Iphigenia
3 of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Iphigenia. All 3 are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
in Greek legend, a daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. When the Greeks, going to the Trojan War, were detained by contrary winds at Aulis, they were in formed by Calchas, the soothsayer, that, to appease the gods, they must sacrifice Iphigenia to Diana, because her father the favorite stag of that goddess. Rather than shed the blood of his daughter, Agamemnon, as chief of the Grecian forces, commanded one of his heralds to order the army to disperse. After much solicitation from the other chiefs, Agamemnon consented, however, to immolate his daughter for the common good of Greece; but as soon as Calchas had taken the knife and was about to strike the fatal blow Iphigenia suddenly disappeared, and a goat of uncommon size was found in her place. This supernatural change animated the Greeks, the wind suddenly became favorable, and the combined fleets set sail for Aulis. Iphigenia's innocence had excited the compassion of the goddess Diana, who carried her to Taurica, where she intrusted her with the care of her temple, whence she subsequently fled with her brother Orestes and his friend Pylades.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
if-i-je-nia, in Greek legend, the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. When the Greek army assembled at Aulis to set sail for Troy, Agamemnon, so runs the legend, was unlucky enough to kill a stag sacred to Artemis (Diana). The soothsayer Calchas made an announcement that the offense could be appeased only by the sacrifice of Agamemnon's daughter. Agamemnon was plunged in grief, but sent for his daughter on the pretence of marrying her to Achilles. When the virgin was placed on the altar and the fatal knife was in mid air Artemis snatched her away and substituted a hind in her place. The maiden was wrapped in a cloud and conveyed to Tauris, where she became a priestess in the temple of Artemis. See Orestes
1000 Classical Characters (1900)
A daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra . When the Greeks, going to the Trojan war, were detained at Aulis by contrary winds, they were informed by a soothsayer that to appease the gods they must sacrifice Iphigenia to Diana . As the fatal knife was about to be plunged into her, Iphigenia suddenly disappeared, and a goat of great beauty was found in the place where she had stood ready for the sacrifice.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The myth itself has not moved since these accounts were written, and all three retell it much as Euripides did in Iphigenia at Aulis and Iphigenia among the Taurians. What has shifted is emphasis: the older entries treat the last-minute rescue and the substituted hind or "goat of uncommon size" as the story, whereas modern readers are more often pointed to Aeschylus, where Iphigenia really is killed and her death becomes Clytemnestra's motive for murdering Agamemnon. Scholars now also read her as a figure rooted in real cult rather than pure legend: excavation of the sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron in Attica, from the 1940s onward, uncovered the shrine where Iphigenia was worshipped, and some argue she began as an aspect or title of the goddess herself rather than as Agamemnon's daughter. Note one slip in Collier's 1921 text: the fleet sailed from Aulis, not, as printed, "for Aulis."
Written for this edition, 2026.