Agamemnon

Seneca (4 BC–65), translated by Murgatroyd, Paul (contact-email)

Agamemnon is a Roman tragedy in Latin verse by Lucius Annaeus Seneca, written in the first century AD. The play, spanning approximately 1012 lines, depicts the murder of King Agamemnon of Argos by his wife Clytaemnestra and her lover Aegisthus after his return from the Trojan War. It comprises five acts, each interspersed with choral odes, exploring themes of vengeance and guilt.

Act I, introduces Thyestes’ ghost, who, burdened by guilt, eagerly anticipates Agamemnon’s murder. Act II shows Clytaemnestra’s internal conflict over the intended murder, her fears, and her eventual agreement to Aegisthus’s plan. In Act III, the herald describes a storm and the deceptive beacons that led to the destruction of Agamemnon’s fleet, whilst Act IV focuses on captive Trojan women, particularly Cassandra, who foresees the impending murder. The final act sees Cassandra’s clairvoyant witnessing of Agamemnon’s assassination. Electra entrusts her brother Orestes to a friend for safety. Defiant, she confronts Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus and is imprisoned. Cassandra, sentenced to death, accepts her fate, hinting at Orestes’s future revenge on the murderers.

This edition is tailored for modern stage performance. The author has avoided adding new content to Seneca’s work but has made some cuts and simplifications to enhance accessibility.

Author Details

Lucius Annaeus Seneca, commonly known as Seneca the Younger, was a significant Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist in ancient Rome. Born around 4 BC, in Corduba, Hispania (modern-day Córdoba, Spain), he was raised in Rome. Seneca’s father was the renowned rhetorician Seneca the Elder, and his family was of Italic origin from Umbria or Paeligni.

Educated extensively in rhetoric and philosophy in Rome, Seneca was influenced by teachers such as Attalus the Stoic and Papirius Fabianus - aligning his views with Stoic philosophy. He struggled with poor health, probably including asthma and tuberculosis, leading to a period of convalescence in Egypt.

Seneca’s career in politics was initially successful, but Caligula’s displeasure at Seneca’s oratorical success almost led to his forced suicide. Under Claudius, dubious accusations of adultery with Julia Livilla - sister to Caligula and Agrippina – led to his exile in 41AD to Corsica. During this exile, he wrote consolatory works and reflected on Stoic themes.

Recalled to Rome in 49AD, Seneca became tutor, and later advisor, to the emperor Nero. During Nero’s early reign, Seneca, alongside the praetorian prefect Sextus Afranius Burrus, was an influence on the government, although this waned with time. Accused of involvement in the Pisonian conspiracy in 65AD, Seneca was finally forced by Nero to commit suicide, a death that has been widely depicted in art.

Seneca’s philosophical works, including essays and letters on Stoic philosophy, and tragic plays such as “Medea,” “Thyestes,” and “Phaedra,” have had a lasting impact. His writings on ethics, moral psychology, and Stoic philosophy form a significant part of ancient Stoic literature, and influenced Renaissance thought.

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Murgatroyd, Paul

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