Agamemnon

by Saffron Yellow

Play based on the return of Agamemnon

Scene I, A ship upon the Aegean Sea

Enter Cassandra and Chorus

Cassandra:Troy was my prison.

Ten years behind the bleak stone walls

With the undying vision of deathless sea before

And the neglected fields behind.

My wool was my lone companion

Between brief interludes with my family

Unending days I spent; all did.

Prince and peasant were held by the Aegeans

Prince and peasant without escape

Troy was my prison

Wretched and starved we would wait

Through unending hours lived in dread

Then the rival armies would meet

Aegean and Trojan engaged

Sculpted youths dressed in bronze

Fierce war cries and fierce weapons

Ending in lamentations of the women

They were born to be their mother's tears

Mowed down by cruel javelins

Dead husbands, dead fathers, dead sons

Cruel the fate of the women of Troy

Crueler that of the women of Greece

Alone to live in fear of their dread news

To know, so late, of their absent husband's death

So many loves lost for a single love

Scarlet Helen, my brother's desire

Menalaus's lawful love, a thousand ships her dowry

A generation was born to die for her

Troy was my prison, for her

My liberation was in chains

Beloved of Apollo, I, Cassandra, knew this

And all the tragedy that was to be

I foresaw Hector, my brother dragged beneath the walls

His body left for dogs by Achilles

Vicious warrior, the sneer was his mask

He wears it in the grave made for him by Paris

Wear he may embrace my dead sister,

Polyxena, murdered by his dying words

I heard my mother's tears for her long before they fell

And those of a thousand other women like her

All are alike when made to wear grief's mask

Their fate was to weep, I knew their lamentations

I saw the children play in Troy's dusty streets

Their merriment a flicker in our besieged city

Soon to be snuffed, I foresaw their slaughter

I saw the final flame, before it climbed the walls

As the Aegean's ran rampant

Like rapacious birds feasting on a corpse

So they satisfied their hungers on dead Troy

Upon her gems, or her treasured maids

Upon the streets that were bathed in blood

Oh Priam, oh Troy, I saw your death a thousand times

Before your final day

Oh woeful relief, soon I'll weep no more

I, princess of Troy, Apollo's love,

Am now the chattel of an unworthy king

Agamemnon, victorious through another's strength

Agamemnon, triumphant by another's guile

Chorus:Unhappy woman, heir to misfortune

The scion of the house of Troy

Doomed to be a slave, yet not a slave

Agamemnon is less the ruler than the ruled

Cassandra:In tears I've found some joy

My nights are sweet, my days are bliss

Agamemnon will deny me nothing

No bauble would he refuse me

His other slaves attend my whims

And he will go to any lengths

To see the sparkle of my smile

I would be happy, but for my fear

Chorus:You fear that he will weary of you?

Fickle are men's hearts

Undying love dies with the setting sun

Trust no promises from a lover's lips

Cassandra:He'll have no time to tire of me

The shores of Mycenae will be our doom

His wife, Clytemnestra is Helen's sister in more than fact

Has taken another, Aegthius

She knows and fears Agamemnon's return

She has heard of how his nights have passed

Her heart is guilty as it is jealous

And her hatred has been borne from her shame

So shameless she will kill her husband

When he returns to shore

And I shall perish too, guilty of his adulterous love

And victim of her adulterous love

Chorus:Horrible fate to know your death awaits

Cassandra:My curse throughout my life

As a maid, just ripe, Apollo spied me at my bath

A thousand promises to woo me made the all knowing

But I was young and full of fear

I ran from him and tears, his words could not soothe

Nor did the countless songs he played assay my fears

In despair he cursed the prize he'd not won

I would know all, though none would believe me

In time, every word I said was proven true

Yet never would men learn

Chorus:Such is the nature of men

The ravages of fate lay waste to us all

Yet none believe that misfortune will befall him

But Agamemnon loves you well, he may listen

Tell him what you know, and escape your doom

(Enter Agamemnon)

Agamemnon: Lovely is the first touch of dawn

The blush of a new day brings her golden promise

Nothing is more beautiful than hope

Nothing except Cassandra, fair maid

Her eyes are like amber, her lips are blossoms

Her hair the ebony rings of Egypt's princes

Come to my arms my sole desire

I value a kiss from you more than the stores of Troy

Cassandra:My lord and master, I trembled at the sight

When first you brought me here in chains

Now I melt within your warm embrace

But again I tremble, though not from you

I fear our course will lead us to our ruin

Agamemnon:Our course? To Mycenae? What danger there?

We are nearly at her verdant hills

I can almost smell the grove of olive trees

Cassandra:Serpents lie within those groves

The pleasant fruit will yield a poison bite

Oh Agamemnon, let's fly from here

Your wife's smile will conceal a dagger

The heart she'll pledge is the one that beats in your breast

Agamemnon:Clytemnestra? What is this?

Cassandra, you are jealous

I know the subtle fear that gnaws at your heart

That Clytemnestra, to whom I am wed

Will banish you from my heart and bed

But fear not, Cassandra, I love her

Only as far as my marital duty does demand

While you I love as vast as the endless sea

Cassandra:In the years Clytemnestra has grown green

Iphagenia's tears still wound her heart

To you she has grown hard as flint

Agamemnon:I did only as Artemis had bid

There is no crime in following the god's laws

Somehow I had offended her and our ship was stuck

So that we could not go to Troy, my fate

Until an oracle revealed that Artemis demanded sacrifice

My daughter Iphagenia would sate her anger

My men took arms on me and would have mutinied

Had I not summoned Clytemnestra and Iphagenia

Through the lie that she would wed Achilles

I took Iphagenia, dressed as a bride, to the altar

And gagged her so that her screams would not stay my hand

For Troy, I thought all would be forgiven

Clytemnestra must understand that Troy was my fate

Yet as I struck the dread blow, a silver light shone

Artemis had spirited my daughter away

She lives, a priestess in a distant city

What cause is there to quarrel?

Cassandra:You were willing to sacrifice your child

That was like a blow to Clytemnestra

Her long and lonely nights were filled with that memory

To end her horror she sought the caresses of another

Her guilty love of Aegthius has further made her hate

And her guilt has grown with tales of our love

The end of her adulterous affair will be the end of ours

Agamemnon:I'll listen to your gossip no longer

Time and tide has turned you jealous, Princess of Troy

And these bitter lies devour your beauty

My Clytemnestra is forever faithful to me

As I, in my fashion, am to her

Go, beneath the decks, until I display you

Along with other of your cities spoils

(Exit Clytemnestra)

Chorus:Is it not madness to disregard your beloved?

Is it not folly to pay no heed to Apollo's mouth?

Agamemnon:Truth hides from the wise, when they close their eyes

I put no faith in a woman's word, especially a jealous one

Chorus:There is some wisdom to your words

Lover's tongues are often scarred with lies

And stained with the sheen of jealous words

So it must be with Cassandra, for behold the shores of Mycenae

The endless rows of golden flame line the distant shore

They signal the triumphant return of the conquering king

And here your royal barge draws near

Magnificent it's gold and purple

(Enter Aegthius in Barge)

Aegthius:Much welcomed are you to the land of your birth

All rejoice at the news of your return

Great is the glory of the victorious king

How richly you deserve the spoils of war

We hope you shall now reap the spoils of peace

I, Aegthius, steward in your long absence

Have served your wife, the Queen, quite well

But at your return, I hope to vacate that office

And retire to the estate that I have earned

Agamemnon:Much more than that you shall have

Grateful am I for your assistance

Chorus:Magnanimous Agamemnon

Agamemnon:Overjoyed at the site of Mycenae

Joy and generosity become my plague

Chorus:Happy that pestilence

Aegthius:Humbly I thank you, my liege

More news do I bring, this of your bride

Clytemnestra awaits you on the docks

Dressed in her splendid robes, of royal purple

And with her the handsome maids of Mycenae

Her handmaids to attend your whim

To relieve the memory of endless night in camp

Surrounded by rude men in warrior camps

Agamemnon:Never had I doubted her devotion

Yet overawed am I to see it so richly displayed

Good and generous is the queen

Aegthius:I'll leave you to your long lost love

(Enter Clytemnestra)

Chorus:How sweet it is to see the foreign shore

The lost home land of one ten years beneath the Trojan sun

Stranger to his native land returned

To hear the siren's call that says roam no more

Happy is the father's home, and rich the land of Mycenae

Behold the wealth of Mycenae lain on the docks

Soon to by joined to the gold of Troy

The cloth set rich, indigo divans and pillows

The golden dishes glimmer in the sun

Marble sea fed baths where ablutions made

Magnificent sculptures to the gods

In their painted majesty, aping life

Agamemnon:Clytemnestra, happy is the day

Forever we shall remember it

You are as fair and fresh as when I left

You are a daffodil, returning year upon year

Clytemnestra:Long the bitter years pass

I alone with my thoughts of your caress

And your broad shoulders, muscled arm

I see them here again, this is my joy

You bring the spoils of Troy, gold and jewels

No treasure can I offer you, only my heart

A pitiful prize, which cannot hope to tempt

And yet I dare to hope it will entice you to stay

And remain forever on the crags of Mycenae

Agamemnon:This reward I've dreamt

Even when the wealth of Troy lay at my feet

More so on the days on the lonesome seas

Chorus:How sweet, how smooth the tongues of lovers

Long parted and long forgot, now reunited

Reborn their empty promises and poetry

In hope to relive the long dead nights

(Enter Aegthius)

Clytemnestra:I'll give you all of that and more, my liege

Come to these marble pools and wash away

The sweat and stain of ten years bitter memory

You smell of the sea, laden with salt

And of a harlot, born Princess of Troy

(Clytemnestra draws a knife and stabs Agamemnon)

Faithless husband, your honeyed words are ash

Your deceit has been your ruin

Agamemnon:Oh murder, oh help, my guards, my friends

You who stood by me at the gates of Troy

You who have kept my lands in my absence help

Aegthius:No help for Agamemnon, the dagger he has earned

Weak willed and deluded you led your men

Away from home and wife for honor's slight

The faithful women suffer for a faithless wife

Why should their husbands help?

You left your lands in disrepair

So hasty was your flight to Troy

Your children and your widow could not hope

To stem the tide of brigands that came

They lay rapine to your lands with no king

Your few guards, unpaid and demoralized

Would have fallen prey to bandits or become bandits

I made them to a fighting force

I set your falling lands in order

I am Mycenae's King, and will become such in name

With the hand of Clytemnestra

Agamemnon:Clytemnestra

Aegthius:Sweet and gentle Clytemnestra, noble and good

Were your days with your men so sweet?

Could they compare to my nights with her?

Her raven tresses and raven eyes, did your men have such charms?

(Agamemnon collapses)

Clytemnestra:Bring forth for me the bounty of Troy

Lay its coin and jewels at the feet of Aegthius

The King conquered the city but he conquered a Queen

And so Troy's pillage shall be my dowry

Only Cassandra shall I hold from him

Bring Cassandra to me

(Enter Cassandra in chains)

Cassandra:Queen of Mycenae, with dagger still in hand

And so the dagger shall be your death

When wielded by she who loved Agamemnon best

Clytemnestra:Sullen little whore, your threats are hollow

See, Agamemnon lies dead at his bath

His ruby blood is mingled with the water

And you, Princess of Troy, shall soon join him

Cassandra:This I know

Clytemnestra:No tears? No pleas for mercy? I could set you free

My heart is not wicked, I could be swayed

Cassandra:My tears were for Troy, I've no more to spend

Clytemnestra:But none for Agamemnon, yet you loved him best

Cassandra:He the master, and I his high-born slave

I loved him, as well I could, but not best of all

Well you know the delirious joy of night

The happiness I found in his strong embrace

You'll not find such bliss again

(Clytemnestra stabs Cassandra)

Cassandra:Your lying tongue will sound no more

Aegthius is my joy, Agamemnon could not be

What happiness could I find

With a man who would kill the daughter I had born

Chorus:Thus passes the house of Troy; poor Cassandra

Mistress of truth, she found spite

Blameless for her master's love

For this blameless love she lies

Still in a pool of blood on the shore

Clytemnestra:Throw their bodies to the sea

Poseidon alone shall prostrate before their grave

Agamemnon shall be tormented forever

Buffeted by sea and sand

(Exit Clytemnestra and Aegthius, Enter Elektra)

Elektra:Daddy! Oh Daddy what has happened?

Chorus:Killed, by your mother's hand

Her dagger gave a single thrust

Elektra:Daddy, laid low by that poison strumpet

I knew Aegthius could not let him live

So I feared his return

Hero of Troy, leader of the Aegeans

He fought, not for his glory, but for his brother's

No more noble man has lived

This is how he has been repaid

Killed from behind by a jealous woman

Cruel fate has robbed me of my father

Chorus:What shall you do? Where shall you go?

Clytemnestra and Aegthius rule Mycenae

Elektra:I'll not run, I have no fear

My woman's clothing is my armor

My mother does not fear the fairer sex

Forgetting that she has become a Fury

And, as her daughter I'll become a Fury

Chorus:You'll not murder her?

Elektra:I cannot, while Aegthius sits at her side

And all of Mycenae loyal to him

Had I been born a son, I would strike

And tear my mother's heart from her breast

Chorus:You have a brother

Elektra:Orestes, still a child

He'd be a target of our mother's murderous rage

I've hidden him in a friendly court

I pray to the god's he'll become a man

And come to avenge my Father's death

Daddy, come, let us take him to our grave

Chorus:Your mother has forbidden burial for him

Elektra:I defy my mother's law, and if you be men you'll do so too

King of Mycenae, and hero, he'll honor his tomb

That I shall adorn in secret with libations

Until the day I can make them with my mother's blood

Chorus:And of Cassandra? Shall she be hurled in the sea

Elektra:Enemy of Mycenae, and a wicked woman

Yet I envy her, her work is done, while mine begins

It's not right to throw a Princess to the sea

Bury her in the earth, she has no family

No one will mourn at her grave

But no happier fate does wait for me.