Atreus and Thyestes

During Perseus' reign, Pelops was king of Pisa while his wife Hippodaemia bore him many children, including Pittheus (king of Troezen), Atreus (Ἀτρεύς) and Thyestes (Θυέσης).

Pelops cleverly married most of his daughters to the sons of Perseus: Astydameia to Alcaeüs (Alcaeus), and she bore him Amphitryon; his daughter Anaxo married Electryon, who became mother of Alcmene; and Sthenelus was father of Eurystheus by Pelops' daughter Nicippe. Atreus and Thyestes ruled Midea, a vassal city of Sthenelus.

Pelops banished Atreus and Thyestes when they murdered their half-brother Chrysippus, whom Pelops favoured but Hippodaemia hated. It was most likely their mother who had incited them to murder Chrysippus.

Upon the death of Eurystheus and because of strong ties with the Perseids, Atreus and Thyestes became kings of Mycenae.

The following events are rather confusing; it seemed Thyestes ruled for a short time before Atreus convinced the people allow him to rule instead. Atreus drove Thyestes from Argolis.

Later, Atreus discovered that his wife Aërope or Aerope, the daughter of King Catreus of Crete, was having an affair with his brother.

Pretending to make peace with Thyestes, Atreus invited his brother back to Mycenae. Then Atreus murdered Thysestes' sons and served them to his brother during the feast. Revealing what he done, Atreus had his brother exiled for the second time.

Thyestes went to Delphi and asked the how to avenge his sons' death. The oracle told him to have a child by his own daughter, Pelopia. Thyestes unknowingly raped his own daughter in Sicyon (?) before leaving for Lydia. Pelopia kept the sword that her father had left behind when he had ravished her.

In Mycenae, Atreus divorced his wife Aërope on the ground that she had committed adultery with his brother. Atreus then went to Sicyon, met and fell in love with Pelopia and unknowingly married Thyestes' daughter, who was already pregnant. She bore him Aegisthus (Aigisthos), whom she exposed to die.

But Atreus found the infant and, thinking that the baby belonged to him and Pelopia, he raised the boy himself.

It was around this time that Atreus allied himself with other Peloponnesian kingdoms and encountered the army of the Heraclids (Children of Heracles). Instead of fighting, they agreed that whoever lost a single combat must go into exile for fifty years. Hyllus, son of Heracles, fought against Echemus, king of Arcadia. Echemus killed Hyllus, and the Heraclids went into exile. A successful invasion by the Heraclids didn't arrive until 3 generations later. See Heraclids.

A famine swept through his land, caused by his murder of Thyestes' sons. Atreus was advised by the oracle of Delphi to find his brother and return him to Mycenae. Finding Thyestes, Atreus had his brother thrown into the dungeon. Atreus ordered Aegisthus to murder Thyestes. But Thyestes, recognising his own sword, claimed the sword belonging to him and asked Aegisthus to bring his mother to him.

Pelopia told him how she obtained the sword after her rape. Realising that it was her own father who had raped her, Pelopia killed herself with the sword her son was holding. With his mother's blood on the sword, Aegisthus went to Atreus and claimed that he had murdered Thyestes. Then Aegisthus used the sword, which his mother had just died upon, to kill his uncle Atreus.

Thyestes once again ruled Mycenae, but only for a short time. His brothers' sons by Aërope (known as the Atreides), Agamemnon and Menelaüs (Menelaus), avenged their father's death by murdering Thyestes. Agamemnon and Menelaüs also drove Aegisthus out of Mycenae.

Agamemnon then became king of Mycenae. Despite the fact that Mycenae had reached its zenith during Agamemnon's rule, the curse still followed the House of Atreus. More blood would be shed.