Author Comments : Examines the relationship of religion in the classic tradgedy Iphigenia, and also includes modern day examples of religious corruption.
Teacher Comments : Needs more examples of modern day religious corruption (Paragraph 4 of 5)
Date : 29 October 1996
Site found at : Heard about it while reading the Detroit News/Washington post article about The Evil House of Cheat and School Sucks.
The gods do not affect the fates of the characters in Iphigenia. The gods do serve other purposes though. For instance, the gods are used by all the high ranking characters to control the army. Calchas uses that to control Agamemnon. Finally, the play-write, who wrote the play when the whole idea of the gods was starting to be questioned; he is trying to show what happens when people blindly follow religion.
Agamemnon, Calchas, and the other characters who hold power over the people all question the existence of the gods. When the winds don't come for many days, and the army is restless, Agamemnon sends Calchas to the oracle to find out what the gods want him to do to get wind. Agamemnon probably expected that he would have to do something small in order to please the gods. Keep in mind that Agamemnon doesn't really believe in the gods, but his army does, so what he is really doing is pleasing the army. However, when Calchas returns, Agamemnon finds out he must sacrifice his own daughter. He lies to his daughter to get her to come to him. Agamemnon knows that he really doesn't have to please the gods, the winds will come anyway. So, Agamemnon tries to buy himself a little time. Needless to say, Agamemnon's calculation of just how much time he needs is a little short. When Iphigenia arrives, the winds have still not picked up enough for the ships yet, but they are starting to pick up a little bit. As Iphigenia slowly walks to be sacrificed, the winds begin to pick up heavily. To the army, who believes in the gods, this means that this sacrifice is already starting to please the gods, so they will not back out of it at this point. Sadly, Iphigenia is killed for nothing. Agamemnon knows that the winds are starting to pick up, and that he really doesn't have to sacrifice Iphigenia because just having winds would have pleased the army. Unfortunately, at this point, it is too late to turn back and say, "Don't sacrifice Iphigenia." Agamemnon does a strange thing at the end. He runs up to where Iphigenia is. I think Agamemnon is trying to save her and have her hide safely at home while he and his army, who thinks she has been sacrificed, win the war in Troy. Then, when they come back no one will really care if he really didn't sacrifice Iphigenia. What Agamemnon sees instead is pure horror, someone his killing his daughter right before his eyes. All of this happens for just one reason, a simple power play.
Calchas is trying to control Agamemnon. Because Calchas speaks to the oracle and then tells everyone what the oracle said, Calchas can make up anything he wants to. So Calchas comes back from the oracle saying that Agamemnon's first daughter must be sacrificed. That adds a very big twist to the plot. It shows that even the Agamemnon can think for himself, if what he is doing doesn't please Calchas, Calchas will make Agamemnon do what he wants him to do by threatening to turn the army against Agamemnon. Calchas uses this little ounce of power that he has to completely control Agamemnon. Like it or not, religion has a very good history of controlling the government.
This play shows one of the oldest cases of religious corruption. For more examples of religious corruption, look to more modern times. The roman catholic religion has always played an important role in controlling the European countries. This role has just recently changed. Not everyone follows exactly what the church wants. Still, Iphigenia clearly shows that this is not a new thing.
The gods in Iphigenia clearly play many important roles. They allow Agamemnon to control the army, and Calchas to also control the army in order to control Agamemnon. It works in the reverse to, the army is really controlling Agamemnon, but they don't know that they are. That is how Calchas successfully makes his power play. Regardless of these roles that the gods play, they still do not affect the fates of the characters, the characters themselves affect each others fates, merely using the gods to do that.
