The House of Atreus

House
(architecture)

dwelling place, 
constructed as a home
for one or more
persons.
(history)
Queen Elizabeth II
a royal family
House
of
Windsor
The House of
Atreus
House of Atreus
 The royal family of Mycenea
Tantalus
It began when Tantalus was able to convince the
gods to attend a banquet at his humble abode.
A foolish man, filled with vanity, he decided to
“test” the discrimination of the gods by serving them
non-god food: his son Pelops, killed, cut up, and
cooked.
The gods, infuriated, condemned Tantalus to the
underworld where he would forever be tantalized.
 Tantalus would
forever hunger
and thirst, with
food and drink
just out of reach.
Tantalus had two children, Pelops and
Niobe.
Niobe

Ruled Thebes with Amphion (a son of

Zeus)
Had 14 children, 7 boys and 7 girls
Tried to get the people of Thebes to
worship her over Leto
Niobe bragged about having seven sons
and seven daughters.
Her tears never stopped flowing.
She turned into stone, to match
her heart.
The stone was forever wet with
tears.
All of her children were slaughtered by
Apollo and Artemis.
 Pelops

Regurgitated by
the sickened
Olympians,
Pelops is
reassembled and
brought back to
life.
Pelops married Hippodamia
Pelops cursed by Myrtilus

Pelops, a man now, wanted to marry

Hippodamia. King Oenamaus of Pisa or
Olympia, her father, had killed thirteen
suitors of Hippodamia after beating them in a
chariot race. He did this because he loved her
himself or, alternatively, because a prophecy
claimed he would be killed by his son in law.
Pelops cursed by Myrtilus

Pelops came to ask for her hand, and got

ready to race Oenomaus. Worried about
losing, he went to the seaside and invoked
Poseidon, his old lover. Reminding Poseidon
of their love (“Aphrodite’s sweet gifts”) he
asked Poseidon for help. Smiling, Poseidon
caused a chariot drawn by winged horses to
appear.
 Pelops cursed by Myrtilus

Still unsure of himself, Pelops (or alternatively,

Hippodamia herself) convinced Oenomaus'
charioteer, Myrtilus, a son of Hermes, (by
promising him half of Oenomaus’ kingdom and
the first night in bed with Hippodameia), to help
him win. The night before the race, while
Myrtilus was putting the chariot together, he
replaced the bronze linchpins attaching the
wheels to the chariot axle with fake ones made of
beeswax.
Pelops cursed by Myrtilus

The race started, and went on for a long time.

But just as Oenomaus was catching up to
Pelops and getting ready to kill him too, the
wheels flew off and the chariot broke up.
Myrtilus survived but Oenomaus was
dragged to his death by his horses. Pelops
then killed Myrtilus because he had
attempted to rape Hippodamia. As Myrtilus
died, he cursed Pelops for his betrayal.
Pelops cursed by Myrtilus

This was the source of the curse that destroyed his

family (two of his sons, Atreus and Thyestes killed
a third, Chrysippus, who was his favorite son and
was meant to inherit the kingdom; Atreus and
Thyestes were banished by him together with
Hippodamia, their mother, who then hanged herself)
and haunted future generation of Pelops' children,
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren including
Atreus, Thyestes, Agamemnon, Aegisthus,
Menelaus and Orestes.
Atreus and Thyestes
 exiled by their father for
murdering their half-
brother Chrysippus
 took refuge in Mycenae
 Atreus ascended to the
throne in the absence of
King Eurystheus
 Atreus and Thyestes
 Thyestes falls in love with his brother Aetreus wife
(Aerope)
• Makes her false vows
• Thyestes has 2 children
 Atreus finds out
• Has his brother’s 2 children killed
• Boils them and feeds them to Thyestes
 The gods punish Atreus and curse his family
 The Sons of Atreus

Menelaus and Agamemnon

Menelaus
 King of Sparta
 Husband of Helen
Agamemnon
 One of the sons of
Atreus
 Commander of the
Greek forces at Troy
 His wife is
Clytemnestra
 Children were:
Iphigenia, Orestes, and
Electra
 The Sacrifice of Iphigenia
 Before the war,
Agamemnon sacrifices
Iphigenia in order to get
good winds to sail to
Troy (not willingly;
believed to be a part of
the curse over the
House of Atreus)
 Agamemnon and Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra
becomes outraged
and takes a lover
named Aegisthus
Aegisthus is the son
of Thestyes
Iphigenia among the Taurians
“Would a god
command such
things?”
“It is the men of
this land who are
bloodthirsty and
they lay their own
guilt on the gods.”
 Agamemnon and Clytemnestra

When Agamemnon comes back, he

brings a prophetess named Cassandra
with him
The prophetess makes a prediction that
2 family members will die, including
herself
Agamemnon and Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra
then comes out
admitting that
she killed
Agamemnon
Electra
Aegisthus refused to kill
Electra
Orestes was away
Electra patiently waited for
Orestes’ return
Orestes
 Orestes faces a conflict:
avenging his father’s death
was his duty, but killing his
mother was abhorrent to
the gods
 He kills his mother after
asking for Apollo’s help
 He is assisted by Pylades
A Cycle of Murder
Orestes
Clytemnestra & Aegisthus
kill Agamemnon

Agamemnon

Aegisthus Clytemnestra

Orestes kills
Clytemnestra & Aegisthus

Furies hound Orestes

Orestes and the Furies
 Walks around with
Furies hovering
over him for years
(payment for sin)
Orestes is encouraged to take
revenge by his sister, Electra.
Orestes kills his mother and his
uncle Aegisthus.
Orestes will be tormented by the
Furies…
Until Athena intervenes…
And Apollo purifies him.
 Orestes pleads before 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.
 Orestes pleads before Athena
 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.
Orestes is then
free to go after
Pyrrhus, who
has stolen his
fiancé
Hermione.
Orestes kills Pyrrhus.
Hermione
Orestes finally gets the girl.
The Eumenides

 The Furies
were
transformed
into the
Eumenides
Iphigenia among the Taurians
 Slightly different version of previous story
 Right before Iphigenia is sacrificed, Artemis rescues her
• Artemis takes her to a temple in the land
of the Taurians and makes her a priestess
of her own temple
• The Taurians were a fierce people who
sacrificed to Artemis any Greed found in
their country
Iphigenia among the Taurians
 Atthe temple of Artemis,
she conducts the temple
sacrifices with great
displeasure
 While she does her
duties, the Taurians find
and capture two Greeks;
Orestes and Pylades
Iphigenia among the Taurians
 They are searching for
the image of Artemis, so
that Orestes can lift the
curse on his family
 They are taken to
Iphigenia, to be
sacrificed for Artemis
 Iphigenia among the Taurians
The Story Behind.
She was sacrificed by her
father.
 Her mother joined her in
waiting for her death.
 Iphigenia went to the altar
to die, while Clytemnestra
stayed behind.
 Iphigenia among the Taurians
The Story 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.
 Iphigenia among the Taurians
The Story Behind.
Suddenly, Iphigenia vanished.
On the ground was a deer with
its throat cut.
It was thought to be the work of
Artemis.
She would not have human
blood on her altar.
 Iphigenia among the Taurians
The Story Behind.
Artemis took her to the land
of the Taurians.
She made sure Iphigenia
would be safe.
She was made priestess of
Artemis’s temple.
 Iphigenia among the Taurians
- 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 among the Taurians
 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 it was for,
she told him it’s for Orestes.
 Iphigenia among the Taurians
 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.
Iphigenia among the Taurians
 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.
Iphigenia among the Taurians
 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.
 Fromthe shore, people watched as the wind
and waves stopped and the ship sailed into the
sea.
Iphigenia among the Taurians
 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.
 Fromthe shore, people watched as the wind
and waves stopped and the ship sailed into the
sea.
 Iphigenia among the Taurians

The party sailed back to Greece,

where Iphigenia performed the
wedding of Pylades and Electra.
Orestes could live in peace at last,
having placated the Furies.