CHARACTER OF CLYTEMNESTRA IN AGAMEMNON

Of the characters of Aeschylus which has been wrought with the greatest care , and which leave the most profound impression on the memory,is clytemnestra.It is to the delineation of this character that our dramatist has devoted maximum care.
she is an accused wife,pitiless and contemptuous,but resolutely bent on revenge.The virile masculinity of purpose gets a reference when the watchman says, "victory!Great news for clytemnestra ,in whose woman's heart/A man's will nurses hope."
Clytemnestra possesses a power of intellect which reigns throughout her speeches-she prepares an elaborate welcome for Agamenon.Her next insistence most famously known as the carpet scene ,displays an excessive zeal in giving Agamemnon a welcome that is unexpected.In an instance of irony she adds after her instructions to the slaves to spread the silk tapestries beneath his feet-"Justice herself;/shall lead him a home he never hoped to see."
She has often been compared to Lady Macbeth.But the comparison is too far fetched.Lady Macbeth provoked a lot but did the task of an accomplice while clytemnesta executes the act herself.
In a masterly fashion ,Aeschylus has drawn the portrait of clytemnestra.She is not merely a bad woman who has an adulterous intrigue ,she is an outraged mother.