Iphigenia

American  

[if-i-juh-nahy-uh, -nee-uh] / ˌɪf ɪ dʒəˈnaɪ ə, -ˈni ə /

noun

1. Classical Mythology. the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra and sister of Orestes and Electra: when she was about to be sacrificed to ensure a wind to take the Greek ships to Troy, she was saved by Artemis, whose priestess she became.

2. a female given name.

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Iphigenia British  

/ ˌɪfɪdʒɪˈnaɪə /

noun

1. Greek myth the daughter of Agamemnon, taken by him to be sacrificed to Artemis, who saved her life and made her a priestess

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Iphigenia Cultural  

1. In classical mythology, the eldest daughter of Agamemnon and the sister of Electra and Orestes. When the Greek fleet was about to sail to fight in the Trojan War (see also Trojan War), Agamemnon sacrificed Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis to obtain favorable winds. According to some stories, Artemis saved Iphigenia from the sacrifice, and she was later reunited with Orestes.

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Example Sentences

The play, a reworking of Euripides and Goethe by the Polish writer Joanna Bednarczyk, strives to reinterpret the character of Iphigenia, whose father, the Greek king Agamemnon, sacrifices her to appease a vengeful goddess.

From New York Times • Aug. 25, 2022

Not, of course, that her mother has been consulted in this, let alone Iphigenia herself.

From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2022

This is the opening up of space and time and sound for Iphigenia of the Open Tense.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2022

Except they are not, as Spalding summons Iphigenia Unbound, Iphigenia of the Sea, Iphigenia the Elder, Iphigenia the Younger and Iphigenia of the Light in her fight against victimization.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 21, 2022

Iphigenia was praying aloud: “Maiden and Queen, daughter of Zeus and Leto, you shall dwell where purity is, and we shall be happy.”

From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton