Iphigenia

Iphigenia

The daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra; her father having killed a favourite deer belonging to Artemis in Aulis as he was setting out for Troy, the goddess was offended, and Calchas ( q. v .), when consulted, told him she could only be appeased by the sacrifice of his daughter; this he proceeded to do, but as he was preparing to offer her up the goddess descended in a cloud, carried her off to Tauris, and made her a priestess in her temple. The story has been dramatised by Euripides, Racine, and Geothe.