Clytemnestra was unfaithful to her husband Agamemnon who was in battle at Troy. Aegisthus was the apparent lover in the triangle who killed Agamemnon in order to establish an intimate relationship with his wife. Orestes, Agamemnon’s son, knew of how his father died but waited strategically until the opportune time came, and avenged his father by killing Aegisthus and Clytemnestra, his mother.
The story about Agamemnon, the infidelity of his wife Clytemnestra with Aegisthus, Agamemnon’s death at the hands of the two lovers, and the vengeance by his son Orestes on behalf of his father is repeated several times in the story because:
- It is this story, and the courage of Orestes, that Athena employs to spur Telemachus into action regarding a similar situation facing his mother Penelope.
- The story is also used to strike a close resemblance between Agamemnon’s situation and his eventual death, with what Penelope is going through at the hands of unwanted suitors.
- The story is also used to show the difference between Clytemnestra and Penelope and also shows the benefits associated with fidelity and perseverance.
- At some point, Nestor shares the full story of Agamemnon’s death with Telemachus in order to improve his understanding of how such a thing could happen to a noble man, and the importance to decisively face the situation.
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