Atreus in the context of "Pylades"

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⭐ Core Definition: Atreus

In Greek mythology, Atreus (Ancient Greek: Ἀτρεύς, [a.trěu̯s] lit.'fearless') was a king of Mycenae in the Peloponnese, the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. His descendants became known collectively as the Atreidae (Ancient Greek: Ἀτρείδαι Atreidai).

Atreus and his brother Thyestes were exiled by their father for murdering their half-brother Chrysippus in their desire for the throne of Olympia. They took refuge in Mycenae, where they ascended to the throne in the absence of King Eurystheus, who was fighting the Heracleidae. Eurystheus had meant for their stewardship to be temporary, but it became permanent after his death in battle, which ended the rule of the Perseid dynasty in Mycenae.

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👉 Atreus in the context of Pylades

In Greek mythology, Pylades (/ˈplədz/; Ancient Greek: Πυλάδης) was a Phocian prince as the son of King Strophius and Anaxibia, the daughter of Atreus and sister of Agamemnon and Menelaus. He is mostly known for his relationship with his cousin Orestes, son of Agamemnon.

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Atreus in the context of Menelaus

In Greek mythology, Menelaus (/ˌmɛnəˈl.əs/; Ancient Greek: Μενέλαος, Menélaos) was a Greek king of Mycenaean (pre-Dorian) Sparta. According to the Iliad, the Trojan War began as a result of Menelaus's wife, Helen, fleeing to Troy with the Trojan prince Paris. Menelaus was a central figure in the Trojan War, leading the Spartan contingent of the Greek army, under his elder brother Agamemnon, king of Mycenae. Prominent in both the Iliad and Odyssey, Menelaus was also popular in Greek vase painting and Greek tragedy, the latter more as a hero of the Trojan War than as a member of the doomed House of Atreus.

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Atreus in the context of Agamemnon

In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (/æɡəˈmɛmnɒn/ ; Ancient Greek: Ἀγαμέμνων Agamémnōn) was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Iphigenia, Iphianassa, Electra, Laodike, Orestes and Chrysothemis. Legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area. Agamemnon was killed upon his return from Troy by Clytemnestra, or in an older version of the story, by Clytemnestra's lover Aegisthus.

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Atreus in the context of Aerope

In Greek mythology, Aerope (Ancient Greek: Ἀερόπη) was a Cretan princess as the daughter of Catreus, king of Crete. She was the sister of Clymene, Apemosyne and Althaemenes. After an oracle said he would be killed by one of his children, Catreus gave Aerope to Nauplius to be sold abroad. Nauplius spared her, and she became the wife of Atreus or Pleisthenes (or both). By most accounts, she is the mother of Agamemnon and Menelaus. While the wife of Atreus, she became the lover of his brother Thyestes, and gave Thyestes the golden lamb that allowed him to become king of Mycenae.

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Atreus in the context of Pelops

In Greek mythology, Pelops (/ˈplɒps, ˈpɛlɒps/; Ancient Greek: Πέλοψ, romanizedPélops) was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus region (Πελοπόννησος, lit. "Pelops's Island"). He was the son of Tantalus and the father of Atreus.

He was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the Olympic Games, the most important expression of unity, not only for the people of Peloponnesus, but for all Hellenes. At the sanctuary at Olympia, chthonic night-time libations were offered each time to "dark-faced" Pelops in his sacrificial pit (bothros) before they were offered in the following daylight to the sky-god Zeus (Burkert 1983:96).

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Atreus in the context of Thyestes

In Greek mythology, Thyestes (pronounced /θˈɛstz/, Greek: Θυέστης, [tʰyéstɛːs]) was a king of Olympia. Thyestes and his brother, Atreus, were exiled by their father for having murdered their half-brother, Chrysippus, in their desire for the throne of Olympia. They took refuge in Mycenae, where they ascended the throne upon the absence of King Eurystheus, who was fighting the Heracleidae. Eurystheus had meant for their lordship to be temporary; it became permanent because of his death in conflict.

The most popular representation of Thyestes is that of the play Thyestes by Seneca in 62 AD. This play is one of the originals for the revenge tragedy genre. Although inspired by Greek mythology and legend, Seneca's version is different.

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Atreus in the context of Pleisthenes

In Greek mythology, Pleisthenes or Plisthenes (Ancient Greek: Πλεισθένης), is the name of several members of the house of Tantalus, the most important being a son of Atreus, said to be the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Although these two brothers are usually considered to be the sons of Atreus himself, according to some accounts, Pleisthenes was their father, but he died, and Agamemnon and Menelaus were adopted by their grandfather Atreus.

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Atreus in the context of Anaxibia

Anaxibia (/ænəkˈsɪbiə/; Ancient Greek: Ἀναξίβια) is the name of six characters in Greek mythology.

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Atreus in the context of Dias (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Dias (Ancient Greek: Δίας) is a name shared by two individuals:

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