Agamemnon

After the death of the Mycenaean king Eurystheus, there was a struggle for the throne because the king had no descendants. The throne went to Agamemnon's father, Atreus. But Thyestes (brother of Aëreus) wanted the throne for himself, and their rivalry resulted in the death of Aëreus and an attempt to kill both Agamemnon and his brother. Both brothers, Agamemnon and Meneláos, then fled to Sparta.

However, as soon as the opportunity arose, Agamemnon returned to Mycenae, killed Thyestes, and avenged his father's death. With this act, he became the new king of Mycenae. Agamemnon was a powerful and successful king under whose rule the city grew and prospered. He married Clytaimnestra, daughter of King Tyndareus, and together they had four children - a son, Orestes, and daughters, Eleuthera, Iphigeneia and Chrysothemis.

At that time, a dispute between the goddesses Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena over which of them was the most beautiful flared up. This conflict arose over a golden apple, which the goddess of strife Eris created and gave to "the fairest of them all". Their dispute was to be decided by Paris. Each of the goddesses offered him great gifts, but only Aphrodite offered him the most precious gift, namely love. She promised him the heart of the beautiful Helen. Paris therefore chose Aphrodite as the most beautiful and soon afterwards met Helen, who fell in love with him and fled with him to Troy. This act greatly angered Menelaus and he, along with Agamemnon, decided to march an army against Troy and reclaim Helen.

The war between Greece and Troy lasted a full ten years, and the war itself was riddled with the intrigues of the gods. One day, Zeus summoned Agamemnon in a dream, urging him to attack. The Greeks went on the run, but Paris decided to settle the dispute with a duel to the death between himself and Menelaus. Thus a truce was made and their duel ensued. But Paris was losing, and he was saved by Aphrodite. The warrior Pandaros disobeyed the peace and wounded Meneláa with an arrow, resulting in a great battle that ultimately had no victor. In fact, both sides agreed to a truce until the dead of both sides were buried. In the days that followed, the fighting continued and eventually Troy was destroyed by trickery using a wooden horse full of soldiers (the "Trojan Horse").

After the great victory, Agamemnon sailed home with the great spoils of war. Upon arrival, Agamemnon had the pyre set on fire to let his wife Clytaimnestra know he had returned. But she already had another man. and that was Aigisthos. So together they began to plot how to get rid of Agamemnon. Aigisthos invited him to a feast and had his soldiers murder him. He then married Clytaimnestra and became king of Mycenae.