Account of Agamemnon's murder told by his ghost to Odysseus

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I was not attacked on land in open fight. No. Aegisthus planned and carried out my death, helped by my devilish wife. Inviting me to his home, he gave me dinner, and killed me like an ox killed at the stall. That was a wretched death! All around me, my comrades were cut relentlessly down like pigs slaughtered for meat. You have witnessed the violent deaths of many men-- some killed in duels, some in the rough melee; but there was a sight which would have gripped your heart, to see us there beside the wine-bowl and the feast lying felled to the ground and the floor seething with blood!", "width" : 352, "height" : 240, "url": "https://www.britannica.com/video/Odysseus-Land-journey-home-Departed-Spirits-spirit/-18388" } </script> </head> <body data-leg="A" class="standalone-video-page user-ANONYMOUS user-ads md-desktop leg-a b-ie">  <script>Mendel.config.adProvider='cafemedia';</script> <script data-no-optimize="1" data-cfasync="false"> (function(w, d) { w.adthrive = w.adthrive || {}; w.adthrive.cmd = w. adthrive.cmd || []; w.adthrive.plugin = 'adthrive-ads-manual'; w.adthrive.host = 'ads.adthrive.com';var s = d.createElement('script'); s.async = true; s.referrerpolicy='no-referrer-when-downgrade'; s.src = 'https://' + w.adthrive.host + '/sites/61575e5c934c481d714b3ca9/ads.min.js?referrer=' + w.encodeURIComponent(w.location.href) + '&cb=' + (Math.floor(Math.random() * 100) + 1); var n = d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; n.parentNode.insertBefore(s, n); })(window, document); </script> <div class="ie-warning d-flex align-items-center align-self-center justify-content-center site-alert bg-orange"> <div> You are using an <strong>outdated</strong> browser. 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class="rounded super-video-thumbnail" /> <div class="btn btn-xl border border-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="border-width: 4px; top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%,-50%)"> <em class="material-icons text-white" data-icon="play_arrow"></em> </div> </div> <div class="vpwpl-video-title mt-10 font-weight-bold mb-10"> Listen to Agamemnon's ghost telling Odysseus how he was murdered </div> <div class="vpwpl-video-caption mt-15 d-none d-md-block mb-10"> Learn about the fate of Agamemnon, according to Homer's <em>Odyssey</em>, Book XI, by listening to his ghost telling Odysseus how he was murdered. </div> <div class="vpwpl-credit mb-20 font-13 text-gray-600 font-italic "> Encyclop忙dia Britannica, Inc. </div> </div> <ul class=" col-100 vpwpl-playlist-below vpwpl-playlist mt-15 mt-md-0"> <li class="vpwpl-video-item-1 vpwpl-video-item video-playing" data-assemblyid="18388"> <script type="application/json">{"image":"https://cdn.britannica.com/98/22198-138-0AC518F9/Odysseus-Land-journey-home-Departed-Spirits-spirit.jpg","sources":[{"file":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/vYxGlEIl.m3u8"}],"assetId":22198,"adfile":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/ALYj4hvh.m3u8","title":"Listen to Agamemnon's ghost telling Odysseus how he was murdered","tracks":[{"file":"//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/qC0eFSEc","label":"English"}],"transcriptUrl":"/video/Odysseus-Land-journey-home-Departed-Spirits-spirit/-18388#transcript"}</script> <script data-id="video-credit" type="text/plain">Encyclop忙dia Britannica, Inc.</script> <script data-id="video-caption" type="text/plain">Learn about the fate of Agamemnon, according to Homer's <em>Odyssey</em>, Book XI, by listening to his ghost telling Odysseus how he was murdered.</script> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal " > <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Odysseus-Land-journey-home-Departed-Spirits-spirit/-18388" >Listen to Agamemnon's ghost telling Odysseus how he was murdered</a> </div> <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Odysseus-Land-journey-home-Departed-Spirits-spirit/-18388"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/98/22198-138-0AC518F9/Odysseus-Land-journey-home-Departed-Spirits-spirit.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="Listen to Agamemnon's ghost telling Odysseus how he was murdered" width="100" height="75" /> <div class="btn btn-sm border border-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="border-width: 3px; top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%,-50%)"> <em class="material-icons text-white" data-icon="play_arrow"></em> </div> </a> </div> </div> </li> <li class="vpwpl-video-item-2 vpwpl-video-item " data-assemblyid="191955"> <script type="application/json">{"image":"https://cdn.britannica.com/55/179955-138-08A02F99/Overview-Troy.jpg","sources":[{"file":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/LzSjw7VK.m3u8"}],"assetId":179955,"adfile":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/3QjUg8i0.m3u8","title":"Was the city of Troy real or a myth?","tracks":[{"file":"//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/F0Iq6l6A","label":"English"}],"transcriptUrl":"/video/Overview-Troy/-191955#transcript"}</script> <script data-id="video-credit" type="text/plain">Contunico 漏 ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz; Thumbnail 漏 Leonid Andronov/Dreamstime.com; Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Purchased with the support of the F.G. Waller-Fonds; Encyclop忙dia Britannica, Inc.</script> <script data-id="video-caption" type="text/plain">Learn about Troy.</script> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal " > <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Overview-Troy/-191955" >Was the city of Troy real or a myth?</a> </div> <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Overview-Troy/-191955"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/55/179955-138-08A02F99/Overview-Troy.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="Was the city of Troy real or a myth?" width="100" height="75" /> <div class="btn btn-sm border border-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="border-width: 3px; top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%,-50%)"> <em class="material-icons text-white" data-icon="play_arrow"></em> </div> </a> </div> </div> </li> <li class="vpwpl-video-item-3 vpwpl-video-item " data-assemblyid="18487"> <script type="application/json">{"image":"https://cdn.britannica.com/18/22418-138-37D8AD82/Penelope-Odysseus-hesitation.jpg","sources":[{"file":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/ed3gVV6h.m3u8"}],"assetId":22418,"adfile":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/0qsd5FN1.m3u8","title":"Watch Penelope greet Odysseus in an excerpt of the reunion scene in Homer's <em>Odyssey<\/em>","tracks":[{"file":"//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/guaPhYK1","label":"English"}],"transcriptUrl":"/video/Penelope-Odysseus-hesitation/-18487#transcript"}</script> <script data-id="video-credit" type="text/plain">Encyclop忙dia Britannica, Inc.</script> <script data-id="video-caption" type="text/plain">Learn about the reunion of Penelope and Odysseus in this excerpt from a dramatization of Homer's <em>Odyssey</em>, Book XXIII, where, assured at last that it is her husband, Odysseus, who stands before her, Penelope explains her earlier reluctance to greet him.</script> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal " > <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Penelope-Odysseus-hesitation/-18487" >Watch Penelope greet Odysseus in an excerpt of the reunion scene in Homer's <em>Odyssey</em></a> </div> <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Penelope-Odysseus-hesitation/-18487"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/18/22418-138-37D8AD82/Penelope-Odysseus-hesitation.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="Watch Penelope greet Odysseus in an excerpt of the reunion scene in Homer's Odyssey" width="100" height="75" /> <div class="btn btn-sm border border-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="border-width: 3px; top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%,-50%)"> <em class="material-icons text-white" data-icon="play_arrow"></em> </div> </a> </div> </div> </li> <li class="vpwpl-video-item-4 vpwpl-video-item " data-assemblyid="205668"> <script type="application/json">{"image":"https://cdn.britannica.com/00/186400-138-0BDA8D0D/Odysseus-literature-art-cinema.jpg","sources":[{"file":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/LKcNm2fm.m3u8"}],"assetId":186400,"adfile":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/2FRlCe8j.m3u8","title":"See the portrayal of Odysseus (or Ulysses), as represented in literature, art, and cinema over the ages","tracks":[{"file":"//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/nq9vhpo9","label":"English"}],"transcriptUrl":"/video/Odysseus-literature-art-cinema/-205668#transcript"}</script> <script data-id="video-credit" type="text/plain">漏 Open University (<a class="external" target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="http://corporate.britannica.com/partners" data-show-preview="true">A Britannica Publishing Partner</a>)</script> <script data-id="video-caption" type="text/plain">Odysseus (or Ulysses) as portrayed in literature, art, and cinema.</script> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal " > <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Odysseus-literature-art-cinema/-205668" >See the portrayal of Odysseus (or Ulysses), as represented in literature, art, and cinema over the ages</a> </div> <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Odysseus-literature-art-cinema/-205668"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/00/186400-138-0BDA8D0D/Odysseus-literature-art-cinema.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="See the portrayal of Odysseus (or Ulysses), as represented in literature, art, and cinema over the ages" width="100" height="75" /> <div class="btn btn-sm border border-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="border-width: 3px; top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%,-50%)"> <em class="material-icons text-white" data-icon="play_arrow"></em> </div> </a> </div> </div> </li> <li class="vpwpl-video-item-5 vpwpl-video-item " data-assemblyid="18419"> <script type="application/json">{"image":"https://cdn.britannica.com/29/22229-138-E1125711/Odysseus-feast-story-Phaeacians-blinding-Cyclops-Polyphemus.jpg","sources":[{"file":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/AMAwI5pO.m3u8"}],"assetId":22229,"adfile":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/1ggdMAkT.m3u8","title":"Take a seat at the Phaeacian feast and listen to Odysseus tell of his blinding cyclops giant Polyphemus","tracks":[{"file":"//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/PnVfphkb","label":"English"}],"transcriptUrl":"/video/Odysseus-feast-story-Phaeacians-blinding-Cyclops-Polyphemus/-18419#transcript"}</script> <script data-id="video-credit" type="text/plain">Encyclop忙dia Britannica, Inc.</script> <script data-id="video-caption" type="text/plain">At the feast of the Phaeacians, Odysseus relates the story of his blinding of Polyphemus, the Cyclops.</script> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal " > <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Odysseus-feast-story-Phaeacians-blinding-Cyclops-Polyphemus/-18419" >Take a seat at the Phaeacian feast and listen to Odysseus tell of his blinding cyclops giant Polyphemus</a> </div> <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Odysseus-feast-story-Phaeacians-blinding-Cyclops-Polyphemus/-18419"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/29/22229-138-E1125711/Odysseus-feast-story-Phaeacians-blinding-Cyclops-Polyphemus.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="Take a seat at the Phaeacian feast and listen to Odysseus tell of his blinding cyclops giant Polyphemus" width="100" height="75" /> <div class="btn btn-sm border border-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="border-width: 3px; top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%,-50%)"> <em class="material-icons text-white" data-icon="play_arrow"></em> </div> </a> </div> </div> </li> <li class="vpwpl-video-item-6 vpwpl-video-item " data-assemblyid="139955"> <script type="application/json">{"image":"https://cdn.britannica.com/97/85497-138-20FC23CD/Gilbert-Highet-themes-production-expression-lesson-person-1965.jpg","sources":[{"file":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/NlAqp72M.m3u8"}],"assetId":85497,"adfile":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/6cZfXvPq.m3u8","title":"Examine three themes that tie together Homer's <em>Odyssey<\/em>","tracks":[{"file":"//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/XaYC8N7m","label":"English"}],"transcriptUrl":"/video/Gilbert-Highet-themes-production-expression-lesson-person-1965/-139955#transcript"}</script> <script data-id="video-credit" type="text/plain">Encyclop忙dia Britannica, Inc.</script> <script data-id="video-caption" type="text/plain">Learn from classicist Gilbert Highet and these dramatizations about three themes that tie together Homer's <em>Odyssey</em>. This 1965 video is a production of Encyclop忙dia Britannica Educational Corporation.</script> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal " > <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Gilbert-Highet-themes-production-expression-lesson-person-1965/-139955" >Examine three themes that tie together Homer's <em>Odyssey</em></a> </div> <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Gilbert-Highet-themes-production-expression-lesson-person-1965/-139955"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/97/85497-138-20FC23CD/Gilbert-Highet-themes-production-expression-lesson-person-1965.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="Examine three themes that tie together Homer's Odyssey" width="100" height="75" /> <div class="btn btn-sm border border-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="border-width: 3px; top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%,-50%)"> <em class="material-icons text-white" data-icon="play_arrow"></em> </div> </a> </div> </div> </li> <li class="vpwpl-video-item-7 vpwpl-video-item " data-assemblyid="18475"> <script type="application/json">{"image":"https://cdn.britannica.com/85/22285-138-DE636CDB/Nestor-Pylos-Trojan-War-Telemachus.jpg","sources":[{"file":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/Y1CWEau8.m3u8"}],"assetId":22285,"adfile":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/l17i9RUO.m3u8","title":"Watch King Nestor recount the horrors of the Trojan War to Odysseus's son Telemachus","tracks":[{"file":"//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/FEPO2zqO","label":"English"}],"transcriptUrl":"/video/Nestor-Pylos-Trojan-War-Telemachus/-18475#transcript"}</script> <script data-id="video-credit" type="text/plain">Encyclop忙dia Britannica, Inc.</script> <script data-id="video-caption" type="text/plain">Nestor, king of Pylos, tells Telemachus (Odysseus's son) about the Trojan War.</script> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal " > <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Nestor-Pylos-Trojan-War-Telemachus/-18475" >Watch King Nestor recount the horrors of the Trojan War to Odysseus's son Telemachus</a> </div> <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Nestor-Pylos-Trojan-War-Telemachus/-18475"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/85/22285-138-DE636CDB/Nestor-Pylos-Trojan-War-Telemachus.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="Watch King Nestor recount the horrors of the Trojan War to Odysseus's son Telemachus" width="100" height="75" /> <div class="btn btn-sm border border-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="border-width: 3px; top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%,-50%)"> <em class="material-icons text-white" data-icon="play_arrow"></em> </div> </a> </div> </div> </li> <li class="vpwpl-video-item-8 vpwpl-video-item " data-assemblyid="18477"> <script type="application/json">{"image":"https://cdn.britannica.com/87/22287-138-49863A8B/Demodocus-Odysseus-account-Homer-home-longing-hosts.jpg","sources":[{"file":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/0r9apiow.m3u8"}],"assetId":22287,"adfile":"//content.jwplatform.com/manifests/xKWQSGUv.m3u8","title":"Listen to Odysseus wax poetic over homeland Ithaca in dramatization of Homer's epic poem Odyssey","tracks":[{"file":"//assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/tracks/641IsvM6","label":"English"}],"transcriptUrl":"/video/Demodocus-Odysseus-account-Homer-home-longing-hosts/-18477#transcript"}</script> <script data-id="video-credit" type="text/plain">Encyclop忙dia Britannica, Inc.</script> <script data-id="video-caption" type="text/plain">Moved by the minstrel Demodocus's account of the Trojan War, the weary and battle-scarred Odysseus reveals to his hosts his true identity and his intense longing for home. Thus, beginning his epic just before the final crisis of the chronological structure, Homer plunges the reader into the saga of Odysseus's return from the war.</script> <div class="imagelink-with-image-on-the-side card card-horizontal " > <div class="card-body ilf-content"> <a class="font-weight-semi-bold d-block mb-5 font-16 ilf-title" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Demodocus-Odysseus-account-Homer-home-longing-hosts/-18477" >Listen to Odysseus wax poetic over homeland Ithaca in dramatization of Homer's epic poem Odyssey</a> </div> <div class="position-relative card-media" style="flex: 0;"> <a class="ilf-image position-relative" href="https://www.britannica.com/video/Demodocus-Odysseus-account-Homer-home-longing-hosts/-18477"> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/87/22287-138-49863A8B/Demodocus-Odysseus-account-Homer-home-longing-hosts.jpg?w=100&h=75&c=crop" alt="Listen to Odysseus wax poetic over homeland Ithaca in dramatization of Homer's epic poem Odyssey" width="100" height="75" /> <div class="btn btn-sm border border-white btn-circle position-absolute shadow" style="border-width: 3px; top: 50%; left:50%; transform: translate(-50%,-50%)"> <em class="material-icons text-white" data-icon="play_arrow"></em> </div> </a> </div> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="related-topics mt-20 font-14 text-muted"> <strong>Related Articles:</strong> <span id="related-articles"> <a class="" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Agamemnon-Greek-mythology">Agamemnon</a> , <a class="" href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Homer-Greek-poet">Homer</a> , <a class="" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Odysseus">Odysseus</a> , <a class="" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Odyssey-epic-by-Homer">Odyssey</a> </span> </div> <hr class="my-30 col-100"> <h2 class="font-16 text-uppercase my-30">Transcript</h2> <div id ="transcript" class="lh-lg font-serif"> AGAMEMNON: Noble son of Laertes, wise and cunning Odysseus, <br/>I did not die at sea, fighting a fearful storm; <br/>I was not attacked on land in open fight. <br/>No. Aegisthus planned and carried out my death, <br/>helped by my devilish wife. Inviting me to his home, <br/>he gave me dinner, and killed me like an ox killed at the stall. <br/>That was a wretched death! All around me, my comrades <br/>were cut relentlessly down like pigs slaughtered for meat. <br/>You have witnessed the violent deaths of many men-- <br/>some killed in duels, some in the rough melee; <br/>but there was a sight which would have gripped your heart, <br/>to see us there beside the wine-bowl and the feast <br/>lying felled to the ground and the floor seething with blood!</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <footer class="md-footer footer-wrapper hide-on-edit"> <div class="footer-bck"> <DIV class="marketing-FOOTER_NEWSLETTER marketing-content" data-marketing-id="FOOTER_NEWSLETTER"><div class="md-footer-newsletter-form pt-10 mb-30 mx-15 mx-sm-120"> <div class="font-18"> <strong>History at your fingertips –</strong> Sign up here to see what happened On This Day, every day in your inbox! </div> <div class="p-30"> <div class="newsletter-form-container"> <form class="newsletter-form" method="post" action="/newsletter-subscription/EB_ON_THIS_DAY"> <div class="form-group grid d-flex justify-content-center"> <div class="col-sm-50 col-100"> <label class="sr-only" for="enter-your-email">Enter your email</label> <input id="enter-your-email" type="email" name="email" class="form-control font-18 p-10" placeholder="Enter your email" pattern="[a-z0-9._%+-]+@[a-z0-9.-]+\.[a-z]{2,4}$" required> </div> <div class="col-sm-auto col-100 mt-5 mt-sm-0"> <button type="submit" class="btn btn-outline-white" style="width: 100%; height:100%;">Subscribe</button> </div> </div> <div class="text-white pt-30 text-opacity"> By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica.<br> Click here to view our <a class="link-white text-decoration-underline" href="https://corporate.britannica.com/privacy-policy" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Privacy Notice</a>. 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Account of Agamemnon's murder told by his ghost to Odysseus | Britannica