Iphigenia

[ if-i-juh-nahy-uh, -nee-uh ]

noun
  1. Classical Mythology. the daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra and sister of Orestes and Electra: when she was about to be sacrificed to ensure a wind to take the Greek ships to Troy, she was saved by Artemis, whose priestess she became.

  2. a female given name.

Words Nearby Iphigenia

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use Iphigenia in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for Iphigenia

Iphigenia

/ (ˌɪfɪdʒɪˈnaɪə) /


noun
  1. Greek myth the daughter of Agamemnon, taken by him to be sacrificed to Artemis, who saved her life and made her a priestess

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Cultural definitions for Iphigenia

Iphigenia

[ (if-uh-juh-neye-uh) ]


In classical mythology, the eldest daughter of Agamemnon and the sister of Electra and Orestes. When the Greek fleet was about to sail to fight in the Trojan War (see also Trojan War), Agamemnon sacrificed Iphigenia to the goddess Artemis to obtain favorable winds. According to some stories, Artemis saved Iphigenia from the sacrifice, and she was later reunited with Orestes.

The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.