House of Atreus

House of Atreus, in Greek mythology, royal family of Mycenae named after Atreus, who was elected king by the Mycenaean notables. The ill-fated House of Atreus was a subject mentioned by many ancient Greek writers, including Homer, Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles, Apollonius of Rhodes, and Pindar. The cause of the misfortunes that befell the house was the behaviour of Tantalus, king of Lydia, who offended the gods and was punished forever in Tartarus. His son Pelops was cursed by the charioteer Myrtilus but lived a happy life. Niobe, Tantalus's daughter, was punished by the gods for her arrogance.

Atreus, son of Pelops, and his children and grandchildren felt the full weight of divine wrath. Atreus's brother Thyestes seduced the wife of Atreus. In revenge, Atreus served the boiled flesh of two sons of Thyestes to their father at a banquet. Thyestes' third son, Aegisthus, later killed Atreus to avenge this deed. Of Atreus's sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus were the most famous. The abduction of Menelaus's wife, Helen of Troy, was the cause of the Trojan War. After the war, Menelaus and Helen were reconciled and, following many adventures, returned to Sparta, where they lived happily. Agamemnon, on the other hand, was killed on the day of his triumphant arrival in Mycenae by his wife, Clytemnestra, and Aegisthus, whom she had taken as her lover. Agamemnon's death was avenged seven years later by his children Electra and Orestes. When Orestes was at last acquitted by the Areopagus in Athens of blood guilt in the murder of his mother, the curse on the House of Atreus was finally lifted.