Ifigenia in Aulide

STORY

Backstory

All the Olympian gods were guests at the wedding of the beautiful nymph Thetis (a daughter of the sea god Nereus) to the mortal Peleus. Only Eris, the goddess of strife and contention, was not invited. She took revenge by throwing a golden apple with ‘For the most beautiful’ written on it into the ballroom. Several goddesses claimed the beauty prize: Juno (Greek Hera, the wife of Jupiter/Zeus), Minerva (Greek Athena, the goddess of war) and the goddess of love Venus (Greek Aphrodite). Jupiter finally appointed Paris of Troy as the arbiter, who was considered the most beautiful of all men. He awarded the prize to Venus, who promised him the love of the most beautiful woman in the world as a reward: Helen, whom Jupiter had fathered with Queen Leda. When she reached marriageable age, all the unmarried kings and heroes of Greece courted her; Helen chose Menelaus, king of Sparta. His brother Agamemnon ensured that the rejected suitors promised Menelaus their support should he ever get into trouble. When Paris came to Sparta to claim his reward, however, Menelaus was absent. With the help of Venus, Paris managed to seduce Helen and she followed him to Troy. Thus the alliance fell apart and Helen’s rejected suitors prepared for a campaign of revenge against Troy.

Act I

The Greek ships gather in the port of Aulis (Italian: Aulide) in Boeotia to set sail for Troy in Asia Minor. However, a prolonged calm initially prevents them from continuing their voyage; it is the revenge of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, on Agamemnon (Agamennone), the commander-in-chief of the Greeks, who had killed a hind sacred to her and claimed to be a better hunter than the goddess herself. The seer Calchas (Calcante) explains that Diana can only be appeased by sacrificing Iphigenia (Ifigenia), Agamennone’s eldest daughter. Her father is desperate to save Ifigenia’s life and her fiancé Achilles (Achille, the son of Thetis and Peleus) is also determined to prevent her sacrifice. Agamennone has written to his wife Clytaemnestra (Clitennestra) asking her to come to Aulis with Ifigenia. Odysseus (Ulisse) intercepts a second letter revoking this instruction and so mother and daughter arrive in Aulis. They assume that the wedding of Ifigenia and Achille is to be celebrated there. Agamennone sees no way of saving his daughter’s life: The Greek army is eager to take revenge on the Trojans.

Act II

Achille has conquered the island of Lesbos, an ally of Troy, and brought its princess Elisena to Aulis as a prisoner. Elisena has fallen in love with the conqueror and plots against Ifigenia to prevent his planned marriage to Agamennone’s daughter. Clitennestra and Ifigenia assume that Achille has turned away from his bride and towards Elisena, but he is able to convince them that his feelings for Ifigenia remain unchanged.

Agamennone’s confidant Arcas (Arcade), who knows what fate awaits the princess, reveals this to the two women and to Achille, who intends to prevent Ifigenia’s sacrifice by force if necessary.

Act III

For the vast majority of the Greeks, however, revenge against Paris and Troy is more important than Ifigenia’s life, and so Agamennone has to give in. When Ifigenia realises what is happening, she is willing to die to appease the goddess’ wrath. However, Ifigenia, who is to be sacrificed, is not Agamennone’s daughter. The gods reveal to Calcante that it is in fact Elisena, princess of Lesbos and captive of Achille, who is to be sacrificed. For she is the daughter that Helen had with the notorious womaniser Theseus, before her marriage to Menelaus. The seer learned that the daughter of Helen and Theseus will have to die young, which is why she was raised under a different name. Hence the gods say that Elisena is the real sacrifice demanded by Diana. She then takes her own life. Diana’s anger is thus appeased and Agamennone’s daughter remains alive. The Greeks are able to sail to Troy with a fair wind. Achille, however, will die there and never become Ifigenia’s husband.

Albert Gier