Iphigenia at Aulis

by Euripides

Fully one-half of the extant plays of Euripides are based on the legends of the Trojan War, and four of these treat of tragic events in the history of Agamemnon's family. The Iphigeneia at Aulis, which won the first prize (with the Bacchanals) after the poet's death, tells of the sacrifice of Agamemnon's daughter to bring favoring winds for the Greek fleet.

Clytemnestra is induced to bring Iphigeneia to the camp at Aulis on the pretext of her marriage with Achilles. When the true reason is known, Iphigeneia at first pleas piteously with her father to spare her life, but when she knows that her death is required by the army and that her father is helpless to save her, she faces her doom with marvelous heroism. [Source: From Homer to Theocritus; A Manual of Greek Literature, Edward Capps. 1907, pp. 247-248.]