Iphigenia

English

The Sacrifice of Iphigenia, by François Perrier, between 1632 and 1633

Alternative forms

• Iphigeneia

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ῑ̓φιγένεια (Īphigéneia).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɪfɪd͡ʒɪˈnaɪə/, /ˌɪfɪˈd͡ʒiːnɪə/
• Rhymes: -aɪə

Proper noun

Iphigenia

1. (Greek mythology) The daughter of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, who is sacrificed by her father to ensure the safe journey of the Greeks to Troy.
   • 2007, Amber Jacobs, On Matricide: Myth, Psychoanalysis, and the Law of the Mother, page 161:

     If we are convinced by the way the Iphigenia myth reworks and distorts the structure of the Metis myth, then we gain a new understanding of the logic underlying Athena's refusal to acknowledge the crime against Iphigenia.

   • 2008, Allan Brooks, Myths, Games and Conflict, page 8:

     The founding of the sanctuary at Braurona is related to the myths of Iphigenia and her brother, Orestes.

   • 2013, Willie Young, “4: Taking One for the Team: Baseball and Sacrifice”, in Eric Bronson, William Irwin, editors, Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batter's Box, page 63:

     One such involuntary sacrifice is found in the story of Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamemnon, the famous Greek king and warrior.

Translations

Greek mythological figure

• Armenian: Իփիգենիա (hy) (Ipʿigenia)

  Old Armenian: Իփիւգենիա (Ipʿiwgenia)

• French: Iphigénie (fr) f
• German: Iphigenie (de) f
• Greek: Ιφιγένεια (el) f (Ifigéneia)

  Ancient Greek: Ῑ̓φιγένεια f (Īphigéneia)

• Italian: Ifigenia f
• Latin: Īphigenīa f
• Polish: Ifigenia (pl) f
• Portuguese: Ifigênia f
• Russian: Ифиге́ния f (Ifigénija)
• Spanish: Ifigenia (es) f
• Swedish: Ifigenia (sv) c

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ῑ̓φῐγένειᾰ (Īphigéneia).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /iː.pʰi.ɡeˈniː.a/, [iːpʰɪɡɛˈniːä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /i.fi.d͡ʒeˈni.a/, [ifid͡ʒeˈniːä]

Proper noun

Īphigenīa f sg (genitive Īphigenīae); first declension

1. Iphigenia (a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra, who, because her father had killed, in Aulis, a hart belonging to Artemis, was to be offered up by way of expiation; but the goddess put a hart in her place and conveyed her to the Tauric Chersonese, where she became a priestess of Artemis, and with her brother Orestes carried off Artemis’s image)

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Ovid to this entry?)

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   (Can we find and add a quotation of Rhetorica ad Herennium to this entry?)

Declension

First-declension noun, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Īphigenīa
Genitive	Īphigenīae
Dative	Īphigenīae
Accusative	Īphigenīan
Ablative	Īphigenīā
Vocative	Īphigenīa

Greek type accusative in -an.

References

• “Īphĭgĕnīa”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Īphĭgĕnīa in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 855/3.
• “Īphigenīa” on page 964/3 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Further reading

• Iphigenia on the Latin Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^la