Tantalus' family's behavior remained unimproved through the generations. Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus (Helen's husband) were among his descendants.
Raising the ire of the gods seems to have come very naturally to all the descendants of Tantalus. The Greek troops heading for Troy, under the lead of Agamemnon, waited at Aulis for a wind that just wouldn't come. Eventually a seer named Calchas deduced the problem: The virgin huntress and goddess, Artemis, had been offended by a boast Agamemnon had made about his own hunting skills. To appease Artemis, Agamemnon had to sacrifice his own daughter Iphigenia. Only then would the winds come to fill their sails and let them set off from Aulis to Troy.
To put his daughter Iphigenia to the sacrificial knife was hard for Agamemnon the father, but not for Agamemnon the military leader. He sent word to his wife that Iphigenia was to marry Achilles at Aulis. (Achilles was left out of the loop.) Clytemnestra and their daughter Iphigenia went happily to Aulis for a wedding to the great Greek warrior. But there, instead of a marriage, Agamemnon performed the deadly ritual. Clytemnestra would never forgive her husband.
The goddess Artemis appeased, favorable winds filled the sails of Achaean ships so they could sail to Troy.
Next: The Trojan War - 10 Years of Battle | The Trojan War - The Trojan Horse
