Atreus

 

(ā'trēəs) , in Greek mythology, the son of Pelops and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. He vied with his brother Thyestes for the throne of Mycenae. When Thyestes seduced Atreus' wife, Aerope, in order to attain the golden ram whose possession signified kingship, Atreus, in retaliation, murdered the sons of Thyestes and served them to him at a feast. Thyestes thereupon laid a curse upon the house of Atreus. Thyestes' son Aegisthus, who was not involved in the mass murder, killed Atreus and restored the kingdom to Thyestes.

In Greek mythology, King Atreus (Greek: Ατρεύς, Atreús) (fearless) of Mycenae was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia and father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, his descendants are known as Atrides. Atreus and his twin brother, Thyestes, were exiled by their father for having murdered their half-brother, Chrysippus, in their desire for the throne of Olympia. They took refuge in Mycenae, where they ascended to the throne upon the absence of King Eurystheus, who was fighting the Heracleidae. Eurystheus had meant for their lordship to be temporary; it became permanent due to his death in conflict.

Atreus vowed to sacrifice his best lamb to Artemis. Upon searching his flock, however, Atreus discovered a golden lamb which he gave to his wife, Aerope, to hide from the goddess. She gave it to her lover, Thyestes (also Atreus' brother), who then convinced Atreus to agree that whoever had the lamb should be king. Thyestes produced the lamb and claimed the throne.

Atreus retook the throne using advice he received from Hermes. Thyestes agreed to give the kingdom back when the sun moved backwards in the sky, a feat that Zeus accomplished. Atreus retook the throne and banished Thyestes.

Atreus then learned of Thyestes' and Aerope's adultery and plotted revenge. He killed Thyestes' sons and cooked them, save their hands and feet. He served Thyestes his own sons and then taunted him with their hands and feet.

An oracle then advised Thyestes that, if he had a son with his own daughter (Pelopia), that son would kill Atreus. Thyestes did so and the son, Aegisthus, did kill Atreus. However, when Aegisthus was first born, he was abandoned by his mother, ashamed of her incestuous act. A shepherd found the infant Aegisthus and gave him to Atreus, who raised him as his own son. Only as he entered adulthood did Thyestes reveal the truth to Aegisthus, that he was both father and grandfather to the boy. Aegisthus then killed Atreus.

According to some sources, Atreus was the father of Plisthenes. More commonly though, they were brothers.

Hittite sources

There is a possible reference to Atreus in a Hittite text known as the 'Indictment of Madduwatta'. The indictment describes several military clashes between the Greeks and the Hittites which took place around the late 15th or early 14th centuries BCE. The Greek leader was a man called Attarsiya, and some scholars have speculated that Attarsiya (or Attarissiya) was the Hittite way of writing the Greek name Atreus^[1].

Atreidae

The plural word Atreidae or Atreidai (meaning literally "those of Atreus") refers to Agamemnon and Menelaus, sons of Atreus— in English, the Atreides. The term is also used for their children and (less often) for their further descendants.

In the Dune series, Frank Herbert tells the story of Leto, Paul and Leto II of House Atreides, the enemies of the Harkonnen clan. The Atreides claim to trace their ancestry back to the original Atreides of the Trojan War. In one of the prequel novels by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson, the Play The Oresteia is performed in Castle Caladan, during the reign of Duke Paulus Atreides.

House of Atreus

Tantalus

The House of Atreus begins with Tantalus. Tantalus initially held the favor of the gods but decided to cook his own son Pelops and feed him to the gods as a test of their omniscience. Most of the gods, as they sat down to dinner with Tantalus, immediately understood what had happened, knew the nature of the meat they were served, were appalled and did not partake. However, Demeter, who was distracted because of the abduction by Hades of her daughter Persephone, obliviously ate Pelops's shoulder. The gods threw Tantalus into the underworld, where he spends eternity standing in a pool of water, which drains whenever he attempts to slake his thirst, and beneath hanging fruit, which lifts out of his reach. The gods brought Pelops back to life, replacing the bone in his shoulder with a bit of ivory, thus cursing the family forever afterwards.

Niobe

Tantalus also had a daughter, Niobe, who married the king of Thebes, Amphion, and had 7 daughters and 7 sons. She foolishly boasted that she was superior to the goddess Leto, whose only children were Artemis and Apollo, and because of this she refused to worship Leto. Leto sent Artemis, who killed Niobe's 7 daughters, and Apollo, who killed her 7 sons. Finally, Zeus turned Niobe to stone as she mourned her children.

Pelops and Hippodamia

Pelops married Hippodamia, after winning a chariot race against her father by arranging for the sabotage of his would-be-father-in-law's chariot - resulting in his death. The versions of the story differ here - the sabotage was arranged by a servant of the king, Myrtilus, who was killed by Pelops for one of the following reasons: 1) because he had been promised the right to take Hippodamia's virginity, which Pelops retracted, or 2) because he attempted to rape her, or 3) because Pelops did not wish to share the credit for the victory. As Myrtilus died, he cursed Pelop and his line, further adding to the house's curse.

Atreus, Thyestes and Chrysippus

Pelops and Hippodamia had two sons, Atreus and Thyestes, who (depending on myth version) murdered Chrysippus, their step-brother. Because of the murder, Hippodamia, Atreus, and Thyestes were banished to Mycene, where Hippodamia is said to have hung herself.

Atreus vowed to sacrifice his best lamb to Artemis. Upon searching his flock, however, Atreus discovered a golden lamb which he gave to his wife, Aerope, to hide from the goddess. She gave it to her lover, Thyestes (also Atreus' brother), who then convinced Atreus to agree that whoever had the lamb should be king. Thyestes produced the lamb and claimed the throne.

Atreus retook the throne using advice he received from Hermes. Thyestes agreed to give the kingdom back when the sun moved backwards in the sky, a feat that Zeus accomplished. Atreus retook the throne and banished Thyestes.

Atreus then learned of Thyestes' and Aerope's adultery and plotted revenge. He killed Thyestes' sons and cooked them, save their hands and feet. He served Thyestes his own sons and then taunted him with their hands and feet. Thyestes responded by asking an oracle what to do, who advised him to have a son by his daughter, Pelopia, who would then kill Atreus. However, when Aegisthus was first born, he was abandoned by his mother who was ashamed of her incestuous act. A shepherd found the infant Aegisthus and gave him to Atreus, who raised him as his own son. Only as he entered adulthood did Thyestes reveal the truth to Aegisthus, that he was both father and grandfather to the boy. Aegisthus then killed Atreus, although not before Atreus had two sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus.

Agamemnon married Clytemnestra, and Menalaus married Helen her sister (known later as Helen of Troy).

Agamemnon, Iphigenia, Clytemnestra, Aegisthus, Orestes and Electra

Prior to sailing off to war against Troy, Agamemnon angered the goddess Artemis. Artemis punished Agamemnon after he killed a sacred deer in a sacred grove and boasted he was a better hunter than she. She stilled the wind so that his fleet could not sail. A prophet named Calchas told him that in order to appease Artemis, Agamemnon would have to sacrifice one of his daughters, Iphigenia. He sent word home for her to come (in some versions of the story on the pretense that she was to be married to Achilles). After doing the deed, Agamemnon's fleet was able to get under way.

While he was fighting the Trojans, his wife Clytemnestra, infuriated by the murder of her daughter, began an affair with Aegisthus. When Agamemnon returned home he brought with him a new concubine, the doomed prophetess Cassandra. These events culminated with Clytemnestra and Aegisthus murdering Agamemnon and Cassandra.

Agamemnon's only son, Orestes, was quite young when his mother killed his father. He was sent into exile. (In some versions he was sent away by Clytemnestra to avoid having him present during the murder of Agamemnon; in others Electra herself rescued the infant Orestes and sent him away to protect him from their mother.)

Goaded by his sister Electra, Orestes swore revenge. He knew it was his duty to avenge his father's death, but saw also that in doing so he would have to kill his mother. He was torn between avenging his father and sparing his mother. 'It was a son's duty to kill his father's murderers, a duty that came before all others. But a son who killed his mother was abhorrent to gods and to men.'

When he prayed to Apollo, the god advised him to kill his mother. 'And Orestes knew that he must work out the curse of his house, exact vengeance and pay with his own ruin.' After Orestes murdered Clytemnestra, he wandered the land with guilt in his heart. After many years, with Apollo by his side, he pleaded to Athena. No descendant of Atreus had ever done so noble an act and 'neither he nor any descendant of his would ever again be driven into evil by the irresistible power of the past.' Thus Orestes ended the curse of the House of Atreus.

This story is the major plot line of Aeschylus's trilogy The Oresteia.

Demonstration of Greek Society

The story of Iphigenia illustrates the Greek belief in the omnipotence of their gods. The arrogance of Tantalus had to be avenged and so the gods curse the House of Atreus with internal feuding. Even then the story of the House of Atreus climaxes with the death of Iphigenia because her father, Agamemnon, tries to be greater than the goddess Artemis. This story demonstrates the Greek concept that people can never be as powerful as the gods and that this kind of arrogance leads to tribulation.

Spoken-word myths - audio files

Atreus myths as told by story tellers
1. Crime and banishment of Atreus: the Laius and Chrysippus myth, read by Timothy Carter
Bibliography of reconstruction: Pindar, Olympian Ode, I (476 BCE); Apollodorus Library and Epitome 3.5.5 (140 BCE); Hyginus, Fables, 85. Chrysippus; 243. Women who Committed Suicide (1st c. CE); Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.5.5-10, 6.20.7 (c. 160 - 176 CE); Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, Book XIII, 602 (c. 200 CE); Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks, ii, 34, 3 - 5 (150 - 215 CE)

Sources

1. ^ Bryce, Trevor R., 'The Trojan War: Is There Truth behind the Legend?', Near Eastern Archaeology, Vol. 65, No. 3. (Sep., 2002), p. 193

• Apollodorus, Epitome II, 10-16;
• Euripides, Electra.

See also

• Treasure of Atreus
• House Atreides The fictional Great House of Frank Herbert's Dune who claim to be descendants of this line.

External links

• The House of Atreus: A Note on the Mythological Background to the Oresteia

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