Clytemnestra

Daughter of Tyndareus and Leda in the traditional genealogies preserved in classical sources, Clytemnestra marries Agamemnon and becomes queen of Mycenae. During Agamemnon's long absence at Troy she takes Aegisthus as a lover and rules as regent with him. The sacrifice of her daughter Iphigenia—offered by Agamemnon to secure favorable winds for the Greek fleet—is presented in many versions as a principal motive for her later revenge. Her murder of Agamemnon on his return from Troy (and the killing of Cassandra in some accounts) situates her within the Atreid blood-curse and sets the stage for the next generation's response in Orestes and Electra.

Ancient literary sources and surviving plays do not give a fixed physical description; she is represented onstage and in narrative as an adult queen and palace figure. Dramatic treatments (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides) stage her with regal bearing and active presence in the palace scenes—casting and performance traditions depict her as a mature royal woman, but texts do not supply consistent details of height, hair, or dress beyond theatrical convention.

Clytemnestra's 'abilities' are political agency and deliberate planning rather than supernatural powers. Sources portray her exercising authority in Agamemnon's absence, ruling Mycenae with Aegisthus, and orchestrating or committing Agamemnon's murder (accounts vary as to the balance of responsibility between her and Aegisthus). Dramatic treatments emphasize her cunning, rhetorical skill, and willingness to transgress social and legal norms; her actions also interact with prophetic elements (e.g., Cassandra's foretold knowledge) and initiate the familial cycle of vengeance carried on by Orestes and Electra.