Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey packs a lot of Greek mythology into one film, so it’s no surprise some of the biggest characters don’t get much explanation. One of them is Clytemnestra, played by Lupita Nyong’o, whose shocking storyline is only briefly touched on despite being one of the most tragic in the entire myth. If you left the cinema wondering who she actually is and why she ends up killing her husband Agamemnon, here’s the full story. Universal Clytemnestra is Agamemnon’s wife and Helen of Troy’s sister Clytemnestra is the queen of Mycenae and the wife of Agamemnon, the king who leads the Greek forces during the Trojan War. She’s also closely connected to the rest of the story because she’s the half-sister of Helen of Troy. In Homer’s original Odyssey, Agamemnon mainly appears after his death, warning Odysseus about trusting people when he finally returns home. Nolan expands on those scenes by borrowing elements from Aeschylus’ The Oresteia, giving Clytemnestra’s motivations much more emotional weight. Agamemnon sacrificed their daughter before the war Universal One of the biggest reasons Clytemnestra wants revenge comes long before Troy. The film reveals that Agamemnon sacrificed his own daughter, Iphigenia, to appease the gods and secure favourable winds for the Greek fleet to sail to Troy. In most versions of the myth, he tricks both Clytemnestra and Iphigenia into coming to the army’s camp by claiming the princess is about to marry Achilles, Greece’s greatest warrior. Instead of a wedding, Iphigenia is led to a ritual sacrifice. When Odysseus recalls what happened, we see Clytemnestra crying out in horror as she realises what Agamemnon has done. She welcomes Agamemnon home before murdering him Universal After the Trojan War ends, Agamemnon tells Odysseus what happened when he finally returned to Mycenae. According to his version of events, Clytemnestra greets him like a victorious hero. She helps him remove his heavy armour, bathes him herself, rubs him with oil and leaves him “soft” and completely vulnerable. Only then, after getting him into bed, does she kill him. Agamemnon shares the story as a warning, telling Odysseus not to assume he’ll receive the warm homecoming he’s hoping for after years away from Ithaca. Later, Menelaus fills Telemachus in on the rest of the story, explaining that Clytemnestra was eventually killed by her and Agamemnon’s own son, Orestes. Nolan also changes her relationship with Helen One of Nolan’s most interesting changes isn’t about Agamemnon at all. In traditional Greek mythology, Helen and Clytemnestra are half-sisters. In The Odyssey, however, Nolan reimagines them as identical twins. It’s a subtle change, but one that adds another layer to the story. For all the latest film and TV updates and hot takes, like our Facebook page. Featured image credit: Universal Post navigation Next story
