'Iphigenia at Aulis (Ipigenia's perspective): self-denial and self-delusion'

oil on canvas, 100 cm x 120 cm.

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This painting and the lithograph 'Iphigenia in Aulis (Agamemnon's perspective)' are companion pieces. The project is inspired by Euripides’ tragedy 'Iphigeneia in Aulis'. While the painting views the situation from Iphigenia's perspective, the lithograph presents the situation from Agamemnon's perspective.

 

The Greek army wants to lay siege to the city of Troy, but their fleet is becalmed at Aulis. A seer prophecies that the winds will pick up again if the army officer, Agamemnon, sacrifices his daughter, Iphigenia. 

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Iphigenia feels abandoned, but suppresses the emotion. She had been opposed to the war effort, but now she begins to ennoble its cause: through a process of self-delusion, she accepts her death as being justified and glorious. Her view of the world bends to the emotional logic in her head: she creates a world that covers over the painful reality like a veil. Death no longer seems a threat: the only gun that is being pointed at her, is from a painting by Delacroix, 'Liberty Leading the People'. In a desperate attempt to give her death meaning, Iphigenia proclaims herself a martyr for freedom. 
Central themes: self-delusion, emotional repression and existential meaning.

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