Agamemnon
3 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Agamemnon. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
ag-a-mem'non, in Greek legendary history, king of Mycenae, "rich in gold," situated midway between Athens and Sparta. He was the brother of Menelaus, king of Sparta, whose wife, Helen, was carried away by Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy. As a sort of overlord, Agamemnon was a central figure, but not the hero of the band of chieftains who united to avenge the wrong done Menelaus. The ten years' siege of Troy, the death of Priam, Paris, Hector, and the final taking of the city by the introduction of men within the gates by the stratagem of concealing them in a huge wooden horse, are told in the Iliad of Homer and the Aeneid of Virgil. On Agamemnon's return from the Trojan war he was slain by his wife Clytemnestra and her guilty lover. The Homeric account of fair-haired, ox-eating wielders of iron spears and swords, is so different from the dark complexioned, fruit- and fish-eating, bronze-using men to be expected in Greece at the time of the siege, 1300 B. C., that it has been suggested that this Agamemnon of the Homeric age was one of a dominant set of invaders from the north who had grasped the sovereignties of the fairest cities in Greece, and whose descendants were finally absorbed by the native populace. The theory finds favor in view of the fact that intermarriage, absorption among the dark skinned inhabitants, and final disappearance as a distinct element, has been the fate of every Teutonic people known to have effected a lodgment in southern Europe. The northern invaders who overthrew the empire of Rome have faded from view in the modern swarthy Italians. Agamemnon is the title of one of Aeschylus' greatest tragedies. See Achilles ; Aeschylus ; Troy
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
king of Mycenæ and Argos, son of Atreus and Eriphyle, brother of Menelaus and commander-in-chief of the Grecian army at the siege of Troy. He married Clytemnestra, sister of Helen, who was the wife of Menelaus. The Trojan war arose out of the abduction of Helen by Paris, son of Priam, King of Troy. During the siege of Troy, protracted for 10 years, Agamemnon appears superior to the other chiefs in battle and in council, and maintains, under all circumstances, the dignity of commander. The most a memorable event of the siege of Troy is the quarrel of Agamemnon and Achilles, the subject of the "Iliad," in which the former placed himself very completely in the wrong. Returning from Troy, 1 Agamemnon was treacherously murdered by his wife. His son ORESTES (q. v.), and his daughter Electra eventually avenged their father's murder. These tragic events formed a favorite subject of Greek dramatists, the most famous tragedy on the subject being "Agamemnon" by Æschylus. AGAÑA (ag-an'ya), the principal town of Guam, the largest of the Ladrone Islands, 1,500 miles E. of Luzon, Philippines, and 1,300 miles S. of Yokohama. As a result of the war between the United States and Spain in 1898, the former took possession of the island of Guam. Pop. about 7,500.
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
King of Mycenae and Argos, was brother to Menelaus , and son of Plisthenes , the son of Atreus . He married Clytemnestra , and Menelaus married Helen; both were daughters of Tyndarus, king of Sparta . When Helen eloped with Paris, Agamemnon was elected commander-in-chief of the Grecian forces invading Troy. 2026 Editor's Note: Upon his return from Troy, Agamemnon was murdered by his wife Clytemnestra —or, in an older version of the myth, by her lover Aegisthus. Clytemnestra's motive was revenge for Agamemnon's sacrifice of their daughter Iphigenia. (Ed: BR 2026-06-15)