itsinthetrees:

Cersei Lannister and Clytemnestra, Queen of Mycenae

“That woman — she maneuvers like a man” - Aeschylus, Agamemnon

Clytemnestra (Greek Κλυταιμήστρα, Klutaimestra) was born from an egg, the twin sister of Helen, though not quite. Clytemnestra was fathered by Leda’s husband, Tyndareus, while Helen was fathered by Zeus. The two girls were identical, but Helen was ineffably more beautiful. Men fought over the right to wed Helen, considered the most beautiful woman in the world, and she was eventually wed to Menelaus, the King of Sparta. Clytemnestra was given to Menelaus’s brother, Agamemnon, as a consolation prize. (In a late version by Euripides, the tragedy Iphigeneia at Aulis, Agamemnon slew Clytemnestra’s first husband in battle and took her as part of his victory, also murdering her infant son.) With Agamemnon she had four children: Elektra, Chrysothemis, Iphigeneia, and Orestes.

When Helen either ran off with — or was kidnapped by — Paris, the Prince of Troy, Agamemnon accompanied his brother Menelaus in the famed war to reclaim her. The winds would not carry them to Troy, however, and a prophet informed Agamemnon that the only way to please the gods would be to sacrifice his daughter Iphigeneia. Deceiving Clytemnestra with the claim that he wished to wed their daughter to Achilles, Agamemnon sacrificed her to the gods. The winds then carried the Greek ships to Troy. Clytemnestra was enraged, and plotted to kill her infant son Orestes — Agamemnon’s only heir — as revenge against her husband. The baby was spirited away by his sister Elektra, however, and Clytemnestra was foiled.

In the ten years while her husband was absent in Troy, Clytemnestra ruled as regnant queen, taking Agamemnon’s cousin Aegisthus as her consort. Upon Agamemnon’s return from the war, she lured him into the house with false rejoicing… then murdered him, his slave the Trojan princess Cassandra, and their newborn twins. Clytemnestra married Aegisthus and ruled for seven more years, until her son Orestes returned and, conspiring with Elektra, killed his mother, his stepfather, and their children, assuming the throne for himself.

Cersei Lannister’s storyline takes significant divergences from the original myth, but maintains the general themes: a profound jealousy of the more popular narrative double (Lyanna Stark), the murder through deception of an abusive husband, his concubine, and his illegitimate children (the prostitute and Barra taking the place of Cassandra and her children), love of a murdered child (Joffrey) above all other concerns, a desire to rule like a man was allowed, and an eventual murderous betrayal by a close relative (the valonqar). The most interesting Classical twist Martin gives Cersei’s storyline is to apply the decidedly male myth of Oedipus on top of it, giving her a prophecy she tries to avert but ends up causing through the attempt.

(via plays-with-squirrels)