Oresteia 3.4: the carpet

Summary 12 # Man, God, and Society in Western Literature - From Gods to God and Back

Clytemnestra’s speech, when her husband Agamemnon returns, aims to convince everyone that he is a monster, thereby legitimizing her plan to ensnare him in a net while he bathes and kill him. Her rhetoric is as strategic and manipulative as that of a skilled spin doctor. First, she seeks to win over the chorus—the citizens of Argos—because if she fails, they could rise against her. She begins by lamenting the loss of so many young men who went to Troy and never returned, appealing to the mothers by highlighting their grief.

She then subtly shifts her narrative, aligning herself with the other bereaved women of the community by reminding them of her own loss: her daughter, Iphigenia. Clytemnestra disregards the impossible choice Agamemnon faced—the dilemma of breaking his oath to his brother Menelaus or incurring the wrath of the Furies by sacrificing his daughter. For her, the narrative is clear: Agamemnon is a heartless brute who:

“without a second thought, as if it were the death of an animal, while his flocks were teeming with sheep, slaughtered his own daughter.”

Clytemnestra continues to paint Agamemnon as a cruel and arrogant ruler by rolling out an exquisite carpet for him to walk on, an act of defiance meant to portray him as a tyrant.

Agamemnon, aware of her manipulations, rejects this grand gesture and responds:

“You treat me like a woman. Grovelling, gaping up at me—what am I, some barbarian peacocking out of Asia?”

To the democratic Greeks, Persian power was despised, and Agamemnon stresses that only gods deserve such honors:

“Give me the tributes of a man and not a god, a little earth to walk on, not this gorgeous work.”

By doing so, Agamemnon reclaims the narrative, presenting himself as a modest and sensible ruler, resisting Clytemnestra’s attempts to depict him otherwise.

Despite his resistance, Clytemnestra persists, and eventually, Agamemnon reluctantly consents, saying:

“Enough.
If you are so determined,
Let someone help me off with these at least.
Old slaves, they've stood me well.
Hurry,
and while I tread his splendors dyed red in the sea,
may no god watch and strike me down with envy from on high.
I feel such shame to tread the life of the house,
a kingdom's worth of silver in the weaving.”

Clytemnestra's ultimate goal is to tarnish Agamemnon’s image in the eyes of the chorus—the people of Argos—so that when she and her lover Aegisthus kill him, they will not be seen as villains but as liberators. She aims to depict Agamemnon as a prideful, self-centered tyrant, framing their actions as justified and heroic.

However, Agamemnon is portrayed as a modest and honorable man who reluctantly steps onto the carpet, balancing his desire to maintain his dignity with his wish not to insult Clytemnestra.