Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra, also spelled Clytaemnestra (pronounced /ˌklaɪtəmˈniːstrə/; Greek: Κλυταιμνήστρα, [klytai̯mnɛ̌ːstra]), in ancient Greek legend, was the wife of Agamemnon, ruler of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. In the Oresteia by Aeschylus, she murdered Agamemnon – said by Euripides to be her second husband – and the Trojan princess Cassandra, whom he had taken as war prize following the sack of Troy; however, in Homer's Odyssey, her role in Agamemnon's death is unclear and her character is significantly more subdued.

The name form Κλυταιμνήστρα (Klytaimnēstra) is commonly glossed as "famed for her suitors". However, this form is a later misreading motivated by an erroneous etymological connection to the verb μνάoμαι, 'woo, court'. The original name form is believed to have been Κλυταιμήστρα (Klytaimēstra), without the -mn-, and the modern form with -mn- does not occur before the middle Byzantine period. Aeschylus, in certain wordplays on her name, appears to assume an etymological link with the verb μήδoμαι, 'scheme, contrive'.