The Murder of Agamemnon

[helens_daughter]

Comments

[eglantine_br]

Wasn't killing a guest a particularly bad thing to do? I don't know very much, but I think I remember hearing that somewhere...

Thanks again for your fascinating posts. I learn every time, and it makes me want to dance around.

[helens_daughter]

Yes, killing your guest or your host was very, very bad, but it still happened. Herakles was notorious for being the Guest From Hell.

[gmcdavid]

as high priestess, she would have been more than able to personally carry out the murder of her husband like the killing of a sacrificial animal.

Considering the evidence for human sacrifice in the Pylos tablets, she may already have been accustomed to killing people.

[helens_daughter]

Evidence for human sacrifice in the Greek Bronze Age seems to be very rare. There are some human remains which may belong to sacrificial victims, but in context it seems as though this was something done only in dire circumstances. Pylos was under threat at the time the man, woman, and two gold bowls were offered to Zeus and Hera. I think it did occur sometimes, and that the finds at Anemospilia, Crete are proof positive.

You certainly don't see evidence for human sacrifice in the artwork, where animal sacrifices and bloodless offerings are prominently depicted.

[gmcdavid]

Good point. Thank you.