Ἰφιγένεια ἡ ἐν Αὐλίδι
Iphigenia at Aulis
Euripides · Produced posthumously at the City Dionysia, 405 BC, by Euripides the younger · first prize
The Greek fleet is stuck at Aulis, and Artemis demands Agamemnon’s daughter. He lures Iphigenia there with a false promise of marriage to Achilles; in the end she goes to the altar willingly.
Persons, in order of appearance
- Αγα.Agamemnon
- Πρ.Old Man
- Χο.Chorus
- Με.Menelaus
- Αγγ.Messenger
- Κλ.Clytemnestra
- Ιφ.Iphigenia
- Αχ.Achilles
- Αγγ. ΒSecond Messenger
Translations
- E. P. Coleridgeprose · 1891 · aligned by line · with Murray's Greek
- A. S. Wayverse · 1912 · aligned by speech · with Murray's Greek
Greek texts
Cite as Eur. IA 1–1629
Full synopsis (tells the ending)
The Greek fleet is becalmed at Aulis, and the prophet Calchas has said Artemis demands Agamemnon's daughter Iphigenia. Agamemnon has sent for her on the pretext of marriage to Achilles, then written a second letter to stop her. Menelaus intercepts it. Clytemnestra arrives with the bride, and Achilles learns of the marriage from her. Iphigenia learns what she has been brought for, begs for her life, and then chooses to go to the altar for Greece. A messenger reports that a deer was found in her place.
Drawing: Line drawing after the 1857 plate of a red-figure vase (Lenormant and de Witte, Élite des monuments céramographiques II, pl. XC); cut out and retraced.