The Sacrifice of Iphigenia

The Sacrifice of Iphigenia
The name, Iphigenia, means "born to strength" and her strength is revealed in a number of 5th century Greek plays by Euripides, Ennius, and others. In Greek mythology, while gathering his fleet in preparation for the war against Troy, Mycenaean king Agamemnon accidentally kills a deer in a grove sacred to the goddess Artermis. To punish him, Artemis conjurs up strong winds so the king's fleet cannot sail. A seer, Calchas reveals that, to appease Artemis, Agamemnon must sacrifice his eldest daughter, Iphigenia in an act of aparchai, the surrender of his "first fruits.". From the Archaic to the Hellenistic period (700-31 BCE), Greeks engaged in aparchai and dekatai, a type of religious tithe, which were deployed not only in a religious context but in politics and constituted a means of settling men's debts to the gods as an expression of human dependence on them. Most scholars have dismissed such tales of human sacrfice as purely myth until an excavation of Mount Lykaion, an ancient Greek sacrificial site, uncovered the remains of a teenage boy in 2006. Pausanias tells us in his Description of Greece, that Lycaon, the first King of Aracdia, tested Zeus' omniscience by serving him the roasted flesh of Lycaon's own son Nyctimus, in order to see whether Zeus was truly all-knowing. Zeus was enraged, and he turned Lycaon and his other sons into wolves then restored Myctimus to life. Supposedly this led to an annual tradition at the altar of Lykaion in which a boy would be slaughtered along with animals. The meat would be cooked all together, and whoever ate the human flesh would be turned into a wolf for nine years.
Back to Iphigenia. Obviously Agamemnon is appalled by this solution and refuses. But, other commanders in his fleet insist and Agamemnon finally agrees. In one of Euripides' most famous plays, "Iphigenia at Aulis," Agamemnon hatches a deception. Knowing his wife Clytemnestra would never agree to the sacrifice, he devises a plan to dupe his wife and daughter into coming to Aulis by claiming he has given his daughter's hand in marriage to Achilles. However, when Clytemnestra mentions the marriage, Achilles, appears to be unaware of it, and she and Iphigenia gradually learn the truth. Achilles, angry that Agamemnon has used him in his plot, vows to help prevent the murder of Iphigenia. But Achilles learns that the Greek army is eager for war and demands the sacifice as stipulated by Artemis. Knowing she is doomed, Iphigenia, believing her death to be heroic as it serves the Greek people, goes to her death willingly. However, at the last moment, the gods spare Iphigenia and replace her with a deer. Some scholars believe the plays were inspired by the worship of a hunting goddess whose cult was subsumed by the worship of Olympian Artemis. The myth became most popular in Etruria, especially in Perusia. but the substitution aspect of Euripides play was not included. By the 2nd and 1st century BCE, Etruscans began depicting the sacrifice of Iphigenia on their cremation urns. In the most common scene, Iphigenia is portrayed as a little girl held over the altar by Odysseus while Agamemnon performs the sacrifice. Clytemnestra stands beside Agamemnon and Achilles beside Odysseus and each one begs for the life of Iphigenia. This Etruscan vision of an actual human sacrifice was embraced by many Romans, probably because it embodied the Roman ideal of sacrifice for the state. However, the Romans were also quite aware of the subsequent plays where Agamemnon is assassinated by Clytemnestra for sacrificing their daughter to achieve his ambitions. So, when you find portrayals of the sacrifice of Iphigenia in Pompeii homes like the House of the Tragic Poet, just outside the triclinium, or, as illustrated in our image, in the tablinum of the Casa di Lucio Cecilio Giocondo, Pompeii (V, 1, 26), it makes you wonder if the mural is reminding the pater familias that dire consequences would arise if he sacrifices his family for his ambitions or if it reminds him that ultimate service to the Roman state may require him to sacrifice his family or a member of it?

 A fresco of Iphigenia in Tauris in the tablinum of the Casa di Lucio Cecilio Giocondo, Pompeii (V, 1, 26) courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen. 

A fragmented 1st century CE fresco of Iphigenia found in Carnuntum (20 miles east of Vienna, Austria) (PD).


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