Ah, the web. Joy -
Mycenae was founded by Perseus, son of Zeus and
Danae, and the Perseid dynasty provided many of
its rulers. After the last of them, Eurystheus (famous
for the labors he imposed on Herakles), the
Mycenaeans chose Atreus, son of Pelops and
Hippodamia, as their ruler.
But Atreus hated his brother, Thyestes, so much
that he offered Thyestes his own children to eat,
thereby incurring the wrath of the gods. Thyestes
pronounced a fearful curse on Atreus and his
progeny; Atreus's heir, the renowned and energetic Agamemnon, was murdered on his
return from the Trojan War by his wife, Clytemnestra, and her lover, Aegisthus
(Thyestes's surviving son).
Orestes and his sister Electra, the children of Agamemnon, took revenge for this
murder, and Orestes became king of Mycenae.
During the rule of his son, Tisamenus, the descendants of Herakles returned and
claimed their birthright by force, thus satisfying the wrath of the gods and the curse of
Atreus. |
