THE HOUSE OF ATREUSMelissa Klem

FAMILY

They were one of the most famous families in Mythology.

Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Iphigenia, Orestes, and Electra.

Agamemnon’s brother was Menelaus, who was married to Helen.

Ill-fated house Misfortune caused by

King Tantalus Family was cursed

TANTALUS AND NIOBE

Tantalus was Zeus’s Son Had his son Pelops killed, boiled in a cauldron and

served to the gods. The gods figured out what he had done.

They set him in a pool in Hades. Whenever he went to take a drink, the water

dissappeard. Over the pool was a fruit tree. When he would try to grab a fruit, the wind would

blow them higher.

Niobe, his daughter, suffered a worse fate. Married to Amphion. Built a wall around Thebes, where both ruled.

Mistakenly thought she could deceive the gods. Told the people of Thebes to worship her Gods heard and killed seven sons and seven

daughters

Her tears never stopped flowing. Turned into stone, to match her heart. Stone was forever wet with tears.

ATREUS AND THYESTES

Pelops’s sons Thyestes fell in love with Atreus’s wife. Tricked her into making false marriage vows.

Atreus found out, killed Thyestes’ sons and fed them to him.

Thyestes realized this after he ate them. Crime was not avenged in their lifetime but his

children and grandchildren suffered.

AGAMEMNON AND HIS CHILDREN

The first story told was that he was killed by his wife’s lover.

Is now a story about vengeance, tragic passions, and doom.

Agamemnon killed Iphigenia and vengeance waited for him when he returned from fighting in the Trojan War.

Clytemnestra had taken a lover while he was gone. She heard of his return but did not get rid of the

man. She welcomed him.

They entered the palace

Clytemnestra emerged, stained with blood.

She had killed Agamemnon.

Aegisthus, her lover and son of Thyestes, came out after her.

Vengeance could not reach Atreus, so his son had to suffer for him.

They did not think about the fact that their terrible deed would bring about more evil.

Orestes, Agamemnon’s son, knew he must kill Aegisthus to avenge his father.

However, he knew he must also kill his mother. Electra waited patiently for her brother to come.

Orestes and Pylades tricked Clytemnestra into letting them into the palace.

Once in, they would attack. Orestes killed Aegisthus first.

For a moment, he doubted killing his mother, but knew he must obey Apollo, who told him to carry out the deed.

He killed Clytemnestra. After, he thought he mother had sent shaped of

women to follow him wherever he went.

He became a wanderer, constantly surrounded by these shapes of women.

He had not returned to his country in years. He learned that no crime was beyond atonement.

He was sent to Athens by Apollo to plead his case to Athena.

Orestes told Athena he was guilty of the murder, by the felt no guilt.

These words were never spoken by any family members of the House of Atreus before.

Athena accepted his plea. Orestes was aquitted. With this, the evil that surrounded the house

vanished. Orestes left a free man. The curse on the house had ended.

IPHIGENIA

Sacrificed by her father. Her mother joined her in waiting for her death. Iphigenia went to the altar to die, while

Clytemnestra stayed behind.

A man came running to Clytemnestra, saying Iphigenia had not been killed.

No one knows exactly what happened. At the altar, the priest was about to sentence her

when anguish came over every man in the room.

Suddenly, Iphigenia vanished. On the ground was a dear with its throat cut. It was thought to be the work of Artemis. She would not have human blood on her altar.

Artemis took her to the land of the Taurians. She made sure Iphigenia would be safe. She was made priestess of Artemis’s temple.

Orestes and Pylades came to the country. They were told by Apollo’s oracle to go. When they reached the temple, they realized they

couldn’t do anything until the night.

Iphigenia met the men and questioned them. She did not realized that one of the men was

Orestes. She gave Pylades a letter to deliver. When asked who is was for, she told them Orestes.

The message was that she was alive. She wanted Orestes to free her. Pylades handed the letter to Orestes right there. At first she did not believe it, but he convinced her

that he was her brother.

She came up with a plan to escape the country. She told the King that the two men were tainted,

and she was going to take them to the shore to purify them.

Once on the beach the three would get on a ship. It was almost as if the plan was going to work when

a wind came and blew their ship back to land.

The King was furious and rushed to put the three to death.

Athena appeared overhead and told him to let the ship go.

The king agreed. Poseidon calmed the waters. From the shore, people watched as the wind and

waves stopped and the ship sailed into the sea.

WORKS CITED

Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 1942.

Statue and Temple from the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum. Flickr.com. 1 July 2008.

Temple & statues from the Elgin Marbles at the British Museum. Flickr.com. 1 July 2008.