Iphianassa (1)

One of the three daughters of Agamemnon and Klytemnestra (Clytemnestra).

In The Iliad (book 9, line 145), she is called Iphianassa but later authors and other portions of the Epic Cycle named her as Iphigenia; in the Kypria, which is part of the Epic Cycle, Iphigenia and Iphianassa are said to be two different women but, for the sake of consistency, we shall assume that Homer was correct and that later authors were mistaken.

Iphianassa was one of the three daughters of Agamemnon and Klytemnestra (Clytemnestra) who was offered to Akhilleus (Achilles) if he would put away his anger and return to the battle with the Trojans.

When the Argive fleet was about to sail for Troy from the island of Aulis, the goddess Artemis would not let the ships leave the harbor because Agamemnon had offended the goddess by boasting about his skills as a archer; the seer, Kalkhas (Calchas), said that unless Agamemnon sacrificed his daughter, Iphianassa, to Artemis, the fleet would not be allowed to leave Aulis; Agamemnon had Iphianassa brought to Aulis on the pretext that she was to marry Akhilleus; when the time for the sacrifice came, Artemis took Iphianassa from the altar and substituted a deer in her stead; Iphianassa was taken to the land of Tauris to serve as a priestess for Artemis; she remained in Tauris until her brother, Orestes, was sent to steal the image of Artemis from the temple at Tauris; he and Iphianassa recognized each other and he persuaded her to flee with him; her name literally means Strong-Born.

• Kypria, fragment 1