Clytemnestra has been portrayed by history as an evil queen. How does the author question that role?

Clytemnestra has been portrayed by history as an evil queen. How does the author question that role? Do you think Clytemnestra is truly evil?

From everything I’d read before, I thought I ‘knew” Clytemnestra, but the author did a fabulous job of showing her development and her passions and also, how being raised in Sparta’s incredibly harsh norms affected her. Ultimately, I sympathized with her on so many counts as her father almost inhumanly manipulated her life to his purposes, and how Agamemnon did the same. Two of her children were sacrificed to men who should have protected them, and for reasons of male power. I have pity for her, and I no longer would associate ‘evil’ with her at all.

Clytemnestra is not looked upon with love in Greek mythology/history. I don't think she was evil at all. She tried to protect those she loved. She ruled justly when her husband was fighting the Trojan War. She eliminated those who would try to unthrone her, knowing that her husband would have difficulty regaining his throne if he were to return from war. I think her responses to events were what she had to do considering the time period and her tenuous postion.

Beyond questioning, she contradicts it, I think. She shows that in the context of that world—myth, not history, of course, but to some extent reflecting ancient mores of patriarchal power and economic privilege—many people accepted evil actions as inevitable, if committed by men of status. Even today, there is a double standard for who can literally get away with murder… The author challenged that by humanizing Clytemnestra and showing the ways in which she was a victim first. Her violence was not a casual act of cruelty or self-interest, but a form of justice in the ancient world.

I think Costanza Casati did a good job of presenting Clytemnestra as a woman who faced challenges, losses and brutality and managed to carry on and lead in an unforgiving time. She presents what is behind the actions and gives the reader a chance to understand where she is coming from and why she takes the actions she does.

Clytemnestra like all of us is a product of her time and culture. She should not be judged by contemporary culture. Casati managed to stay within Ancient Greek culture resulting in a portrait of a multi-faceted queen who represented her upbringing, her family, her training, her values that are very different from ours. Yet, she was a mother at heart--sometimes not knowing how to handle that role.

The author does a great job of using her backstory to explain her thought process. She had deeply ingrained views of how the world operated and took personal responsibility to protect those around her. This story is a great way of showing that people are not simply “good” or “evil” there is a grey area that they usually fall within and they are trying to do what is right from their point of view, but history (or myth) can reshape that story.

I do not think she is evil, but I do think she is hard. I know she needed to be hard in order to survive in her world, I get that. The author created a person who was so strong and so committed to her sense of morally and justice. I just wish she could have had more moments later in life to be a mother, like she was with her girls getting ready to go to Aulis, and with her sister Timandra when they were heading to their father’s funeral.

Prior to reading this book, I had never really questioned that Clytemnestra was "evil." It was so interesting to see that there were reasons for her actions. I appreciated that the author added potential reasons for Clytemnestra's actions but the author also maintained what we do take as the standard guidelines of the myth as we know it. Well done!