Skip to main content

Atreus

Atreus was a king of Mycenae in Greek mythology, son of Pelops and Hippodamia. He was married to Aerope and fathered a girl, Anaxibia, and two boys, Agamemnon and Menelaus, two of the protagonists of the Trojan War. All descendants of Atreus are collectively known as Atreidae.
Atreus and his brother Thyestes murdered their half-brother Chrysippus, in order to acquire the throne of Olympia. However, for their act, they were exiled and sought refuge in Mycenae, where their mother, also banished from Olympia, hanged herself. There, he ascended on the throne, but soon afterwards, Thyestes tricked him with the help of Aerope (who was his lover) and took the throne for himself. Atreus managed to retake the throne with the help of Hermes and Zeus, banishing Thyestes.
When Atreus found out that his wife had an affair with his brother, he decided to seek revenge. He killed Thyestes' sons and fed them to him. Thyestes asked an oracle for advice, and he was told to father a child with his daughter; that child would then avenge him. Thyestes slept with his daughter, Pelopia, and had a child, Aegisthus. Aegisthus was abandoned by his ashamed mother and was found by a shepherd, who then gave him to Atreus. When Aegisthus became an adult and was told the truth by Thyestes, he killed Atreus. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gorgon

In Greek mythology, a Gorgon  is a mythical creature portrayed in ancient Greek literature. While descriptions of Gorgons vary across Greek literature and occur in the earliest examples of Greek literature, the term commonly refers to any of three sisters who had hair made of living, venomous snakes, as well as a horrifying visage that turned those who beheld her to stone. Traditionally, while two of the Gorgons were immortal, Stheno and Euryale, their sister Medusa was not and she was slain by the demigod and hero Perseus. The large Gorgon eyes, as well as Athena 's "flashing" eyes, are symbols termed "the divine eyes" by Gimbutas (who did not originate the perception); they appear also in Athena's sacred bird, the owl. They may be represented by spirals, wheels, concentric circles, swastikas, firewheels, and other images. Anyone who would gaze into their eyes would be turned to stone instantly. Essential Reads: Engaging Books You Can't Miss...
Post a Comment
Read more

Scylla And Nisus

MINOS was the first king to control the Mediterranean Sea, which he cleared of pirates, and in Crete ruled over ninety cities. When the Athenians had murdered his son Androgeus, he decided to take vengeance on them, and sailed around the Aegean collecting ships and armed levies. Some islanders agreed to help him, some refused. Siphnos yielded to him by the Princess Arne, whom he bribed with gold; the gods changed her into a jackdaw which loves gold and all things that glitter. He made an alliance with the people of Anaphe, but rebuffed by King Aeacus of Aegina and departed, swearing revenge. Aeacus then answered an appeal from Cephalus to join the Athenians against Minos . b. Meanwhile, Minos was partying the Isthmus of Corinth. He laid siege to Nisa, ruled by Nisus the Egyptian, who had a daughter name Scylla. A tower stood in the city, built by Apollo [and Poseidon ?], an at its foot lay a musical stone which, if pebbles were dropped upon from above, rang like a lyre-because Ap...
Post a Comment
Read more

Paris And Helen

WHEN Helen, Leda’s beautiful daughter, grew to womanhood at Sparta in the palace of her foster-father Tyndareus, all the princes of Greece came with rich gifts as her suitors, or sent their kinsmen to represent them. Diomedes, fresh from his victory at Thebes, was there with Ajax, Teucer, Philoctetes, Idomeneus, Patroclus, Menestheus, and many others. Odysseus came too, but empty-handed, because he had not the least chance of success-for, even though the Dioscuri, Helen’s brothers, wanted her to marry Menestheus of Athens, she would, Odysseus knew, be given to Prince Menelaus, the richest of the Achaeans, represented by Tyndareus’s powerful son-in-law Agamemnon. b. Tyndareus sent no suitor away, but would, on the other hand, accept none of the proffered gifts; fearing that his partiality for any one prince might set the others quarrelling. Odysseus asked him one day: ‘If I tell you how to avoid a quarrel will you, in return, help me to marry Icarius’s daughter Penelope?’ ‘It...
Post a Comment
Read more