AigisthosAegisthus

The son of Thyestes and the cousin of Agamemnon.

When Agamemnon returned from the siege of Troy, Aigisthos conspired with Agamemnon’s wife, Klytemnestra (Clytemnestra), to murder Agamemnon.

In The Odyssey, Aigisthos set a trap for Agamemnon and killed him without the assistance of Klytemnestra; whether Aigisthos was acting of his own free will or whether he was simply a pawn of the Immortals is a matter of debate; his uncle, Atreus, had killed Aigisthos’ brothers and sisters in a blood feud with Aigisthos’ father, Thyestes, and his participation in Agamemnon’s murder was either divine revenge or a selfish attempt to get Agamemnon out of the way so he could marry Klytemnestra.

The play, Agamemnon, by Aeskhylus is much more dramatic and has Klytemnestra single-handedly murdering Agamemnon while the captive sorceress, Kassandra (Cassandra), tries unsuccessfully to warn Agamemnon of his impending doom.

Aigisthos was finally killed by Agamemnon’s son, Orestes.

• Odyssey, book 1, lines 29-42 and 300; book 3, lines 194-200, 235, 250-256, 304-310; book 4, lines 518, 524, 529 and 537; book 11, lines 389 and 409; book 24, lines 22 and 97
• Returns, fragment 1