Iphigenia and her mother
Clytemnestra are on their way to join the fleet at Aulis, and Agamemnon
has sent a despairing message to bid them return home, hoping thus to
avoid the necessity of sacrificing his child. Meanwhile the Greek hosts,
impatient of delay, clamour for the victim, and are only appeased by the
assurance of Calchas that the sacrifice shall take place that very day.
Left alone with Agamemnon, Calchas entreats him to submit to the will of
the gods. Agamemnon, torn by conflicting emotions, at first refuses, but
afterwards, relying upon the message which he has sent to his wife and
daughter, promises that if Iphigenia sets foot in Aulis he will give her
up to death. He has hardly spoken the words when shouts of joy announce
the arrival of Clytemnestra and Iphigenia. The message has miscarried,
and they are already in the camp. As a last resource Agamemnon now tells
Clytemnestra that Achilles, the lover of her daughter, is false, hoping
that this will drive her from the camp. Clytemnestra calls upon
Iphigenia to thrust her betrayer from her bosom, and Iphigenia replies
so heroically that it seems as though Agamemnon's plot to save his
daughter's life might actually succeed. Unfortunately Achilles himself
appears, and, after a scene of reproach and recrimination, succeeds in
dispelling Iphigenia's doubts and winning her to complete
reconciliation.
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