1448
Χορός
φεῦ, τίς ἂν ἐν τάχει, μὴ περιώδυνος,
μηδὲ δεμνιοτήρης,
1450
μόλοι τὸν αἰεὶ φέρουσ’ ἐν ἡμῖν
Μοῖρ’ ἀτέλευτον ὕπνον, δαμέντος
φύλακος εὐμενεστάτου καὶ
πολλὰ τλάντος γυναικὸς διαί·
πρὸς γυναικὸς δ’ ἀπέφθισεν βίον.
1448
CHOROS.
Alas, that some
Fate would come
Upon us in quickness --
Neither much sickness
Neither bed-keeping --
And bear unended sleeping,
Now that subdued
Is our keeper, the kindest of mood!
Having borne, for a woman's sake, much strife --
By a woman he withered from life!
— R. Browning
Recalling Elizabeth Vandiver's discussion of Clytemnestra as a manlike figure intended to outrage the sensibilities of Athenian citizens, it seems like the participial δαμέντος from δαμάζω might be understood as a shocking (not to us, but to Athenians) reversal of gender roles. The word δαμάζω from Homer to late Koine includes subjugate, overpower, dominate as elements in the semantic domain. The word can be used of a male forcing himself on a female against her will. In light of the other sexual imagery in Clytemnestra's prior speech, it doesn't seem too far fetched to read this metaphorically as a sexual conquest of Agamemnon resulting in his death, where Agamemnon is cast in the passive role which was an abomination for a man of Athens and especially for a warrior-king.