Agamemnon (Director's Playbook Edition) (Annotated) characters

Appears from the start

A palace guard stationed on the roof at Argos, ordered by Clytemnestra to watch night after night for the signal that Troy has fallen. Exhausted by the long vigil and troubled by the condition of Agamemnon's household, he greets the long-awaited beacon with both joy and apprehension.

Also known as Argive Elders

Appears from the start

A group of elderly men of Argos who were too old to join the expedition against Troy. They remember why the war began, question the cost of victory, and observe the royal household with growing unease while lacking the power to direct events.

Also known as Queen of Argos

First appears in chapter 2

Agamemnon's wife and the ruler of Argos during his ten-year absence. Commanding and politically assured, she has organized the chain of beacons that brings news from Troy and prepares a grand welcome for the returning king. The elders respect her authority but remain uncertain how far to trust her confidence.

First appears in chapter 2

The daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, sacrificed by her father at Aulis so the Greek fleet could sail for Troy. She never appears onstage, but the elders' memory of her death establishes the unresolved wrong within the royal family.

Also known as Herald

First appears in chapter 3

Agamemnon's herald, the first returning member of the expedition to reach the palace. Worn down by the campaign and the dangerous voyage home, he confirms that Troy has fallen and celebrates his return to Argos while reporting that the fleet was scattered by a storm.

Also known as King of Argos

First appears in chapter 4

Commander of the Greek expedition and king of Argos, returning after the destruction of Troy. He presents the victory as a judgment carried out by the gods and brings the captive Trojan princess Cassandra home with him. Conscious that excessive honor can provoke divine resentment, he initially resists Clytemnestra's extravagant reception.

Also known as Princess of Troy

First appears in chapter 4

A daughter of Troy's royal house, taken as Agamemnon's captive after the city's fall. She is a prophet of Apollo whose true warnings are fated to be disbelieved. At first she remains silent outside the palace, isolated among people who cannot understand what she knows.

Also known as Apollo

First appears in chapter 5

The god who granted Cassandra prophetic insight and then ensured that no one would believe her after she rejected him. He does not appear, but Cassandra addresses him as her visions reveal the violence attached to the house of Atreus.

First appears in chapter 6

Agamemnon's cousin and the surviving son of Thyestes. He arrives openly claiming the ancestral grievance created when Agamemnon's father, Atreus, murdered Thyestes' children. He treats the day's violence as repayment for that earlier crime and intends to share power in Argos.