Iphigenia's Ghost Reflects On Her Loss Poem by Dennis Ryan

Iphigenia's Ghost Reflects On Her Loss



"It's Greece for which I must sacrifice you..."
- Agamemnon speaking to his daughter Iphigenia in Euripide's Iphigenia in Aulis

I was betrayed, put to death in Aulis for what?
For favorable winds in an army's sails, a father's honor?
His sense of duty?Masculine pride on the inside?
Just as mother had suspected, the whole story proved a lie!
Cut off from myself, hopeless, isolated, ashamed, what was I to do?
Protest further in my own voice?No, my father's-
I spoke brave words to serve a male order, subordinated myself
in the struggle for power.I became, in their words, a shining example
for all Greek women to follow—"the woman who set Greece free."
Me?This the rationale for my sacrifice?Muthos.Myth.Story.
Faded glory—only an image to hold onto following my loss.

POET'S NOTES ABOUT THE POEM
Iphigenia's ghost laments her own loss, her father Agamemnon's sacrifice of her so that the Greek ships gain fair wind to sail to Troy.
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
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Dennis Ryan

Dennis Ryan

Wellsville, New York
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