Leda states that Clytemnestra must let people win their own battles. How do you think this guided her throughout her life?

At the start of the novel, Clytemnestra intervenes in a fight involving her sister, Helen. When Leda states that she must let people win their own battles, Clytemnestra thinks to herself, "What if the loser is your loved one?" How do you think this guided her throughout her life? Do you think Leda’s opinion was correct?

Yes and no. Leda’s advice can be used a way to avoid moral action, to ignore suffering and injustice (as did Leda, withdrawing into drink). It can be used as a reason to empower others, to send the message you respect their autonomy, judgment, strength. It is not easy for a parent even today. I think Clytemnestra struggled with this too. It influenced her determination to train her daughters to fight as well as Orestes.

This advice may have influenced Clytemnestra’s later actions in life, as she became a fierce and vengeful woman who killed her husband Agamemnon and his concubine Cassandra, after he sacrificed their daughter Iphigenia to appease the goddess Artemis. Clytemnestra may have felt that she had to fight for her own justice and revenge, since no one else would do it for her. She may have also resented Agamemnon for bringing Helen back from Troy, as she blamed Helen for causing the war and the death of her daughter.

However, Clytemnestra’s actions also brought her doom, as she was eventually killed by her son Orestes, who was urged by his sister Electra and the god Apollo to avenge their father’s murder. Orestes may have felt that he had to win his own battle, too, and restore the honor of his family. Clytemnestra’s fate shows that violence and revenge can only lead to more violence and tragedy, and that sometimes it is better to let go of one’s anger and forgive.

Leda’s opinion may have some wisdom in it, as it suggests that people should be responsible for their own choices and consequences, and that interfering in other Be Ball Players people’s affairs may cause more harm than good. However, Leda’s opinion may also be seen as cold and indifferent, as it implies that one should not care or help others, even if they are in danger or suffering. Leda’s opinion may also be hypocritical, as she herself was involved in a scandalous affair with Zeus, who seduced her in the form of a swan, and gave birth to four children from two eggs: Helen, Clytemnestra, Castor and Pollux. Leda may have been trying to justify her own actions by telling Clytemnestra to mind her own business.

The concept of fighting your own battles seems to me to be part of her culture. There were family exceptions, however. The Trojan war itself was fought by armies instead of a dispute between Menelaus and Paris. Leda’s advice seemed an attempt to keep her daughter from unnecessary quarrels. Clytemnestra fought for what she thought was right regardless of whose battle it was.

I'm inclined to give Leda the benefit of the doubt in this case, she was trying to give both of her daughters an important life lesson. Clytemnestra needed to temper her penchant for always taking care of the underdog, particularly when it was someone she loved and specifically when it came to Helen. Helen, who needed to learn to fight her battles (in a violent warrior culture) and develop some independence in order to survive in the world for which she was destined.

Clytemnestra suffered too many losses to completely absorb or accept this particular lesson, particularly after the horrendous losses she suffered. Correct or not, it was both Clytemnestra's strength and her weakness.

This is a great example, to my mind, of the psychological complexity (and ambiguity) of myths—-the “bare facts” are interpreted in different ways by the poets and dramatists over the ages, and now by novelists. This author respects the complexity and ambiguity…So even though she fleshes out characters and invents dialogue for her own purpose, she leaves so much open to our interpretation.

I can see how hard it would be for Clytemnestra, in her place and time, to heed the principle of clan loyalty and also to let a beloved sister “fight her own battles.” The contradiction is built into her culture—-and into our human nature. Our greatest strengths are also potentially our greatest weaknesses, in different circumstances.