Hero · Character in Homer’s Odyssey

Agamemnon

Murdered king, cautionary shade

Imperious in life; in death a bitter shade preaching distrust.

The Greek commander at Troy, cut down at his own homecoming feast by his wife and her lover. His story runs through the poem as the return that went wrong, and in Hades he tells Odysseus to trust no woman fully — then praises Penelope by name.

Bonds

• Agamemnon dwells in Hades — still telling of his murder
• Agamemnon warns Odysseus — counsels distrust, praises Penelope
• Agamemnon husband of Clytemnestra — murdered on his homecoming
• Clytemnestra slays Agamemnon — conspires in her husband's death
• Menelaus brother of Agamemnon — storm-driven, home too late
• Agamemnon king of The Achaians — commander of the whole host
• Aegisthus slays Agamemnon — at the homecoming feast
• Orestes son of Agamemnon — the avenger the poem cites
• Agamemnon king of Argos — his realm over the water

Appears in

• Book III Interview of Telemachus with Nestor
• Book XI Visit of Odysseus to the Land of the Dead
• Book XXIV Conclusion

Scenes

1. Zeus recalls Aegisthus — Book I. Zeus blames mortals via Aegisthus
2. The Fleet’s Quarrel — Book III. Nestor recalls Atreus brothers’ quarrel
3. A Warning on Fate — Book III. Nestor probes suitors, Athena warns
4. The Full Tale of Murder — Book III. Nestor tells of Aegisthus, Menelaus’s voyage
5. Fates of Ajax and Agamemnon — Book IV. Ajax drowns, Aegisthus kills Agamemnon
6. Odysseus on Calypso’s Isle — Book IV. Odysseus weeps, Menelaus promised Elysium
7. Feast and First Song — Book VIII. Demodocus sings the quarrel, Odysseus weeps
8. Polyphemus interrogates — Book IX. Polyphemus demands origin, scorns Zeus
9. Reunion with Anticleia — Book XI. Anticleia reports on family, eludes embrace
10. Agamemnon’s Fate — Book XI. Aegisthus slays Agamemnon; wife conspires
11. Warning About Wives — Book XI. Agamemnon warns of wives, praises Penelope
12. Plot Against the Suitors — Book XIII. Athena details siege, disguises Odysseus
13. Seated by the Hearth — Book XIV. Eumaeus believes his master died at Troy
14. Wary of Wanderers — Book XIV. Eumaeus trusts no beggar’s tale
15. The Trick for a Cloak — Book XIV. Odysseus tricks Thoas out of his cloak
16. Achilles Meets Agamemnon — Book XXIV. Achilles greets shamefully slain Agamemnon
17. Achilles’ Funeral Recalled — Book XXIV. Agamemnon recalls Achilles’s funeral games
18. Amphimedon’s Tale — Book XXIV. Amphimedon tells slaughter, Penelope praised

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