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The Murder of Tantalos [Tantalus]

I can think of one theoretical motive behind Agamemnon's actions surrounding his marriage to Klytaimnestra. As alluded to above, Agamemnon acquired Klytaimnestra as a bride by killing the man to whom she was already wed at the time that Agamemnon forcibly betrothed her to himself.

This man was named Tantalos, whom Pausanias tells us was the son of either Thyestes or Broteas. Thyestes was the brother of Atreus, thus making the former rendition of Tantalos a cousin of Agamemnon. Broteas was the brother of Pelops, so in the latter case Tantalos would have been from the previous generation, as a cousin of Atreus.

Wikipedia claims that this Tantalos was king either of Lydia in Asia Minor or of the city of Pisa on Peloponnesos. It provides no reference(s) for the claim regarding Lydia but as far as Pisa is concerned, Iphigeneia at Aulis is cited as the source. The only two mentions of Tantalos in this play, however, are: a cursory reference to the first Tantalos—Pelops' and Broteas' father, after whom this second one (his grandson or great-grandson) is named; and when Klytaimnestra reminds Agamemnon that he had killed her first husband who bore this name. Nothing is said about anyone ruling Lydia, and Pisa appears nowhere in the script.

Wikipedia therefore seems to be confounding the first Tantalos with the second in calling him king of Lydia. As for him being king of Pisa, it is not an unreasonable conclusion, since, if Thyestes is Tantalos' father, then Thyestes' father Pelops would have preceded Tantalos on that city's throne. Nevertheless, Wikipedia might be first place at which such a conclusion has been arrived.

It would have been quite helpful if we did have some ancient document corroborating these claims, whereupon we could suggest that perhaps Agamemnon killed Tantalos as an act of royal usurpation. Even this would fall short of much substance, however, since Agamemnon never comes to have any interest whatsoever in the faraway Lydia. Pisa, on the other hand, never comes up as carrying especial importance, even as it falls under the purview of Agamemnon when he becomes dominant over the whole of Pelops' Island.

A more compelling version of our Tantalos here could be if he were the son of Thyestes and perceived by Agamemnon as a potential threat to his hold on the throne of Argolis. A jumble of other traditions recount the nasty rivalry between Atreus and Thyestes before the births of their children, culminating in the death of Thyestes, and the ascendancy of Atreus and his offspring. That rivalry had been centred mostly on a fight for sovereignty over Argos. It makes a lot of sense for there to be bad blood between the heirs of Atreus and Thyestes, here represented by Agamemnon and Tantalos.

This would have sealed the deal for your Question, I think, if we knew that Tantalos had been king of Argos (or even of some other minor city in Argolis) and that Agamemnon killed him specifically for this reason. From there it would take a short step to assert that Agamemnon may have needed this king's widow to cement himself into position as the new ruler.

But none of this is the case. For the slaying of Tantalos, we are never supplied with a motive on the part of Agamemnon, who we know to already have been the unrivalled heir to the throne, if not already king, of Argolis. The preceding guesses make for a more fleshed out back story, but they are merely that: my guesswork.

As far as the marriage aspect of this is concerned, it may be simply that Agamemnon was so enamoured of Klytaimnestra that he determined to procure her regardless of the collateral damage. But neither is this spelled out so starkly or clearly anywhere. Aside from the (modest?) dowry and potential minor fringe benefits aforementioned, and the more mundane reasons that anyone else would have for engaging in nuptials, Agamemnon gets nothing from his bride he doesn't already have.

It obviously is an unusual nuptial negotiation setup to have all of Greece's most powerful and most important kings and princes suing for the hand of one princess at the same time with as much determination as the suits for Helen ended up garnering.

Going by what seems to be virtually customary all over Greece and the Mediterranean Basin by this point, as far as the Greek myths go, all we would need to do is find an eligible (typically foreign and royal) bachelor for Hermione to wed and it's all good: he would be next king. And that need not mean Menelaus' displacement before his time is done.

As fate would have it, later on, after the saga has cooled down and Helen has been brought back, a stranger (in a sense) comes to town and marries Hermione. The groom is none other than Prince Orestes of Argolis, the son of Agamemnon and Klytaimnestra, and thus Hermione's own cousin, who will thus rule over both Argolis and Lakedaimon, in a consolidated position more powerful than either of the immediately preceding rulers of these kingdoms.

None of these events, however, seem to add to Agamemnon's clout beyond the ways already aforementioned. He was already a rich and powerful king and his dominions continued to increase after he got married, evidently in spite of the marriage. As already pointed out, his brother already ruled the southeastern portion of Peloponnesos (which Strabo understands Agamemnon to have given to him in the first place anyway), which certainly would only have served him further.

It obviously is an unusual nuptial negotiation setup to have all of Greece's most powerful and most important kings and princes suing for the hand of one princess at the same time with as much determination as the suits for Helen end up garnering.

Going by what seems to be virtually customary all over Greece and the Mediterranean Basin by this point, as far as the Greek myths go, all we would need to do is find an eligible (typically foreign and royal) bachelor for Hermione to wed and it's all good: he would be the next king. And that need not mean Menelaus' displacement before his time is done.

As fate would have it, later on, after the saga has cooled down and Helen has been brought back, a stranger (in a sense) comes to town and marries Hermione. The groom is none other than Prince Orestes of Argolis, the son of Agamemnon and Klytaimnestra, and thus Hermione's own cousin, who will thus rule over both Argolis and Lakedaimon in a consolidated position now stronger than either of the immediately preceding rulers of these kingdoms.

None of these events, however, seem to add to Agamemnon's clout beyond the ways already aforementioned. He was already a rich and powerful king and his dominions continued to increase after he got married, evidently in spite of the marriage. As pointed out previously, his brother already ruled the southeastern portion of Peloponnesos (which Strabo understands Agamemnon to have given to him in the first place anyway), which certainly would only have served him further.

Apart from gaining a high-class wife, as well as further consolidation of power between Argolis and Lakedaimon, somehow (it seems counter-intuitive, at least from a regional diplomacy point-of-view, to start it off as violently as the version in which Klytaimnestra is first widowed in order to be [re]married), I don't see that Agamemnon has anything to gain by marrying Klytaimnestra.

At the end of the 400s BC Euripides wrote a play entitled Iphigeneia at Aulis. A fairly major character thereof is a quirky unnamed individual known simply as the "Old Man."

In the play's introduction scene, a discussion comes up between this character and the Argive king Agamemnon, in which we find out that the Old Man is a slave belonging to the royal household of Argolis. Via a bit of expository dialogue in Lines 42-45—addressed here to Agamemnon but really directed at the audience—the slave reveals to us that:

It is a (maybe surprisingly) common trope in Greek mythology for a foreign man to marry into the royal family and thus become king, succeeding his father-in-law on the throne. Typically this is because the father-in-law has produced no direct male heirs or he has survived all of his male issue.

(See for example Perseus inheriting the throne of Ethiopia, which he never takes but transfers to his firstborn son Perses; Pelops—grandfather of Agamemnon and Menelaus—becoming king of Pisa after Oinomaos [Oenomaus]³; Alkathous [Alcathous], a son of Pelops [and thus uncle of Agamemnon and Menelaus] becoming king of Megara after Megareus; Sikyon [Sicyon], another son of Pelops, succeeding Lamedon as king of Aigialia [Aegialia], which he renamed Sikyon after himself; and [Priam's ancestor] Dardanos [Dardanus] becoming king of Teukria [Teucria] after Teukros [Teucer].)

Nonetheless, even with all of that baggage to deal with, there is a scene in Iphigeneia at Aulis which suggests that Menelaus bears no obligation to recover his wife from Paris. At his first appearance in the play, Menelaus engages Agamemnon in a quarrel about the planned sacrifice of Agamemnon's daughter Iphigeneia to Artemis in order for the goddess to release the winds for the assembled Greek army fleet to sail to Troy and attack it.

Agamemnon has been trying to find a way of avoiding killing his daughter, and Menelaus berates him for it. They are interrupted by a messenger's announcement that Iphigeneia, who thinks that she's been brought to wed the Myrmidon prince Akhilleus [Achilles], has arrived.

Upon Agamemnon's genuine distress over Iphigeneia's arrival, Menelaus changes his mind and even urges Agamemnon not to go through with it. They could just disband the gathered army and forget the whole expedition. As he says:

Going back to Menelaus: perhaps the lines are blurry enough between wounded pride; the famous Oath of Tyndareos; and doubt as to whether his position on the throne is secure after he has been so vilely cuckolded and robbed of "the treasures" (which are usually invoked as part of what the Greeks demand to be returned along with Helen) by an honoured guest in his house, that his brother Agamemnon is convinced he must after all go through with the sacrifice of Iphigeneia. Thereafter, of course, come the long years of war far from home.

Agamemnon is primarily the king of the city of Mykenai [Mycenae], which position makes him the ruler of all of Argolis, a large northeastern swath of Peloponnesos [Peloponnesus] which contains the great cities of Argos, Tiryns and Troizenos [Troezen]. The rule of the city of Argos is divided among at least four kings (including Kyanippos; Sthenelos son of Iphis; and Tlepolemos son of Herakles) who reign under Agamemnon. By the time the Trojan War has ended (or shortly after) so have the reigns of these men, unceremoniously, while the throne of Agamemnon is still very much intact, to later devolve upon his son Orestes, who becomes even more powerful than his father.

Shortly after becoming king, Agamemnon led an army north of Argos, against King Hippolytos [Hippolytus] of Sikyon, a great-grandson of Herakles, and made him subject to Mykenai. According to Strabo (Geographia 8):

Not every version of the story of Agamemnon's wedding to Klytaimnestra has her previously married so that her husband and child are killed by Agamemnon before he takes her for himself. In this case he does not necessarily force her to marry him, at least not any more so than women would have had very much of a say in who they married, or when.

Either way it is remarkable that Agamemnon, in the violent courtship version, manages to get away with the murder of Klytaimnestra's former husband, and the way he gets away with it is noteworthy. In Iphigeneia at Aulis 1150-1155, Klytaimnestra's divine brothers the twin Dioskouroi [Dioscuri], who had departed from the world of mortals years before, are so enraged at Agamemnon's slaying of their brother-in-law and their nephew that they actually leave Zeus' side in heaven or on Mt Olympos [Olympus] and come charging on immortal horseback against Agamemnon.

Inexplicably, Agamemnon pleads with Tyndareos to help him out, and Tyndareos obliges him, not only convincing the Dioskouroi to let the offence go but also marrying Klytaimnestra off to her husband's killer! Either Agamemnon had something on Tyndareos or they must have had a stellar relationship.

None of these events, however, seem to add to Agamemnon's clout beyond the ways already aforementioned. He was already a rich and powerful king and his dominions continued to increase after he got married, evidently in spite of the marriage. As already pointed out, his brother already ruled the southeastern portion of Peloponnesos (which Strabo claims Agamemnon had given to him in the first place anyway), which certainly would only have served him further.

_{3. In the case of Pelops and Oinomaos, the only way for Pelops to marry Oinomaos' daughter is by, first, defeating his father-in-law-to-be in a chariot-race and then killing Oinomaos, which tasks Pelops succeeds in performing (even if he cheats a little bit in order to win).}

Apart from gaining a high-class wife, as well as further consolidation of power between Argolis and Lakedaimon, somehow (it seems counter-intuitive, at least from a regional diplomacy point-of-view, to start it off by widowing the prospective bride and killing her baby), I don't see that Agamemnon has anything to gain by marrying Klytaimnestra.

At the end of the 400s BC Euripides wrote a play entitled Iphigeneia at Aulis, in which a fairly major character is a quirky unnamed individual known simply as the "Old Man."

In the play's introduction scene, it is pointed out that the Old Man is a slave belonging to the royal household of Argolis. Via a bit of expository dialogue in Lines 42-45—addressed here to Agamemnon but really directed at the audience—the slave reveals to us that:

It is a (maybe surprisingly) common trope in Greek mythology for a foreign man to marry into a city's royal family and thus become king, succeeding his father-in-law on the throne. Typically this is because the father-in-law has produced no direct male heirs or he has survived all of his male issue.

(See for example Perseus inheriting the throne of Ethiopia, which he never takes but transfers to his firstborn son Perses; Pelops—grandfather of Agamemnon and Menelaus—becoming king of Pisa after Oinomaos [Oenomaus]³; Alkathous [Alcathous], a son of Pelops [and thus uncle of Agamemnon and Menelaus] becoming king of Megara after Megareus; Sikyon [Sicyon], another son of Pelops, succeeding Lamedon as king of Mekone, which he renames Sikyon after himself; and [Priam's ancestor] Dardanos [Dardanus] becoming king of Teukria [Teucria] after Teukros [Teucer].)

Nonetheless, even with all of that baggage to deal with, there is a scene in Iphigeneia at Aulis which suggests that Menelaus bears no obligation to recover his wife from Paris. At his first appearance in the play, Menelaus engages Agamemnon in a quarrel about the planned sacrifice of Agamemnon's daughter Iphigeneia to Artemis in order for the goddess to release the winds for the Greek fleet to sail to Troy and attack it.

Agamemnon has been trying to find a way to avoid killing his daughter, and Menelaus berates him for it. They are interrupted by a messenger's announcement of the arrival of Iphigeneia, who believes that she's been summoned in order to wed the Myrmidon leader Achilles.

Upon Agamemnon's evident anguish that his daughter is now in Aulis, Menelaus changes his mind and even urges Agamemnon not to go through with it. They could just disband the gathered army and forget the whole expedition. As he says:

Going back to Menelaus: perhaps the lines are blurry enough between wounded pride; the famous Oath of Tyndareos; and doubt as to whether his position on the throne is secure after he has been so vilely cuckolded and robbed of "the treasures" (which are usually invoked as part of what the Greeks demand to be returned along with Helen) by an honoured guest in his house, that, by the conclusion, his brother Agamemnon is convinced of his obligation to sacrifice Iphigeneia. Thereafter, of course, come the long years of war far from home.

Agamemnon is primarily the king of the city of Mykenai [Mycenae], which position makes him the ruler of all of Argolis, a large northeastern swath of Peloponnesos [Peloponnesus] which contains the great cities of Argos, Tiryns and Troizenos [Troezen]. The rule of the city of Argos is divided among at least four kings (including Kyanippos son of Adrastos; Sthenelos son of Iphis; and Tlepolemos son of Herakles) who reign under Agamemnon. By the time the Trojan War has ended (or shortly after) so have the reigns of these men, unceremoniously, while the throne of Agamemnon is still very much intact, to later devolve upon his son Orestes, who becomes even more powerful than his father.⁴

Shortly after becoming king, Agamemnon led an army north of Argos, against King Hippolytos [Hippolytus] of Sikyon, a great-grandson of Herakles, and made him subject to Mykenai. According to Strabo (Geographika 8):

It is remarkable that Agamemnon gets away with the murder of Klytaimnestra's former husband, and the manner in which he manages to do so is noteworthy. In Iphigeneia at Aulis 1150-1155, Klytaimnestra's divine brothers the twin Dioskouroi [Dioscuri], who had departed from the world of mortals years before, are so enraged at Agamemnon's slaying of their brother-in-law and their nephew that they actually leave Zeus' side (presumably in heaven or on Mt Olympos [Olympus]) and come charging on immortal horseback against Agamemnon.

Inexplicably, Agamemnon pleads with Tyndareos to help him out, and Tyndareos obliges him, not only convincing the Dioskouroi to forgive the offence but also marrying Klytaimnestra off to her husband's killer! Either Agamemnon had something on Tyndareos or they must have had a stellar relationship.

None of these events, however, seem to add to Agamemnon's clout beyond the ways already aforementioned. He was already a rich and powerful king and his dominions continued to increase after he got married, evidently in spite of the marriage. As already pointed out, his brother already ruled the southeastern portion of Peloponnesos (which Strabo understands Agamemnon to have given to him in the first place anyway), which certainly would only have served him further.

_{3. In the case of Pelops and Oinomaos, the only way for Pelops to marry Oinomaos' daughter is by, first, defeating his father-in-law-to-be in a chariot-race and then killing Oinomaos, which tasks Pelops succeeds in performing (even if he cheats a little bit in order to win).}

_{4. Between Agamemnon's death and Orestes' accession to the throne, though, there is a sort of interregnum in which Kylarabes son of Sthenelos rules Argolis.}