#ive missed some i know but this was gettig SUPER long.

[menelaiad]

hi, once I read something like Agamamemnon wasn't sure about the war or didn't even want to start it, and it was more likely that Menelaus encouraged or asked him? are there sources on this or is just a wrong stuff? thx so much!

eHHHHHH 50/50 i think is a safe way to go with this.

it's not explicitly said 'he did this for menelaus. he never wanted it' etc. but you can certainly infer that he's not as war hungry (at least at the start!) as people make him out to be.

even in the iliad there's an element of aga Not Wanting To Be There, but like most hcu things, it's open to interpretation! i'll throw some quotes and stuff here and what I think they infer, but you're welcome to do with them as you will:

PRE-ILIAD

APOLLODORUS: [E.3.6] When Menelaus was aware of the rape, he came to Agamemnon at Mycenae, and begged him to muster an army against Troy and to raise levies in Greece

DARES OF PHRYGIA: Menelaus, having learned what had happened, left Pylos accompanied by Nestor, and returned to Sparta whither he summoned his brother Agamemnon from Argos ... Agamemnon upon his arrival in Sparta, consoled his brother. They decided to send men throughout Greece to gather an army for war against Troy. 

So. here we've got menelaus asking for help. apollodorus even says 'begging' and dares mentions the comfort he provides to menelaus. now. we have NO IDEA how much convincing it took BUT. he's clearly comforting menelaus. there's an element straight away he's doing this for menelaus. to make him feel better. to HELP him. the war never seems to be HIS idea alone (yes lots of sources say he and menelaus came up with it etc. i mean it's never like aga rocks up to sparta like HAVE I GOT AN IDEA FOR YOU, BABY BRO) menelaus has an input. whether it's because he's really sad?? or angry?? idk. but it wouldn't be WRONG to say that he's not doing it for menelaus at all. like to say menelaus isn't a factor in aga's choice??? that's a bold take.

IPHIGENIA IN AULIS

the biggie ...........

AGAMEMNON: I, being Menelaos’ brother and for his own good, was chosen by them to be their leader... How I wish this honour were given to someone else, my old friend! ... This got me so angry that the very next moment I ordered Talthybius to use his powerful voice and call the army to disband. I was not going to slaughter my own daughter, old man! That I could never do! But my brother, using all sorts of arguments, finally persuaded me to commit this dreadful deed!

p. clear. aga didn't want to lead. doesn't want to be here. ESPECIALLY not because of what it entails. it was, again, MENELAUS that pushes him to keep going (i have thoughts on the menelaus stuff but we're just gonn stick to aga for this ask). he was telling the army to fuck off. they hadn't even GOT to troy. so.

AGAMEMNON:  Can you not see him standing in the midst of all the Greeks, telling them all about Calchas’ prophesies and all about how I’ve promised to sacrifice my daughter to Artemis but then went back on my word? He’ll have the whole army eating out of his hand and then make them kill us and sacrifice the girl anyway! And if I tried to run off to Argos, the whole lot of them will come over and destroy the place, raze the whole city to the ground...

'so why does he do it huh?!' .... odysseus. agamemnon is scared of odysseus. the influence odysseus has over the other men is NUTS and aga knows this. now here's where we need to listen: THIS IS HOMERIC GREECE. choosing your daughter over your reputation/kingdom was NOT an easy choice as it is now. DEFYING the gods was NOT an easy choice as it is now. it wouldn't have been so simple for aga. ESPECIALLY the house he comes from.

for risk of this getting too long: aga also believes the greek army will KILL him and his family (who are now at aulis) if they disobey them. whether that's true or not?? we'll never know but it's. genuine fear he has.

why all this? it just shows that like ... going to troy wasn't the 100% endgame for aga. it was not the front of his mind always and forever. he fought with the idea. he had conflicts with the idea. which brings us to:

THE ILIAD

ODYSSEUS TO AGAMEMNON: “Therefore, I do not blame the Achaeans for chafing beside their curved ships; but for all that, it is shameful to tarry a long time and also return empty-handed.”

AGAMEMNON: They took their seat in the assembly, stricken; and Agamemnon stood up, streaming tears like a dark-water spring, which down sheer rock streams somber water; so groaning deeply he addressed words to the Argives: … “Now he has devised an evil deceit and bids me go back to Argos dishonored, since I have destroyed a multitude of men. This, it seems, must please Zeus, supreme in might, who has brought to ruin the citadels of many cities, and will destroy yet more; for his is the greatest power. But come—let us all be persuaded to do as I say; let us flee with our ships to our beloved homeland, for we will not ever take Troy of the wide ways.”

basically here and a few other parts of the iliad - aga. wants. to. go. home. everyone else odysseus always makes him stay or come up with some speech to make aga feel BAD for leaving. what this says to me is .... aga aint that arsed about troy??? do i think there's an element of 'i've gotta see this through my daughter died for this. she cant die for nothing' YES absolutely. he's not completely against taking troy. but i think his motives are different to what people thing.

aga also says if he goes back to argos/greece w/e without taking troy/getting helen back/accomplishing the goal - he would be shamed. people have died for him and WHAT does he have to show for it? he needs something!!

now, im not tryna absolve blame from aga. nope. but again with a lot of things aga-related, it's not as black and white as people think. there are other interpretations, other things to explore other than 'he lead at troy. it was all his idea. crazy hungry war man who wanted troy to burn' like ..... no??? not REALLY???

so to say those ideas are WRONG is unfair. cause i personally can see where they're coming from (menelaus also makes a lot of references to the sacrifices people have made/are making for him and how he hates it. its not too far to say that he's referring to aga in one of those speeches). again. it's not clear. but the opposite ALSO isn't clear.

i hope this helps???????