Atreus

Atreus was a king of Mycenae in Greek mythology, a son of Pelops and Hippodamia and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus, the leaders of the Greek army at Troy. He quarrelled with his brother Thyestes over the kingship and finally punished him by serving him a meal made from his own children. Because of this, the descendants of Pelops were said to be cursed, and Atreus died at the hands of Thyestes’ son Aegisthus.

Family

Atreus and Thyestes were sons of Pelops (Euripides, Orestes 11–13; Hyginus, Fabulae 88). Apollodorus lists Pittheus, Atreus and Thyestes among the sons of Pelops (Apollodorus, Epitome 2.10). Atreus’ wife was Aerope, the daughter of Catreus (Apollodorus, Epitome 2.10). Their sons were Agamemnon and Menelaus, who are called Atreidae, “sons of Atreus,” throughout Homer (Iliad 1.7). Another tradition makes them the sons of Plisthenes, a son of Atreus, by Aerope, so that Atreus would be their grandfather (Apollodorus, Library 3.2.2); Aeschylus calls the family “the whole race of Pleisthenes” (Agamemnon 1602).

Exile and the Kingship

Pelops had another son, Chrysippus, whom Laius had carried off (Apollodorus, Library 3.5.5). According to Thucydides, Atreus was banished by his father because of the death of Chrysippus, and Pausanias says that Hippodamia withdrew to Midea in Argolis because Pelops was angry with her over it (Thucydides 1.9.2; Pausanias 6.20.7).

Thucydides says that Eurystheus, who was Atreus’ sister’s son, entrusted Mycenae and its government to the exiled Atreus when he set out on the expedition in which he was killed by the Heracleidae (Thucydides 1.9.2). In Apollodorus, an oracle told the Mycenaeans to choose a Pelopid as king, and they sent for Atreus and Thyestes (Apollodorus, Epitome 2.11).

The Golden Lamb

Atreus had once vowed to sacrifice the finest of his flock to Artemis. When a golden lamb appeared, he did not keep the vow; he strangled the lamb and hid it in a box. His wife Aerope, who loved Thyestes, gave the lamb to him (Apollodorus, Epitome 2.10–11). When the question of the kingdom came up, Thyestes told the assembly that the kingdom should belong to the man who owned the golden lamb; Atreus agreed, Thyestes produced it, and he was made king (Epitome 2.11). Euripides alludes to the same story: Thyestes persuaded Atreus’ wife, and carried the marvel, the golden lamb, to his house (Euripides, Electra 699–746).

The Sun Turns Back

Zeus then sent Hermes to Atreus and told him to arrange with Thyestes that Atreus should be king if the sun went backward. Thyestes agreed, and the sun set in the east. This proved that Thyestes was a usurper, and Atreus took the kingdom and banished Thyestes (Apollodorus, Epitome 2.12; compare Euripides, Electra 699–746). Pausanias saw the grave of Thyestes near Mycenae with a stone ram on it, because Thyestes won the golden lamb by seducing his brother’s wife (Pausanias 2.18.1).

The Feast of Thyestes

Atreus later learned of the adultery. He sent a herald to Thyestes proposing a reconciliation and, when Thyestes returned, killed his sons Aglaus, Callileon and Orchomenus, who had taken refuge at the altar of Zeus, cut them up, boiled them and served them to Thyestes without the hands and feet. After Thyestes had eaten, Atreus showed him the extremities and drove him out of the country (Apollodorus, Epitome 2.13). Other writers name only two sons, Tantalus and Plisthenes (Hyginus, Fabulae 88). In Aeschylus, Aegisthus describes how Atreus gave his father a meal of his children’s flesh, and how Thyestes, recognising it, fell back with a cry and kicked over the table, cursing the whole house of Pleisthenes (Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1583–1602). Cassandra sees the children in the palace holding their own flesh in their hands (Agamemnon 1217–1222).

The Death of Atreus

Thyestes asked an oracle how to take revenge and was told to have a son by his own daughter. He did so, and fathered Aegisthus by Pelopia. When Aegisthus grew up and learned that he was the son of Thyestes, he killed Atreus and gave the kingdom back to Thyestes (Apollodorus, Epitome 2.14). In Hyginus, Atreus had married Pelopia without knowing she was Thyestes’ daughter, and raised the exposed Aegisthus as his own son; when he sent Aegisthus to kill the captured Thyestes, the sword Aegisthus carried revealed the truth (Hyginus, Fabulae 88). Homer says only that Atreus, dying, left the sceptre to Thyestes, who left it to Agamemnon (Iliad 2.101–108).

Atreus Sources

Homer, Iliad 1.7, 2.100–108; Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1217–1222, 1583–1602; Euripides, Orestes 11–16 and Electra 699–746; Thucydides 1.9.2; Apollodorus, Library 3.2.2, 3.5.5 and Epitome 2.10–14; Pausanias 2.18.1, 6.20.7; Hyginus, Fabulae 88.

See Also: Pelops, Hippodamia, Aerope, Agamemnon, Menelaus, Trojan War, Thyestes, Aegisthus, Pelopia