#telephus

Iphigenia

I think in one way Iphigenia is his "favorite" child in essence that she is his first child, the first time he felt how it is to be a father for real (yes I do think he is a father figure to Menelaus and his sister). This blessing that came to his life is translated with his unconditional love for his daughter. In fact that love is transferred to Iphigenia herself. Clytemnestra herself in Euripides says:

Clytemnestra: My child, but of course you must: for of all the children I have given birth to, you always loved your father the most.

(Translation by me)

In "Iphigenia in Aulis" we see the amazing dynamic of the family in one simple scene; Iphigenia sees her father and asks permission from Clytemnestra to rush and hug her father and asks her mother not to get mad at her for wishing to do so. Somehow it gives me an "antagonizing" vibe. Both Clytemnestra and Agamemnon love their eldest daughter overly much and somehow "antagonize" who loves her best. In one way of course. Iphigenia though seems to be papa's girl in every shape or form for asks her mother if it is okay to rush to her father and asks for her "not to get mad" because somehow she fears that her over-love of her father (φιλοπάτωρ...μάλιστα) hurts her mother's feelings. In one way Clytemnestra confirms it since she almost hides some "bitterness" for she needs to point out that Iphigenia prefers her father in one essence. Agamemnon seems to have Iphigenia as his precious little princess and somehow Iphigenia gives me some essence of "spoilt not rotten". Iphigenia seems to be asking stuff from her father which she seems to be comfortable enough to do so and also shows that Agamemnon is an active parent in her life. Part of the tragedy for the sacrifice of Iphigenia was exactly the strong love that Agamemnon had for her.

Electra/Laodice

Now Electra too seems to be vert attached to her father and how strongly she leads the whole vengeance thing in his name. She goes as far as to see for instance in Sophocles how she is being abused or made to wear old clothes in her home or being denied meals which shows how great love she has to him That to me is also another indicator how loving Agamemnon was to her. However it also gives me slight hints of veeeeeeery faint jealousy of Electra towards her older sister. She might as well have felt that Iphigenia monopolized their father's love so in one way she might as well antagonize with her who can make Agamemnon more proud. In one way if Iphigenia creates a beautiful flower on a piece of cloth, Electra will try to make two. Agamemnon definitely loves Electra very much. In one way I can imagine Electra was the most dynamic girl. In one way he almost treated her like "the son he never had" in one aspect. Electra could be that girl that has all the dynamism one could hope for a son while not being one. I can imagine Agamemnon sometimes nicknaming her "warrior" or something of that sort (with her name also being intitially "Laodice" in my mind which means "Judgement of people" and an attempt to "soften" it given a nickname like "Electra", as you see from my fic ^_^) I am not saying that Electra is tomboyish or that Agamemnon treats her as such is just that her own strength is something that Agamemnon appreciates. He also sometimes treats her in the way that sometimes we Greeks say: "I am not afraid for you" aka you have full confidence on someone finding a way themselves and have the strength to do stuff themselves. That sometimes can be annoying to someone that feel overwhelmed by the expectations. I kinda see a similar aspect here. That Agamemnon definitely loves and pampers her but also he sees her inherently stronger than Iphigenia and so he turns some more attention to Iphigenia instead. Electra wears her independence and strength like a badge with pride but sometimes she feels like she has to prove herself by the day. That also means she gets so much love from her father (just in a different way) that she might have her own antagonistic relationship with her mother. This antagonism was of course very much positive till the whole Iphigenia incident happened. Electra saw her entire family being plundered by sorrow because of the loss of her sister and their mother start doing everything she does in her house to make her hate her father that she loves so much. She retaliates! The strength that her father believed she had was all channeled upon fighting back the whole drilling of thoughts her mother tried to make her have and also on fighting against Aegusthus, which leads to her own punishment especially when she also assists Orestes to escape.

Chrysothemis

I think Chrysothemis is definitely a mama's girl. Agamemnon is definitely loving to her but is also that Chrysothemis arguably lived the greatest part of her conscious life with her mother so she formed a much stronger bond with her than Agamemnon. I think Agamemnon loved Chrysothemis very very much like he did with all his daughters but maybe just maybe there was a certain worry or half-disappointment in the air at that stage that maybe he wouldn't have a male heir after all. I am not saying he takes that out on Chrysothemis, on the contrary, it is just that at that stage there is a high chance that Agamemnon might as well grow weary or even impatient that maybe they will have to find another solution on the heir of the kingdom (especially since Menelaus as well failed to produce a son from his own end) Chrysothemis being very young at that stage she would perhaps be more associated with her mother than her father while also the older girls were probably already talked about getting betrothed or married, Chrysothemis was monopolizing her mother's attention for some time. Also when the heir was born it was all a new thing for her so as the youngest daughter, too young of age to be married, the last in line of daughters, might as well remain more to her mother's care than her father's. She would probably also be taken care of by some nurse while Clytemnestra herself nurses her baby son. When the war errupted Chrysothemis was still barely of conscious age I would expect or barely in it anyways (ranging somewhere between 7-10 years old maybe) so when her father departs for war, her memories of him were rather scarce anyways.

Bonus: Orestes

Orestes is of course the little miracle, finally a male heir after three daughters. Needless to say that Agamemnon was ecstatic and potentially dedicated all his love to him at that stage especially given that his daughters seemed already old enough not to need babying at that stage. Especially in some myths were the king of Mysia Telephus grabbed baby Orestes and held him hostage till Achilles was brought to him to heal him

I bet Agamemnon and even Clytemnestra might have grown overly protective of their only heir. I mean not only did babies oftentimes die very early so to keep him alive till the risky time was over was essential, but also the incident that in some versions befalls him, would be plenty of reason why the two of them would be scared to death for his safety. However the tragedy is that Orestes would be the one with the least memory of his father overall if we assume he was no older than 5 years of age when Agamemnon departed, but also has not the most positive memories of his mother either given the situation. So Electra wind him up to kill the mother that once loved him and turned against him, to avenge a father that he didn't remember for a kingdom that unfortunately exiled him de-facto when no person opposed Aegisthus and Clytemnestra ruling in such a manner.

I hope any of this makes sense, dear Anon and I hope you find it interesting! ^_^ Overall I think Agamemnon is undoubtedly a girldad! Hahaha he loves all his girls equally and incredibly much! However as they say the first child is always special and Iphigenia's sweeter nature I think draws such a great immense love from him, Electra's strength of character gives her in one way the essence of her being his strength, his avenger, his little warrior and Chrysothemis unfortunately happened to be born the wrong time to remember the affection of her father as much as her older siblings plus in one way she was yet another girl in a family that needed an heir so that might have an effect to the overall atmosphere rather than Agamemnon's love per se if that makes any sense