amemnon treads on, for example, can be seen as a trail of blood. Earlier, the chorus mentions the robes of Iphigenia pouring to the ground (239-240). As she lies horizontally on the altar with her robes draped around her, saffron in color, Agamemnon sacrifices her for the sake of his own personal agenda (sailing to Ilium safely). The idea of liquids and cloths, of flowing and pouring, has been linked both to her sacrifice and to the curse upon the Atreides, for both are mentioned in the previous line (236). The theme is reinforced when Clytaemestra refers to the carpets as "a crimson path" (911) and mentions its colorings as "the purple ooze wherein our garments shall be dipped" (960). This scene is also a key linguistic turning point. Up to this point, sacrifice and omen have been linked with cloth; now the concept of language as a web, a trap, is layered upon these other ideas. Clytaemestra also confuses fertility with death in the presence of Agamemnons sacrifice. As Agamemnon's blood sprays across her face, she describes the results of her actions in terms of fertility and natural bounty: Thus he went down and the life struggled out of him, as gardens stand among the showers of God in glory at the birthtime of the buds. (1389-1392). She has not simply inverted society-- she has inverted nature as well. As she did with religion, she has crossed borders again, bringing birth and fertility into a description of bloody death. It is, quite simply, a horrifically unimaginable scene. One final image that is used in the presence of sacrifices is that of cooking, eating and drinking, which is also related to that of feasting. Immediately after Agamemnon's murder, Clytaemestra says (1395- 98): But if it is fitting to pour a libation for the dead, then this is well-ordered, and very just. Having filled this accursed bowl of evils in the house, he himself drinks of them, coming home. Although this speech also contains elements of religious rit...
