I first read about the sacrafice of Iphigeneia in the Orestia by Aeschylus - Aeschylus was the first ancient playwrite I read and I fell immediately in love with his visceral, forceful style and imagery. I feel that what set Euripides' Iphigeneia apart from previous works I have read is that he incorporates criticisms of "the mob" into his dialouge and into the characters' motives.

I read this book because it was referenced in "The Gay Science" by F. Nietzsche and I want to understand where he is coming from.

I am a bit of an existentialist in that I tend to hermeneutically read text with an eye toward existentialism. As such, I was particularly moved when Iphigeneia took ownership of her sacrifice. I very much admire characters who take what was given to them by chance or fate (whatever you want to call it it is something that is beyond their control) and make it their own - the Sisyphian task is not an easy one!

4.5*

Swedish edition (Tord Bæckström) 1965.
King Agamemnon in big trouble - he has agreed to sacrifice his daughter Ifigenia to the gods as the oracle demands, so that his war ships finally will gain some wind and get going, but he regrets it. Can he take back the promise without anyone knowing and get away with it? Agony and betrayal.
A tragedy that ends with some hope for Ifigenia. However, the king and warlords are all happy in the end and can finally go fighting Troy. One part of the greek tragedies need to be read (or play seen) as one of backgrounds to Odyssey.

The more Ancient Greek literature I read the sadder that everything gets oh my god why couldn’t they be happy this is so tragic.

Iphigenia at Aulis is the last play of those extant written by Euripides. It is a prequel to his Iphigenia in Tauris which was written some years earlier. Interestingly, the story of Iphigenia’s sacrifice to speed the Greek fleet gathered at Aulis on its way to Troy is not mentioned in The Iliad. Iphigenia does however appear in Aeschylus’ Agamemnon which recounts her sacrifice by her father for the sake of the Geek fleet and army.

Different versions of Iphigenia at Aulis exist: in some Iphigenia is sacrificed, in others a deer is sacrificed instead. Some scholars believe the play was left unfinished by Euripides and that the end was written by another hand, which may explain the different versions. In the Iphigenia in Tauris sequel, Artemis is said to have whisked Iphigenia away to Tauris at the last moment. It strikes me that whether she was killed or not is incidental to the subsequent tragedy of Agamemnon and his house because Clytemnestra discounts tales of the goddess’ intervention and holds Agamemnon responsible for her eldest child’s death; in Clytemnestra's heart she knows that he chose to kill his daughter for the sake of fame and fortune, out of loyalty to his brother, and from fear of his army.

Euripides’ characters are complex and torn by conflicting loves and needs. They ask which is more valued, the love of a father for his child or the expectation and demands of kingship and community? We read a dialogue between Agamemnon and Menelaos on this that has all the hallmarks of a real-life dispute between brothers. We are surprised to see that the “great” Achilles is vain and shallow. Deceit brings Iphigenia to Aulis where the men’s sense of their own importance and their need to save face condemn her. I maintain that the real heroes at Aulis are Clytemnestra, who values her children above all, and Iphigenia, who after much pained thought, agrees to sacrifice herself for the sake of her father, the House of Atreus, and the Greeks. The crisis is initiated by the vengeance of Artemis, who we will hear more about in Iphigenia is Tauris.

Iphigenia at Aulis is fraught with emotional tension, even anguish. Agamemnon and the entire army avert their eyes at the movement of the sacrifice, so there is confusion as to what actually happened. The story that is put about is not believed by all; the closure is indefinite.

I recommend most highly the Oxford University Press edition, part of its series on “Greek Tragedy in New Translations.” The text is readable and coherent with a useful introduction, endnotes, and glossary. As an object the hardbound book is something to be treasured; I believe is only available as a used book.

when the entire play is a subtweet of Aeschylus and Homer…

A play about a family coming to terms with a horrible fate, a king having to sacrifice his own daughter for the sake of his country.
It would be unfair of me to rate this play, since I'm no expert on Greek tragedies and the standards/criteria by which to judge them, nor the Trojan war, as well as the play being an unfinished work by Euripides.
However, I found the argumentation between the characters extremely poor, and the ending too happy for a tragedy. Nevertheless, the play is written beautifully. There certainly are many moving passages. One could easily sympathise with the anguish and grief of the king Agamemnon, and even go as far as to justify his ways of his lying as means of coping with the situation. After all, he is a human, no one is perfect. Him trying to conceal his actions from his family, using other people as pawns, was, according to his calculations, for the greater good.

Read it for a class

Iphigenia: Te-avânți pe-o cale lungă, tată, și mă lași.
Agamemnon: Vom fi cândva iar impreună, fata mea.
Iphigenia: Ia-mă, dacă se cade, cu tine pe corăbii.
Agamemnon: Vei traversa și tu o apă, cu gândul îndreptat spre mine.
Iphigenia: Cu mama laolaltă sau singură pluti-voi?
Agamemnon: Doar singură, desprinsă de tată și de mamă.
Iphigenia: Deci, tată, mă vei așeza în altă vatră?

Yeah, i hate Agamemnon…

This is a very weak play, much like his Orestes and Helen. It may well be that the original play is by now more or less lost by the countless additions and incisions made over the years, but the general structure and weak ending is I think too similar a pattern throughout his later work to be dismissed as entirely non-Euripidean. Euripidies' Clytemnestra is a pale, drab corpse compared to the fiery dominatrix that reigns in Aeschylus. More and more, he seems to me a bit of a one-hit-wonder; none of his other plays, excepting Medea perhaps, approach the zenith of the Bacchae, and remain actually very far below it.

In this tragedy, there is a dilemma, Agamemnon and Menelaus are preparing to sail to rescue Helen, Menelaus' wife. But, the oracle told that Agamemnon must sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, that is arriving for that, without her knowing, thinking she is there to marry Achilles.

Clytemnestra discovers her husband plan, and tell Achilles to the rescue.

Euripides on this play, is a bit skeptical about the greek gods (As Clytemnestra says "If the gods exist, they surely will support your righteous stand. Otherwise, why bother with anything at all?").

Iphigenia is the courageous one, and accepts her "fate" of being sacrified at Artemis Temple. After Iphigenia is about to leave, it seems Euripides dies, and probably his son takes over on an odd finish to the play.