What did you think about Clytemnestra's relationship with her father, and how does this relationship shape Clytemnestra?

What did you think about Clytemnestra's relationship with her father? How did his actions make you feel, and how does this relationship shape Clytemnestra?

She was her father’s favorite. He loved that she was fierce, strong and an excellent warrior. I was devastated by his betrayal. It made Clytemnestra even more fierce wanting revenge.

Sparta’s ‘rules’ about what was acceptable behavior were beyond harsh, but Clytemnestra’s father’s betrayal was horrific. Perhaps the fact that he loved her fierce nature, and how strong she was helped keep the fire of revenge in her later on, when she was again betrayed and her adored child again sacrificed.

Just as others have said, as her father's favorite, Clytemnestra's betrayal by him was even more horrendous. As his favorite though, I think she learned many things from him - physical strength, mental fortitude, judicious thinking, and ultimately that she must avenge a wrong doing.

She wasn’t encouraged to have what we would consider as a normal affectionate relationship today—though I don’t know whether even fathers of non-aristocratic families in ancient Greece would have been very affectionate by today’s standards. But he did encourage her mind and her strength, and she felt gratitude, respect and loyalty towards him—-until he betrayed her by going along with Agamemnon’s murder of her husband and child. It was a brutal awakening to how obsessed with power Greek kings were—his desire for a strategic alliance meant more than his daughter’s well-being, or his relationship with her.

Clytemnestra's father appreciated her fierce nature and her warrior skills, but this did not translate into love and loyalty. She was nothing more than a pawn for his ambition. it was devastating to her.

I think the relationship between Clytemnestra and her father was hard to understand. We were told that she as her father's favorite, and then he allowed unspeakable tragedies to unfold for her. Because of her father's betrayal--which ultimately lead to the death of her first husband, baby, and the sacrifice of her daughter--I would have thought Clytemnestra would have been far more trigger-resistant to the proposal sent by messenger from Polydeuces about a marriage between Orestes and Hermione. It also seemed sadly ironic that she repeated much of what she didn't' respect in her father, namely, the constant power-plays and using people to forge alliances and political partnerships. She may not have betrayed a child she loved, but she did use people as pawns when she was queen, just like her father did. I wonder if she understood her father a bit more once she had to use many of the same tactics.

Agreed that she learned from her father, but she used her power for a very different purpose—and she consulted her children’s willingness to marry instead of ordering them.

Clytemnestra was honored and happy that she was her father’s favorite. She worked incredibly hard to win his approval. She became strong and competitive, yet also had strong passions. Her father’s betrayal broke her, but he had taught her well how to be a successful queen. We can speculate that his acts of betrayal caused her path of cold calculation and power instead of a simpler life with Tantalus.

He prepared her for what was to come as a Queen simply for an allegiance. What he did not foresee was that she still had a heart and saw beyond just an allegiance as was evident as to how she ruled in the absence of Agamemnon. Mycenae saw a rise during her “rule” in all ways that benefitted her subjects. This made her respected by all.

I thought it was interesting that Tyndareus revealed that killing the baby was not something that was supposed to have happened. But of course Agamemnon was not concerned with the safety of the baby, just that he could get his way claiming Clytemnestra, and bending her to his will. Was Agamemnon thinking then of removing any obstacles then to his brother's claim to the Spartan throne? Was that part of his overall plan, or just collateral damage?