'Mankind Dame': John Studley's early modern Clytemnestra.

This article analyzes John Studley’s 1566 English translation of Seneca’s *Agamemnon*, focusing on the character of Clytemnestra as a representation of androgynous queenship that combines traditionally masculine and feminine traits to explore the complexities of female political power in early modern England. Studley’s Clytemnestra expands the Latin source through vernacular poetic imagery and masculine-coded language, portraying her as both courageous and eloquent yet dangerously tyrannical, reflecting contemporary debates about the legitimacy and nature of women’s rule during the succession crisis under Queen Elizabeth I. The play engages with the legal and cultural concept of the queen’s “two bodies”—the female body natural and the male body politic—highlighting the tensions inherent in female sovereignty. By linking Clytemnestra to figures like the Amazons and drawing parallels to queens such as Mary Stuart, Studley’s translation offers a nuanced commentary on gender duality and power, illustrating early modern anxieties and negotiations surrounding female monarchy.