what is a life worth?

Player's Name: Louisa
Are you over 16? yes.
Characters Played Here: none at this point.

Character: Iphigenia
Series/Canon: Greek Mythology
From When? Just before the point of her in-canon death.

History:

(This is all within the context of the epic cycle of the Trojan War, for reference.)

Iphigenia is the teenaged daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, who are king and queen of the Bronze Age city-state of Mycenae in Achaea, which is loosely considered the country now known as Greece. Mycenae is the wealthiest of the Achaean city-states, and Iphigenia is a princess of Mycenae.

Little is known about Iphigenia’s early life--in fact, not much is known about her at all, until her arrival at Aulis, which is a port by the Aegean Sea. Since she is a princess, her childhood can be assumed to have been, at the least, very comfortable.

When Iphigenia arrives in Aulis, she is under the mistaken impression that she has been brought there to wed Achilles, a young warrior who is destined to do great things on the battlefield (and I’m sure you’ve all heard the stories!). However, her father, Agamemnon, made up that story in order to lure her to her death as a human sacrifice.

See, Agamemnon angered the Greek goddess Artemis by killing a deer and not offering up rites to the goddess, so according to the myth, Artemis demanded Agamemnon sacrifice Iphigenia as an acceptable alternative. Also, at this point, Artemis has also stopped the winds from blowing Agamemnon’s ships towards Troy, so there are currently a thousand ships waiting at Aulis to sail off to fight in the Trojan War. So, Agamemnon lures Iphigenia to Aulis in order to sacrifice her so his ships can sail and he can appease the goddess.

Iphigenia and her mother, Clytemnestra, learn about Agamemnon’s trick, and are understandably very upset. Iphigenia begs her father for her life, but he doesn’t relent, instead looking to the angry mob of soldiers waiting for the sacrifice to occur so they can go off to war.

All seems lost at this point--Achilles becomes involved and wants to fight all the men in order to save the princess, Clytemnestra is enraged at her husband--when suddenly, Iphigenia changes her mind and decides to go willingly to her death.

It is not entirely clear what motivates the princess to decide to accept her fate, but she does, and goes to the altar unafraid and singing what are essentially patriotic hymns about her country.

Here is where the story diverges into two different endings. In some versions of the myth, Iphigenia really does die at the altar, and in other versions, Artemis takes pity on the girl, swoops in and saves her, and replaces her body with that of a deer. Iphigenia is then sent to the island of Tauris to serve as the priestess of Artemis’ temple.

For the purposes of this game, I am choosing to use the version in which Artemis saves Iphigenia, but instead of heading to Tauris, Iphigenia accepts Eli’s offer to live in New Dodge.

Personality:

It would be easy to write off Iphigenia as a mindless jingoistic young woman, merely dying for a pointless cause (the Trojan War, after her sacrifice, lasts ten years and countless people are killed), but I feel that there is more to her that just her fervent patriotism. In my view, she goes willingly to her death not merely because she truly believes in the cause (which I think she does believe in, however reluctant she was at first), but because she feels that this way, she will leave a legacy behind.

Iphigenia dies with glory, not because of how she dies, but because of why she dies. She accepts her fate, which is seen as heroic within the context of Bronze Age Greek culture. As she is a teenage girl, and not a man, she cannot choose to fight in the war, as Achilles can, or to lead troops into battle, as her father will, but she still wants to contribute in some way. Achilles’ grand heroic gesture may be his life on the battlefield; Iphigenia’s is her death at the hands of a priest in Aulis.

There is an interesting quote from the play Iphigenia at Aulis, by Euripides, where Iphigenia proudly declares: “One man’s life is worth more than the lives of ten thousand women!”. I find this line fascinating, because as much as Iphigenia is brave and bold in making her decision, she is still a product of her culture, and as such, wrestles with internalized misogyny. In the game, I want to play with this aspect of Iphigenia’s personality, because it’s definitely a hard nut to crack.

Before Aulis, as I said, not much is known about Iphigenia, but I believe that because she was genuinely excited about the prospect of marriage and had hopes for the future, she can be read as a typical teenage girl, with crushes on boys and love of typical “girly” things. At the same time, I think her experiences at Auis genuinely changed her, so she may be at the point in her life where she’s leaving that all behind, so to speak.

In terms of family life, Iphigenia adores both her mother and her father very much, as well as her younger siblings. In the play, she implores her mother: “please don’t be angry with your husband”--it’s clear that Iphigenia doesn’t like her parents to fight.


Why do you think your character would work in this setting?

While I’m aware of the immerse culture and technology shock Iphigenia will experience upon arriving in New Dodge, I still feel that she’ll work within the setting, because I find her story, like most myths, to be allegorical and timeless (her myth is essentially a twisted coming-of-age story, if you examine the archetypes).

Iphigenia accepts Eli’s offer because it is a new chance at a new life. As much as she is ready to die, I believe that the reason Artemis comes to save her is because Iphigenia’s life was truly cut short. There is a definite tragic element to her story, because in the intensely patriarchal culture of her era, Iphigenia really didn’t have a chance to live. She chose her fate, yes, but it chose her first.

What will your character do for work?

As Iphigenia was due to become a priestess of Artemis, I think she would make a good addition to the Worship Center.

Inventory: Other than her clothes on her back, nothing.

Samples: And now for the hard part! If you need a prompt for your samples, refer back to the Applications Page.

Third-Person Sample:

She was not afraid. Iphigenia knew this in her heart, and as she looked around the men who were standing there (all soldiers, all of them bloodthirsty and ready for war), she kept her gaze steady on the moon. It was full tonight, and she remembered that it had almost been full when she and her mother had left Mycenae for Aulis, a little while ago.

It seemed so far away now. She was not the girl now she was then, she thought. Iphigenia knew she had changed, but part of her wondered if she had always been so unafraid, so bold.

She could not remember her childhood now, no matter how hard she tried. She could barely remember weeping while her mother held her in the tent, begging for her life. It was all distant now, all in the past. What was important tonight--well, Iphigenia knew the glory she would gain from this.

Maybe Achilles knew as well. Maybe, as he promised her he would marry her anyway to save her life, promised to fight off every single one of the angry soldiers demanding a blood sacrifice, he too understood what it was like to want to die by choice.

To die with fire in your eyes.

She couldn’t feel anything anymore. Iphigenia wasn’t cold, though she knew the night was cool. Even earlier in the day, when the wind finally started to blow, after she had made her decision, she felt nothing.

She thought of her mother then. Iphigenia wondered how much a person could cry before the tears would drown them. Would her mother drown in her own tears? Perhaps.

And then, of course, there was her father. HIgh King, commander of the troops, yes, but simply “Father” to her. She knew he was in the crowd tonight as well, shielding his eyes from what was about to happen.

She looked at the moon. Iphigenia thought she heard Achilles call out, proclaiming his presence, but she couldn’t be certain. The knife was near, and she had given her soul to the goddess.

The moon was so big and bright, and suddenly Iphigenia felt so small. She felt the priest nearby quivering, blade in his hand.

She closed her eyes.

First-Person Sample:

Dear Mother,

I know you cannot write back, being in a different place than me (we’re both so far away from each other), but I wanted to write anyway. It feels better than just keeping all of my thoughts inside.

I need to tell you something. The truth is, I don’t fully understand myself sometimes. There I was, in Aulis, ready to die, and then--he came. It was as if he was a god--though I’m not sure if he was or not. Mortals like us rarely do know, I suppose.

I changed my mind--again. I wanted a second chance, though I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe back home, I’m already dead. Maybe this is the afterlife, and all the stories about Hades and the river Styx were wrong.

I’m here now, though. I should make the best of it. I’m no longer a princess, and I can start anew. I shouldn’t be afraid; I wasn’t afraid back in Aulis, after all.

I miss you very much, but I know I will survive this. Perhaps I was meant to survive all along.

I hope you are well. Tell Orestes and Electra I miss them too.

Love,

Iphigenia