euripides' use of sacrifice and how it creates conflict in
both Iphigenia at Tauris and
Iphigenia at Aulis.
"Iphigenia
at Aulis." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2006. Wikipedia
foundation. 20 Nov 2006
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iphigeneia_at_Aulis>.
This website offers brief background and summary
information of Iphigenia at Aulis. It also includes multiple
translations of the play and various influences of Euripides.
Storum, Christina Elliot. "Myth,
Choice, and Meaning in Euripides' Iphigenia at Aulis." The American
Journal of Philology 113(1992)
527-542.
<http://www.jstor.org/view/>
This article goes into detail about the
dramatic elements of
myth and choice and what they mean in Iphigenia at Aulis. The
element
of choice emphasized greatly in the play. Myth is seen as
obviously a
standard element but combined with decisions can alter the true story.
