Each goddess approached Paris in attempts to bribe him with special offerings. Hera offered him a rich kingdom and power; Athena offered him wisdom and military success; Aphrodite offered him love and the most beautiful woman in the world, Helen. Paris chose Aphrodite, thus making enemies of Hera and Athena. They both vowed to destroy Paris and the city of Troy.Upon learning that he would possess Helen, Paris went to Troy and established himself as a true prince, the legitimate son of Priam and Hecuba. He sailed to Sparta where he seduced and later abducted Helen. When King Menelaus, Helens husband, returned to Sparta and found that his wife was gone, he summoned a number of Greek generals and leaders, including his brother, King Agamemnon. Agamemnon was elected leader of the armies. As they sailed the Aegean Sea making their journey to Troy, the winds died. It was discovered the Agamemnon had killed a deer sacred to Artemis, goddess of the Hunt. Nothing could pacify her anger except the sacrifice of Iphegenia, Agamemnons daughter. After much anguish, Agamemnon sent for his daughter under the false pretense that she was to marry Achilles. Once there, however, he had her sacrificed.The play begins when Agamemnon returns after a ten-year siege at Troy. A chorus chants the story of Menelaus and his brother, but conclude each set with a somber refrain for Iphegenia was sacrificed in order to wage war for Helen. King Agamemnon brings with him his captured war-prize, Cassandra, Paris sister.Clymenestra, still in grief over her daughters death welcomes her husband, King Agamemnon and Cassandra. Clymenestra makes an effort to persuade Cassandra to join them in the palace, but she remains behind giving no reply. Cassandra cries in anguish to Apollo and begins to relate a tale of sins committed by Agamemnons father. She then describes the murder of a man - a husband. After the trance is over she turns to the chorus (in the pl...
