Clytemnestra

DedicationFor my parents, for everything. ContentsCoverTitle PageDedicationCast of CharactersPart I1.Prey2.One Girl Wins and the Other Loses3.A King4.The Tales of Tantalus5.The Clever CousinPart II6.In the Eyes of the Gods7.The Sons of Atreus8.The Most Beautiful Woman9.The Flaming-Haired and the Many-Minded10.Sweat and Blood11.Nightingale12.The Bird with Crushed Wings13.The Atreidai’s Wives14.MycenaePart III15.The Queen of Arcadia16.Burning of the Dead17.The Strongest Rules18.The Favorite Daughter19.Violent Husband, Vengeful Wife20.The Prophecy21.Birds and She-Bears22.Helen’s Secret23.The War to Come24.AulisPart IV25.Different Kinds of Wars26.The Stranger27.Wolf’s Teeth28.Broken People29.LoversPart V30.Loyalty31.Landslide32.Friends and Foes33.The Lion Comes Home34.The Queen’s Justice35.House in OrderAn Ancient Greek GlossaryReading Group GuideA Conversation with the AuthorAcknowledgmentsAbout the AuthorPraiseCopyrightAbout the Publisher Cast of CharactersHOUSE OF TYNDAREUSTyndareus: king of Sparta, son of Gorgophone, husband of:Leda: queen of Sparta, daughter of the Aetolian king Thestius, mother of: Castor and Polydeuces: twins, known as Tyndaridai (sons of Tyndareus) and later as Dioscuri (in Roman mythology)Clytemnestra: princess of Sparta and later queen of MycenaeHelen: princess and queen of Sparta. Later known as Helen of Troy. According to the myth, Helen is the daughter of Leda and Zeus, who in the form of a swan raped the queen.Timandra: princess of Sparta and later queen of ArcadiaPhoebe and Philonoe: minor characters in Greek mythology, youngest daughters of Tyndareus and Leda. Unlike their sisters, they didn’t commit adultery against their husbands.Icarius: king of Acarnania, brother of Tyndareus, husband of Polycaste, father of: Penelope: princess of Acarnania and later queen of IthacaHippocoon: Tyndareus and Icarius’s half brother, killed by HeraclesAphareus: another of Tyndareus and Icarius’s half brothers, father of: Idas and Lynceus: princes of MesseniaPhoebe and Hilaeira: Messenian princesses known as Leucippides (“daughters of the white horse”), promised to Lynceus and Idas, “stolen” by Castor and PolydeucesHOUSE OF ATREUSAtreus: son of Pelops and Hippodamia, king of Mycenae. Older brother of Thyestes and half brother of Chrysippus. The story of his house is unrivaled in Greek mythology for cruelty and corruption. Atreus is the father of: Agamemnon: king of Mycenae, “lord of men,” husband of Clytemnestra, commander of the Greek fleet during the Trojan WarMenelaus: king of Sparta, husband of HelenThyestes: king of Mycenae after killing and seizing the throne from his brother. He had three sons, who were all killed by Atreus. After an oracle advised him that if he had a son with his own daughter, the son would kill Atreus, Thyestes raped his daughter, Pelopia, and became father of: Aegisthus: murderer of his uncle Atreus, cousin of Agamemnon and Menelaus, lover of ClytemnestraAerope: daughter of Catreus, king of Crete; wife of Atreus; lover of Atreus’s brother ThyestesOTHER CHARACTERSTheseus: Greek hero, abductor of Helen, king of AthensPirithous: prince of the Lapiths and friend of TheseusCynisca: one of the SpartiatesChrysanthe: Spartan, lover of TimandraTantalus: king of Maeonia, first husband of ClytemnestraCalchas: seer of the Greek armiesLeon: protector and adviser to Clytemnestra in MycenaeAileen: Clytemnestra’s servant and confidante in MycenaePolydamas, Cadmus, Lycomedes: elders of MycenaeEurybates: one of Agamemnon’s warriors in MycenaeKyros: Eurybates’s son, later made warlord by ClytemnestraErebus: a merchantCassandra: Trojan princess, priestess of Apollo, daughter of Hecuba and Priam. After the Trojan War, she becomes concubine of King Agamemnon.Odysseus: prince of Ithaca, son of Laertes, “the man of twists and turns,” husband of PenelopeAjax the Great: prince Part IThere is no peacefor a woman with ambitionNo lovefor a woman with a crownShe loves too muchshe is lustfulHer power is too strongshe is ruthlessShe fights for vengeanceshe is madKings are brilliantmightygodlikeQueens are deadlyshamelessaccursed 1PreyCLYTEMNESTRA LOOKS DOWN at the steep ravine but can see no trace of dead bodies. She searches for cracked skulls, broken bones, corpses eaten by wild dogs and pecked by vultures, but nothing. There are only a few brave flowers, growing between the cracks, their petals white against the darkness of the ravine. She wonders how they manage to grow in such a place of death.There were no flowers down there when she was little. She remembers crouching in the forest as a child, watching the elders drag criminals and weak babies up the trail and throw them into the gorge Spartans call Ceadas. Down the cliff, the rocks are as sharp as freshly cast bronze and as slippery as raw fish. Clytemnestra used to hide and pray for all those men whose deaths would be long and painful. She couldn’t pray for the babies: the thought made her restless. If she walked closer to the edge of the ravine, she could feel a soft breeze caressing her skin. Her mother had told her that the dead infants lying at the bottom of the Ceadas spoke through the wind. Those voices whispered, yet Clytemnestra couldn’t grasp their words. So she let her mind wander as she looked at the sun peeping through the leafy branches.An eerie silence looms over the forest. Clytemnestra knows she is being followed. She descends quickly from the high ground, leaving the ravine behind, trying not to trip on the slippery stones that form the hunting trail. The wind is colder, the sky darker. When she left the palace hours ago, the sun was rising, warm on her skin, and the grass was wet against her soles. Her mother was already sitting in the throne room, her face glowing in the orange light, and Clytemnestra slipped past the doors before she could be seen.There is a sudden movement behind the trees, and the sound of crunching leaves. Clytemnestra slips and cuts her palm against the sharp edge of a rock. When she looks up, ready to defend herself, two big, dark eyes are staring back at her. Just a deer. She clenches her fist, then wipes her hand on her tunic before the blood can leave tracks for her hunter.She can hear wolves howl somewhere far above her but forces herself to keep going. Spartan boys of her age