the food he served him was Thyestes' own children. However, the king The House of Atreus Greek tragedies emerged in the 6th century BC, and were written for, and performed at, many of the ancient games. The brothers grew up together and played together. against the Athenians and the Heraklids, leaving the reign without a heir Atreus works himself up into a vengeful rage against his twin brother, Thyestes, with whom he had been battling for the throne of Mycenae for some time, and who had also seduced his wife, Aerope (thus putting the paternity of his sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, in some doubt). After to want to reconcile with Thyestes and to bury all the old fights, so he The House of Atreus was a family line from Greek mythology; with the stories of the individual family members being amongst the original Greek Tragedies. Coming soon: free lesson plans and a first-rate resource area. if(MSFPhover) { MSFPnav3n=MSFPpreload("_derived/agamem_en.htm_cmp_jannis110_vbtn.gif"); MSFPnav3h=MSFPpreload("_derived/agamem_en.htm_cmp_jannis110_vbtn_a.gif"); } to the Tantals. golden lamb of her husband. Thyestes, who was { to the throne. But Atreus couldnât let it go at that. But the story cannot brought up as his own child, and sent him to kill his father. There are several different accounts of Atreus’s feud with Thyestes. But father and son recognized each other and The Pride of Lions: The Story of the House of Atreus, by Norma Johnston (2002, unfortunately out of print right now, but maybe your library can find it). Collectively, his descendants are known as Atreidai or Atreidae. Thyestes was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia.He was the father of Pelopia and Aegisthus.His three sons by a naiad, who were killed by his twin brother Atreus, were named Aglaus, Orchomenus, and Calaeus.. Thyestes and Atreus were exiled by their father for murdering their half-brother Chrysippus in their desire for the throne of Olympia. (parseInt(navigator.appVersion) >= 3 )) || Thyestes just ran out of the palace and never came back again. We know of eight Greek dramatists who wrote on it, including Sophocles and Euripides, and six Roman dramatists other than Seneca himself (see Tarrant, Seneca’s Thyestes, 40–43). son, he prepared a really horrible revenge for his brother. Thyestes had an affair with Atreus' wife, Aerope, and was banished from Argos by Atreus. Sign me up! of the king, Klytaemnestra and Helena, and Menelaos got the throne of (Dude.) This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. uncle and took him to Mycenae. (((navigator.appName == "Netscape") && When they grew up, Atreus married the daughter of the King of Mycenae, and so he soon became the King of Mycenae himself. Okay, sure, Atreus was provoked into his awful deed. Finally, the sons of Atreus Agamemnon and Menelaos managed to find their Retching, Thyestes cursed Atreus and his family, and rushed from the room. Atreus got to be King of Mycenae again, and he banished Thyestes from the kingdom. still accepted the bet. Thyestes believed him. Then they went into exile in Mycenae, where their brother-in-law held the throne. with this his own revenge. (She is the grand-daughter of King Minos, of Crete.) Sparta after the king's death. Thyestes sleeps with his brother, Atreus’, wife, Aerope. Experts write all our 2500 articles (and counting! This way Thyestes managed to get the power We were thinking of Questions, and Quick, and Quality. He did, however, have one more son, Aegisthus, who eventually avenged his dead brothers. favorite son. escape from the revenge of their father after the murder, they both left to Mycenae, where the Atreus vowed to sacrifice his best lamb to Artemis. Thyestes thought, âNobody can make the sun run backward!â so he agreed. to take it away from Atreus. She agreed to steal the golden lambskin and give it to Thyestes. All descendants of Atreus are collectively known as Atreidae. A discussion by a specialist about the life of Aeschylus and why his plays are written the way they are. There are several different accounts of Atreus’s feud with Thyestes. Agamemnon So Aigisthos told Atreus he had murdered Thyestes, and Menelaos found protection in Sparta with the king if(MSFPhover) { MSFPnav2n=MSFPpreload("_derived/pelops_en.htm_cmp_jannis110_vbtn.gif"); MSFPnav2h=MSFPpreload("_derived/pelops_en.htm_cmp_jannis110_vbtn_a.gif"); } However, he did find his son Aigisthos, who he grew up also as his own Atreus was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia.His brother was Thyestes, he had several other siblings, Nicippe (mother of Eurystheus, by Sthelenus), Astydamia (mother of Amphitryon, by Alcaeus), Eurydice, (mother of Alcmene by Electyron), Alcathous (father of Periboa, and grandfather of Ajax the Greater) and Pittheus (father of Aethra, who married Aegeus and was mother of Theseus, by Poseidon). There, Atreus locked him up and after he The Oresteia, by Aeschylus, translated by Robert Fagles (Penguin Classics). These two fought bitterly over the kingship of Argos (also known as Mycenae). There (parseInt(navigator.appVersion) >= 4 ))); Thyestes sparks the feud by sleeping with his brother's wife, stealing his golden fleece, and sneakily taking the throne of Mycenae from him. Similarly, Atreus’ insistence on supervising the human sacrifice and getting every detail “correct” evinces an obsession with control (and is chillingly similar to the obsessive attention to detail by modern serial killers). Weâd love to talk! Historical Webpage for the Youth of Europe", «ΝΕΟΛΑΙΑ»/Δράση 3.2 «Μελλοντικό lands, and Atreus got foretold that this situation would just finish if Thyestes and Oresteia are two stories that follow each other whereby the Thyestes story precedes the Oresteia story. The story of his family—the House of Atreus—is virtually unrivaled in antiquity for complexity and corruption. Just $1.00, with daily blog posts! Atreus ruled there first, but Thyestes seduced his wife and with her assistance stole a ram with a golden fleece that was the city's ancient symbol of power; he then took over the kingship and banished Atreus. Good question! One day Atreus found a Chrysippos was the Atreus, Thyestes and Chrysippus Edit. thrown into the sea with tied hands and feet by her husband, who finished envious of his brother and wanted the power as much as him, so he decided Certainly he should have sacrificed that one to Artemis, but he didnât want to sacrifice such a beautiful thing, so he killed the lamb and kept the golden lambskin in a box instead. But Thyestes was jealous. Where Atreus has total self-control, and even control of others, he has rejected honestas outright, seeking to outdo crime with further crime. Near by, Atreus' wife, who was still Thyestes's lover, was But Atreusâ wife, the Queen, was secretly in love with Thyestes. they married the daughters stories about Atreus and Thyestes are of unique cruelty in the Greek Fagles is a great translator! Since 1994, Quatr.us Study Guides has offered free history and science articles to keep you connected to the latest discoveries in world history. The brothers grew up together and played together. More great articles/no distracting ads? Atreus, Thyestes and Chrysippus Pelops and Hippodamia had two sons: Atreus and Thyestes. We were thinking of the four corners of the world - four Quarters. Open to your sponsorships, link exchanges, or just friendly talk about history. So he started to search him, but he could not find When Atreus kills Thyestes' sons, cooks them, and serves them to their unknowing father for dinner, Atreus may just win the award for most thoroughly messed up dude ever. Atreus had murdered them and cooked them and served them to him for dinner. Atreus got then the power of all Mycenae. When he died, Atreus finagled control of the kingdom, but Thyestes seduced Atreus' wife, Aerope, and stole Atreus' golden fleece. golden lamb and he understood it as a divine sign. Thyestes thought that his brother had gone completely crazy, but he In revenge, Atreus killed Thyestes' sons and served them to their father at a banquet Derived forms of Thyestes … Aeschylus, by John Herington (1986). But then it turned out that Thyestes had it, so he got to be King. // -->