Aigisthos

Aigisthos [r]: Cousin of Agamemnon and Menelaos who seduces the queen Clytemnestra while her husband Agamemnon is away fighting the Trojan War in Asia Minor. When Agamemnon returns, he murders the returning king, but he is later murdered, in turn, by Agamemnon's son Orestes, and this story is frequently cited in the Odyssey as a contrasting situation to the family situation of Odysseus. Source: Elizabeth Vandiver, Classics scholar, authority on Greek mythology as well as Greek tragedy, the Iliad, Odyssey, Aeneid, Homer, and Virgil. This definition is based on her course Classical Mythology for The Teaching Company. ^[e]

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Greek mythology has numerous characters besides the treacherous Aigisthos, including gods and goddesses, humans, and stories have been a vital part of Western civilization and have served as material for Renaissance painters such as Correggio. Pictured: Leda and the Swan.Painting circa 1532.