Ifigènia

The Greek tragedian Euripides left us two Iphigenias, of which Iphigenia in Aulis is the most profoundly political. The play revolves around the trick that Agamemnon plays by pretending to arrange the marriage of Achilles and Iphegenia. The truth is that the great king of Mycenae is guilty of killing a deer sacred to the goddess Artemis and subsequently boasting that he is the better huntsman. Artemis, a cold, avenging virgin, stills the winds and demands the sacrifice of Iphegenia. The great fleet waits impatiently for wind to take them to war. And Agamemnon cannot make up his mind. He summons his daughter on the pretext of marrying her to Achilles, but fears that the girl’s fate will take a different direction… These tensions highlight the conflict between politics and self-interest. Faced by this dilemma, Agamemnon chooses to lie and manipulate. This is, then, an eternal theme. A theme that is still relevant, even today. Jordi Coca