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Death of Agamemnon

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The Murder of Agamemnon; relief on an Etruscan Funeral Urn, in the Louvre, Paris. This scene does not occur any any extant Greek work of art.

Agamemnon, his head and shoulders shrouded in a cloth, half-kneels on an altar to which he has fled for refuge. He struggles helplessly as Aegisthus, on the left, grabs his head and brings a sword in his right to give the fatal blow.

On the right, Clytemnestra comes through an open door, footstool raised above her head, to attack her husband.

On the extreme right, a terrified servant hides behind the door.

On the extreme left, a winged fury, sword drawn, witnesses the deed and marks the guilty as her prey.

The story of the murder of Agamemnon varies;

Aegisthus is guilty on this urn and also in

- Od., 1.35; 3,198, 308

Clytemnestra is guilty according to

Od., 11 421

and according to dramatists such as Aeschylus.