a priestess in the temple of Artemis at
Tauris, forms the subject of one of Schiller's most beautiful plays. The
circumstances occurred at the commencement of the Trojan war, and are as
follows:--The fleet, collected by the Greeks for the siege of Troy, had
assembled at Aulis, in Boeotia, and was about to set sail, when Agamemnon,
the commander-in-chief, had the misfortune to kill accidentally a stag
which was grazing in a grove, sacred to Artemis. The offended goddess sent
continuous calms that delayed the departure of the fleet, and Calchas, the
soothsayer, who had accompanied the expedition, declared that nothing less
than the sacrifice of Agamemnon's favorite daughter, Iphigenia, would
appease the wrath of the goddess. At these words, the heroic heart of the
brave leader sank within him, and he declared that rather than consent to
so fearful an alternative, he would give up his share in the expedition and
return to Argos. In this dilemma Odysseus and other great generals called a
council to discuss the matter, and, after much deliberation, it was decided
that private feeling must yield to the welfare of the state. For a long
time the unhappy Agamemnon turned a deaf ear to their arguments, but at
last they succeeded in persuading him that it was his duty to make the
sacrifice. He, accordingly, despatched a messenger to his wife,
Clytemnaestra, begging her to send Iphigenia to him, alleging as a pretext
that the great hero Achilles desired to make her his wife. Rejoicing at the
brilliant destiny which awaited her beautiful daughter, the fond mother at
once obeyed the command, and sent her to Aulis. When the maiden arrived at
her destination, and discovered, to her horror, the dreadful fate which
awaited her, she threw herself in an agony of grief at her father's feet,
and with sobs and tears entreated him to have mercy on her, and to spare
her young life. But alas! her doom was sealed, and her now repentant and
{95} heart-broken father was powerless to avert it. The unfortunate victim
was bound to the altar, and already the fatal knife was raised to deal the
death-blow, when suddenly Iphigenia disappeared from view, and in her place
on the altar, lay a beautiful deer ready to be sacrificed. It was Artemis
herself, who, pitying the youth and beauty of her victim, caused her to be
conveyed in a cloud to Taurica, where she became one of her priestesses,
and intrusted with the charge of her temple; a dignity, however, which