In Greek mythology, Iphigenia (; ; ; Ancient Greek: Ἰφιγένεια, romanized: Iphigéneia, pronounced [iːpʰiɡéneː.a]) was a daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and thus a princess of Mycenae.
In the story, Agamemnon offends the goddess Artemis on his way to the Trojan War by hunting and killing one of Artemis's sacred stags. She retaliates by preventing the allied troops from reaching Troy unless Agamemnon kills his eldest daughter, Iphigenia, at Aulis as a human sacrifice. In some versions, Iphigenia dies at Aulis, and in others, Artemis rescues her. In the version where she is saved, she is brought to the Taurians and, many years later, meets her brother Orestes there.
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Name
"Iphigenia" means "strong-born," "born to strength," or "she who causes the birth of strong offspring."
In Homer's Iliad, Iphianassa (Ἰφιάνασσα) is the name of one of Agamemnon's three daughters (ix.145, 287), a name that may be simply an older variant of the name Iphigenia. "Not all poets took Iphigenia and Iphianassa to be two names for the same heroine," Kerenyi remarks, "though it is certain that to begin with they served indifferently to address the same divine being, who had not belonged from all time to the family of Agamemnon."
The account in the Hesiodic fragmentary epic Catalogue of Women calls the daughter that Agamemnon sacrifices "Iphimede" (Ἰφιμέδη).
In mythology
With the potential exception of the Iliad mentioned above, in Greek mythology Iphigenia appears as the Greek fleet gathers in Aulis to prepare for war against Troy. Here, Agamemnon, the leader of the Greeks, hunts and then kills a deer in a grove sacred to the goddess Artemis. Artemis punishes Agamemnon by acting upon the winds, so that Agamemnon's fleet cannot sail to Troy. Calchas the seer tells Agamemnon that to appease Artemis, he must sacrifice his eldest daughter, Iphigenia. At first he refuses but, pressured by the other commanders, is eventually forced to relent.
Iphigenia and her mother Clytemnestra are brought to Aulis, under the pretence that Achilles will marry her. In some versions of the story, they realise the truth, while in others, Iphigenia remains unaware of her imminent sacrifice until the last moment, believing until the moment of her death that she is being led to the altar to be married.
In some versions, such as Hyginus's Fabulae, Iphigenia is not sacrificed. Some sources claim that Iphigenia was taken by Artemis to Tauris (in Crimea) at the moment of the sacrifice, the goddess having left a deer in her stead, or else a goat (actually the god Pan) in her place.
Euripides's description of her sacrifice is as follows: "...we brought your child to the place where the Greek army had gathered, all together and all at once. When King Agamemnon saw his daughter proceeding to the altar to her death, he heaved a deep sigh and turned his head to one side and wept. He covered his eyes with his robe. But the young girl stood beside her father who had given her life and said: 'Fathers, as you bid me, I am here. I give my body, freely on behalf of my country, for all the land of Greece. Lead me to the altar. There, if that is the gods' will, sacrifice me. May this gift from me bring you success. May you win the crown of victory and win thereafter a glorious homecoming. And no, do not let any man lay his hands upon me. In peace and in good heart I offer you my throat.' So she spoke, and all stood by in wonder at the courage, yes, the virtue of her words. Then Talthybius, for so he was commanded, stood before the assembled army and ordered them to watch and keep holy silence. The Calchas, the prophet, took from its sheath a sharp knife and put it in a basket studded with gold. And upon the young girl's head he put a garland. Achilles, son of Peleus, circled the altar of the goddess, basket in hand, and upon her he sprinkled holy water and he said, 'Artemis, daughter of Zeus, slayer of wild beasts, you that spin the silver light at night, receive this sacrifice which we offer to you. We the Greek army and King Agamemnon offer to you the pure blood that flows from a virgin's throat. Grant our ships an untroubled journey. Grant that our spears will sack the towers of Troy.' The priest seized the knife and offered a prayer as he looked for a place to plunge the knife's point. My soul was deeply troubled and in pain. I stood by, head lowered. Suddenly, it was a miracle: everyone had heard the sound of the knife – but no one could see where in the world the young maiden had disappeared to. The priest cried out. The army echoed his cry, and then they saw the miracle, impossible to believe even as it happened before their eyes. There on the ground lay a deer, gasping for breath. She was a full-grown deer, beautiful, and the altar of the goddess was dripping with her blood. Then Calchas spoke – imagine the joy! – 'Leaders of this the Greek army, do you see this victim that the goddess has laid upon her own altar? This mountain deer? She accepts this offering with greater gladness than the child. For her altar will not now be stained with noble blood. She rejoices in the sacrifice. And she grants us fair sailing and success at Troy. Therefore, courage! To arms, to the ships! For on this day we must leave the hallow bay of Aulis and cross the Aegean Sea.' When the carcass had been reduced to ashes in Hephaestus's fire, Calchas offered a prayer for the safe homecoming of the army. Agamemnon sent me to tell you these things, to tell you of the good fortune he has received from the gods, and of the fame that is now his and will not die, I tell you what I saw. For I was there. There is no doubt your child has been taken to live amongst the gods."The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women called her Iphimede (Ἰφιμέδη) and told that Artemis made her an immortal companion under the name Artemis Enodia ('Artemis of the Roads)'. Pausanias, centuries later, interpreted this immortal Iphigenia as the goddess Hecate, a goddess connected to both Artemis and crossroads. Antoninus Liberalis said that Iphigenia was transported to the island of Leuke, where she was wedded to immortalized Achilles under the name Orsilochia.
Among the Taurians
The people of Tauris/Taurica facing the Euxine Sea worshipped the maiden goddess Artemis. Some very early Greek sources in the Epic Cycle affirmed that Artemis rescued Iphigenia from the human sacrifice her father was about to perform, for instance in the lost epic Cypria, which survives in a summary by Proclus: "Artemis ... snatched her away and transported her to the Tauroi, making her immortal, and put a stag in place of the girl [Iphigenia] upon the altar." Hesiod, according to Pausanias, described Iphigenia as not dying but becoming Hecate by the power of Artemis.
The earliest surviving full accounts of the purported death of Iphigenia are in Euripides's Iphigenia at Aulis and Iphigenia in Tauris, Athenian tragedies of the fifth century BC set in the Heroic Age. In the latter drama, the Taurians made Iphigenia a priestess of Artemis at her temple.
Among the Etruscans
The myth was retold in classical Greece and Italy, and it became most popular in Etruria, especially in Perusia. In the second and first centuries BC the Etruscans adorned their cremation-urns with scenes from the sacrifice. The most common scene: "Iphigenia, a little girl, is held over the altar by Odysseus while Agamemnon performs the aparchai. Clytemnestra stands beside Agamemnon and Achilles beside Odysseus and each one begs for the life of Iphigenia." This version is closest to the myth as the Romans told it.
Ritual commemorations
Many traditions arose from the sacrifice of Iphigenia. One prominent version is credited to the Spartans. Rather than sacrificing virgins, they would whip a male victim in front of a sacred image of Artemis. However, most tributes to Artemis inspired by the sacrifice were more traditional. Taurians especially performed sacrifices of bulls and virgins in honour of Artemis. As part of the cult of Artemis at Brauron, young girls performed a ritual in which they shedded saffron robes and pretended to be she-bears; the sacrifice of Iphigenia is sometimes presented as an origin myth for this practice, through a version of the myth in which, after an unwilling, gagged Iphigenia is seized for sacrifice, she shrugs out of her robes and tries wordlessly to reach out for mercy, leading to her miraculous rescue by Artemis.
In Homer
The sacrifice of Iphigenia is not explicitly mentioned by Homer, although scholars argue that it is presupposed by Agamemnon's criticism of Calchas at Iliad 1.105-108; Nelson has developed this suggestion further by arguing that the story of Iphigenia's sacrifice lies allusively behind the opening scenes of the Iliad: "both the debate over Chryseis and her eventual return to her father replay and rework the sacrifice story." He has highlighted six key elements that are shared by each story:
Agamemnon offends a deity and is punished.
Calchas discloses divine displeasure and proposes a solution: Agamemnon must give up a prized woman from his possession.
Achilles loses a potential bride.
Odysseus collects and brings this woman to her father by the altar.
Sacrifice is performed at the altar.
After the sacrifice, the Greeks receive a favorable wind from the offended deity and sail to Troy.
In Lucretius
The sacrifice of Iphigenia appears in the ancient Roman didactic poem De rerum natura by Lucretius as a criticism of religion. Anticipating that his poem will seem sacrilegious, Lucretius attacks the virtue of religion by recounting the story of Iphigenia, which he considers a cruel story of a parent "making his child a sacrificial beast" on her wedding day. Lucretius concludes "such are the crimes to which Religion leads."
Adaptations
Ballet
Iphigénie, ballet by Charles le Picq.
Films
Iphigenia, 1977 Greek film by Michael Cacoyannis.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer, 2017 film by Yorgos Lanthimos, which transposes the story to modern America.
Effi o Blaenau, 2026 Welsh language film by Marc Evans, an adaptation set in modern day Blaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales of the play Iphigenia in Splott.
Novels
The Songs of the Kings, novel by Barry Unsworth.
A Memory of Wind, short story by Rachel Swirsky.
Agamemnon's Daughter, novel by Ismail Kadare.
A Fair Wind For Troy, a novel by Doris Gates
Opera
Iphigénie en Aulide, opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck.
Iphigénie en Tauride, opera by Henri Desmarets and André Campra.
Ifigenia in Tauride, opera by Tommaso Traetta.
Iphigénie en Tauride, opera by Christoph Willibald Gluck.
Iphigénie en Tauride, opera by Niccolò Piccinni
Iphigenia, 2021 opera by Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding.
Iphigenia's sacrifice, 1968 opera by Pascal Bentoiu.
Iphigenia in Brooklyn, cantata by PDQ Bach
Plays
Iphigenia at Aulis, a play by Euripides.
Iphigénie en Aulide, play by Jean Racine.
Iphigenia, play by Mircea Eliade.
Ifigeneia, rewrite of the play by Finn Iunker
Iphigenia at Aulis, the first part of The Greeks trilogy, adapted and directed by John Barton for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1980.
Iphigenia in Tauris, play by Euripides.
Iphigenie auf Tauris, play by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
Daughters of Atreus, play by Robert Turney
Iphigenia, play by Samuel Coster.
Girl on an Altar, play by Marina Carr.
Iphigenia in Splott, by Gary Owen, set in modern day Splott, South Wales
Poetry
Iphigenia by Ennius
Metamorphoses, narrative poem by Ovid (books 12 and 13)
Iphigenia at Aulis, poem by Walter Savage Landor