Clytemnestra Quotes
"There is no peace for a woman with ambition. No love for a woman with a crown."
"Kings are brilliant, mighty, godlike. Queens are deadly, shameless, accursed."
"Survival, courage, and strength are your duties."
"Sometimes her anger feels so real that she wishes she could cut it out with a knife."
"People have always challenged each other. The strongest rise and fall, the weaker come and go. But some keep standing."
"Are we in Sparta or in Athens? Do we not take pride in our strong, free-willed women, or do we lock them into the house so they grow fragile and useless?"
"All rulers must learn how to follow before they can lead."
"Life at this moment is like being at sea, open waters all around her and no coastline in sight, the world brimming with possibilities."
"The gods watch us all. They bless those who are loyal and punish those who aren’t."
"Everyone is weak in the eyes of the gods."
"Living in Sparta sometimes feels like being stuck in a swamp, the bog sealed around her feet, her eyes free only to watch for imminent dangers around her."
"It is the will of the gods. You will be despised by many, hated by others, and punished. But in the end, you will be free."
"We're like two halves of an apricot, we share the kernel, and in it we hide our secrets."
"The gods have given you a taste of true sorrow. They have taught you loss. It is their divine duty to do so or else you forget you are mortal."
"It is only death that you can't defeat, and the sooner you understand that, the better."
"Stars dance in the vaulted sky, and Clytemnestra drifts to sleep."
"Hate is a bad root. It takes its place in your heart and it grows and grows, letting everything rot."
"Your plots and plans haven’t worked. I have power and all you have is whispers in a king’s ear. I am queen of Mycenae, and you are nobody."
"It is a story. Stories draw people together; they lead armies and form alliances."
"A feeling of loneliness opens inside her, as big as a ravine."
"Vengeance works best when it’s aided by patience."
"She looks happy and vulnerable, like a goddess resting among humans by mistake."
"Is there any greater torment than love in the face of loss?"
"The more one wants to forget, the more one can’t help but remember."
"This was once a palace of mighty queens. Of warrior women and daughters of Artemis. Now it belongs to a man who treats his wife as a golden trophy."
"To exist in the shivering knowledge that gods could do and undo things as they wished: how could anyone live such a life? No. The gods are cruel and have little time for mortals."
"There is nothing more powerful than a strong-willed woman."
"In truth, we must suffer. In lies, we can prosper."
"There are two different kinds of war. There are the battles where heroes dance and fight, with their glistening armor and precious swords, and there are those fought between walls, which are made of stabs and whispers."
"In every mistake, there is always a lesson to be learned."
"People will talk soon, and you must not believe them."
"He looks around, the dagger tight in his hand. His body is always tense, his face always shifting."
"What will the king say when he comes back from the war?"
"These men stand accused of treason and conspiracy."
"When you are pretending, you are still better than most people."
"A matter of weeks. How long has she been waiting for this? How many sleepless nights? How many grieving days?"
"More blood will be spilled soon, but it won't be mine."
"It is the same tightness one feels before a fight—and this is a fight for which she has been preparing for a long time."
"Agamemnon is always watchful and will be even after a ten-year war."
"We need to strike like snakes. We crawl and kill when no one is watching."
"They had their reputation in life maybe, but not in death. Only a few survive the passing of time."
"That is what everyone does in the face of atrocity: they look away. No one is brave enough to acknowledge the truth, not even a god."
"Do you know what was unwise? To keep me alive once you slaughtered my daughter. My brother always said that when you make enemies, you must eliminate them before they eliminate you. That was the mistake you made."
"Our mistakes matter little in the eyes of the gods. We all die in the end, like your brother did."
"People always plot behind a ruler’s back. They didn’t do your bidding, so you got rid of them."
"What about Aulis? What about Princess Iphigenia, who was sacrificed like a beast, her blood still wetting the altar stone?"
"You can’t have justice and everyone’s approval."
"Life isn’t as simple as you want us to believe. And there is a difference between what is and what should be."
"For more than half her life, she has worn vengeance like a second skin. Now it is time to shed it. Who will she be without her anger, her pain? What will her freedom taste like?"
"But it doesn’t matter. She was there. She knows songs never tell the truth."