According to Sophocles's Ajax, after Achilles had fallen in battle Agamemnon and Menelaus award Achilles armor to Odysseus. All three wrote plays that depended on thorough familiarity with a central myth, the House of Atreus: Aeschylus' Agamemnon, Libation Bearers (Choephoroi), and Eumenides. The House of Atreus is named for the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus, famous figures from the stories of the Trojan War, but the family line is normally traced back to Tantalus, and then on through a further four generations, until the time of Orestes, a son of Agamemnon. Cassandra or Kassandra (/ k s n d r /; Ancient Greek: , pronounced , also , and sometimes referred to as Alexandra) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be believed. Agamemnon and Menelaus both became very powerful kings. In Book One, following one of the Achaean Army's raids, Chryseis, daughter of Chryses, one of Apollo's priests, is taken as a war prize by Agamemnon. The Chorus Character Analysis in Agamemnon | LitCharts "[5], Agamemnon was a descendant of Pelops, son of Tantalus. The Tragic Dynasties Mycenae: The House Of Atreus - CliffsNotes . London: Spottiswoode and Company, 1873. Collard, Christopher and Martin Cropp (2008a). Pindar, Pythian Ode 11.17ff; Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1379ff, Eumenides 631ff; Sophocles, Electra 95ff, 530; Euripides, Electra 8ff, Orestes 25ff; Seneca, Agamemnon 875ff; Apollodorus, Epitome 6.23; Hyginus, Fabulae 117; Servius on Virgils Aeneid 11.268; Dictys of Crete, Journal of the Trojan War 6.2; John Tzetzes on Lycophrons Alexandra 1099, 1108, 1375. Odysseus is forced to stop acting mad in order to save his son and joined the assembled Greek forces. His first act of ingratitude was to take these divine foods and feed them to his mortal friends. With their best warrior out of the fray and the war already in its ninth year, the Greeks suffered a setback in morale. Because of this, the Greek heroes did not all arrive home at the same time.[48]. There was also a dark side to Agamemnons power and wealth. Agamemnons brutal murder also forms the background of Sophocles Electra (probably 410s BCE). The Chorus doesn't tell us, but we get the hint. An excellent article. Lots of research into the Atreus story. 174, 3267. Agamemnon is a character in William Shakespeare's play Troilus and Cressida, set during the Trojan War. he slew Atreus and forced Atreus's sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, into exile. In television, Agamemnon has been portrayed by Yorgo Voyagis in The Odyssey (1997), Rufus Sewell in Helen of Troy (2003), and Johnny Harris in Troy: Fall of a City (2018). You start on a single block in the void, and every time you break it, you get a random block or item. Homer, Odyssey 11.45456, trans. . A Visual Tour (Video), Behind the Scenes of Ancient Greece: Exploring the Daily Life of its People (Video), Trove of Ancient Artifacts Discovered in Paestum Include Dolphin Statuette of Eros, TheiaGreek Goddess of Light, the Sun, the Moon, and Wisdom, Greeces East Attica In Antiquity: Playground Of Gods, Heroes And Heroines, Genghis Khan: The Man Who Forged the Most Feared Empire in History (Video), Mighty Queens: 8 Royal Powerhouses Who Shaped History (Video), Ashurbanipal: The Most Powerful Man on Earth (Video), How Leonardo da Vinci Made a "Satellite" Map in 1502 (Video), The Enigma of Sweden's Great Lake Beast (Video), Mystery of the Latin Inscribed Artifacts Found in Arizona (Video), Haunting Tales: Exploring 4 of the Most Famous Ancient Ghost Stories. After all, mythology is storytelling at its finest. Homer, Odyssey 3.130ff, 3.276ff; Nostoi Argument; Apollodorus, Epitome 6.1; etc. William Ellery Leonard. Agamemnon married Tyndareus daughter Clytemnestra after murdering her first husband, a man called Tantalus, along with her newborn child. At the time of Atreus' death, he had two surviving sons: Agamemnon and Menelaus. Once Thyestes had finished eating, Atreus told him he had just eaten his own children. [26] He buries him, honored with a tomb and a shrine to Aphrodite Argynnis. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. The Agamemnon: Family Feud for the Ages Essay Example Homer: Agamemnon is one of the main characters of the Iliad, but he also appears a few times in the Odyssey (eighth century BCE). Clytemnestra | Greek mythology | Britannica What's your favourite Fairy Tales (and their possible origins), about How Ancient Greeks Kept Ruthless Narcissists from Capturing their Democracy, about 700,000-Year-Old Tools Found in Greece Rewrite History, about Top 10 Ancient Greek Athletes and their Sporting Achievements, about Mothers Lives in Ancient Greece Were Not Easy But Celebrations of Their Love Have Survived Across the Centuries, about Is This What Alexander the Great Really Looked Like? Hesiod, Catalogue of Women frag. There, in Greek fashion, the Furies took Orestes to trial with Apollo as defense counsel and Athena as judge. London: Methuen, 1929. [37] But in one tradition (perhaps even the more common tradition), Artemis took pity on the girl and rescued her by replacing her with a deer (or a bull) as she stepped onto the altar. Source: CC BY SA 3.0, Aeschylus, Agamemnon, Libation-Bearers, Eumenides. According to the Iliad, Agamemnon mustered the largest individual army of any of the Greeks who sailed against Troy, with one hundred ships. Homer, Iliad 2.56977, trans. [56] There were at least two sites that claimed to house and pay heroic honors to Agamemnons remains: Agamemnons traditional kingdom of Mycenae[57] and the Laconian town of Amyclae, just southeast of Sparta. Homer, Odyssey 11.411, trans. Orestes learned that his mother has killed his father and, encouraged by Electra and the god Apollo, he vowed revenge. In its precursor, the Iliad, Agamemnon was known as the King of Mycenae, who waged war on Troy to take his brother Menelaus's wife, Helen. In order to recruit Odysseus, who is feigning madness so as to not have to go to war, Agamemnon sends Palamedes, who threatens to kill Odysseus' infant son Telemachus. Top Image: Atreus and Thyestes. By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Agamemnon's family history had been tarnished by murder, incest, and treachery, consequences of the heinous crime perpetrated by his ancestor, Tantalus, and then of a curse placed upon Pelops, son of Tantalus, by Myrtilus, whom he had murdered. Tryphiodorus: Agamemnon plays a role in the Fall of Troy, a poem of the fourth or third century BCE. The Christ And The Buddha: How Can You Explain the Uncanny Similarities? [42], In the days that followed, the battle continued to rage. These familial relations are the key factors in understanding the plays themselves. Kapach, Avi. Whats your favorite ancient site or museum virtual tour? The grandfather of Atreus was Tantalus, a son of Zeus who had the good fortune to banquet with the gods, dining on nectar and ambrosia. Hyginus: The Fabulae, a Latin mythological handbook (first or second century CE), includes sections on the myths of Agamemnon. Agamemnon - Mythopedia But the horrific actions of their ancestorsfrom the villainous Tantalus to their own father Atreushad brought a curse on them and their family, a curse that would haunt Agamemnon and Menelaus for the rest of their lives. Thus, he sent three of Achilles friendsOdysseus, Ajax the Greater, and Phoenixto apologize to Achilles on his behalf. [5] He was also the commander-in-chief of the entire expedition. One Block Challenge Family - Minecraft Modpacks - CurseForge ( Public Domain ). Agamemnon laid claim to a number of important epithets in Greek literature. For Agamemnon's genealogy see, Grimal, p. 526, Table 2, and p. 534, Table 13. [16] In the Iliad itself, he is shown to slaughter hundreds more in Book Eleven during his aristea, loosely translated to "day of glory", which is the most similar to Achilles' aristea in Book Twenty-one. HOUSE OF ATREUS IN GREEK MYTHOLOGY - Greek Legends and Myths Amid the destruction and devastation, Agamemnon captured Cassandra, daughter of King Priam of Troy and recipient of a complicated blessing/curse from the god Apollo: she and all her descendants would all be able to perfectly tell the future, but no one would ever believe them. Tantalus punishment gave us the English word tantalizing., Tantalus banquet for the gods. I am sure you are familiar with his legend which states that he was born in a manger surrounded by shepherds. ",[22] thus explaining Aegisthus' action as justified by his father's curse). This curseusually known as the Curse of Atreushaunted Agamemnon throughout his life; according to many traditions, it led him to sacrifice his daughter and ultimately die at the hands of his wife and her lover. King Tantalus was beloved by the gods, who came to dine with him at his home on earth. The Iliad tells the story of the quarrel between Agamemnon and Achilles in the final year of the war. The fortunes of Agamemnon have formed the subject of numerous tragedies, ancient and modern, the most famous being the Oresteia of Aeschylus. In works of art, there is considerable resemblance between the representations of Zeus, king of the gods, and Agamemnon, king of men. Above him is a vine blooming with fruit that the wind moves out of reach whenever he reaches up to take a bite. But Patroclus pressed his luck too far and was ultimately killed by Hector. [6] According to the common story (as told in the Iliad and Odyssey of Homer), Agamemnon and his younger brother Menelaus were the sons of Atreus, king of Mycenae, and Aerope, daughter of the Cretan king Catreus. Atreus was the mythical Greek king of Mycenae.He is perhaps best known for being the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus, two heroes of the Trojan War, as well as for the terrible curse placed upon his family. His chief fault was his overwhelming haughtiness; an over-exalted opinion of his position that led him to insult Chryses and Achilles, thereby bringing great disaster upon the Greeks.[10]. Dares of Phrygia: Agamemnon appears in the History of the Fall of Troy (sixth century CE), which claims to be a firsthand account of the fall of Troy, originally composed by a Trojan priest. This article is about a character in Greek mythology. And at the altar marked her grieving sire. Butler, Harold Edgeworth & Barber, Eric Arthur, eds. The Curse of the House of Atreus is one of the most well known and disturbing family curses in all of Greek mythology. Thyestes fathered Aegisthus with his own daughter, Pelopia, and this son vowed gruesome revenge on Atreus' children. Atreus then kills Thyestes' son and cooks him into a meal which Thyestes eats, and afterwards Atreus taunts him with the hands and feet of his now dead son. In the end, the Greeks did heal Telephus (using shavings from Achilles spearthe wounder described by the oracle). The Djoser Step Pyramid, the oldest pyramid in the world, stands as a testament to the brilliance of ancient Egyptian civilization. Hesiod, Catalogue of Women frag. Menelaus's wife, Helen of Troy, runs away with Paris, ultimately leading to the Trojan War. FAMILY CURSES : AGAMEMNON, CLYTEMNESTRA & AEGISTHUS (MURDER) Orestes, Clytemnestra and Erinys, Paestan red-figure amphora C4th B.C., The J. Paul Getty Museum Klytaimestra (Clytemnestra) and her lover Aigisthos (Aegisthus) conspired to murder Agamemnon and loyal members of his court upon the king's return from Troy. He would stop at nothing to win the glory of conquering Troy, even sacrificing his own daughter Iphigenia in exchange for a favorable wind for his fleet. Homer, Odyssey 3.193ff, 4.529ff, 11.404ff; Nostoi Argument; Pausanias, Description of Greece 2.16.6. Pindar: Agamemnon features in some of Pindars poems, most notably Pythian Ode 11 (474/454 BCE), which describes his murder at the hands of his wife, Clytemnestra. Her death appeases Artemis and the Greek army set out for Troy. The Lion Gate in Mycenae (erected ca. The ancient civilization of Greece is a historical period that has long been a subject of fascination and intrigue. Ovid, Fasti 4.73; Virgil, Aeneid 7.723, 10.425; Servius on Virgils Aeneid 7.723. Eventually, Agamemnon managed to reassemble the Greeks. The Greek Myths. In the legends of the Peloponnesus, Agamemnon was regarded as the highest type of a powerful monarch, and in Sparta he was worshipped under the title of Zeus Agamemnon. Were building the worlds most authoritative, online mythology resource, with engaging, accessible content that is both educational and compelling to read. In some stories (such as Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides) Clytemnestra was already married to Tantalus, and Agamemnon murders him and the couple's infant son before marrying Clytemnestra. After the Trojans took the horse into their city, the heroes inside stole out under cover of night and opened the gates to the rest of the army. Accessed September 27, 2021. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D9%3Aentry%3Dagamemnon-bio-1. One of my many productions of Greek drama at the University of Akron was the three-act HOUSE OF ATREUS. Kernyi, Kroly. Thyestes later conspires with Atreus's wife, Aerope, to supplant Atreus, but they are unsuccessful. Dictys of Crete, Journal of the Trojan War 1.1; John Tzetzes on Homers Iliad 1.122; scholia on Euripides Orestes 5. Prag, A. J. N. W. The Oresteia: Iconographic and Narrative Tradition. (Video), History Erased: The 6 Most Heartbreaking Archaeological Destructions, The Djoser Step Pyramid: Architectural Marvel of Egypt (Video), 11 Mysterious Human Species That Most People Dont Know Existed, The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts, Where are Ashkenazi Jews from? Summary & Analysis Further Study Summary Lines 680-913 Summary After delivering the unhappy news about Menelaus, the Herald departs. Oresteia - Wikipedia This modpack uses OneBlock Reborn by Gamerz_Riot. During this period, Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus took refuge with Tyndareus, King of Sparta. London: Penguin, 1955. With the help of the royal servant Myrtilus, Pelops rigged the kings chariot to fall apart. ), Euripides: The Bacchae and Other Plays, London, Penguin, 2005, pp. After Hector fell, the Trojan War dragged on a bit longer, with both sides suffering important losses (e.g., Penthesilea, Memnon, and Paris on the Trojan side, and Achilles and Ajax the Greater on the Greek side). Prompted four visits to Greece and more productions. They were Agamemnon and Menelaus, the Greek princes who brought war to Troy after the Trojan prince Paris ran away with Helen, the wife of Menelaus. Tantalus Between approximately 300 BC and 450 AD, there existed a nomadic group known as the Xiongnu. Ancient Origins 2013 - 2023Disclaimer- Terms of Publication - Privacy Policy & Cookies - Advertising Policy -Submissions - Contact us. [24], Athenaeus tells a tale of how Agamemnon mourns the loss of his friend or lover Argynnus, when he drowns in the Cephisus river. Agamemnon, the most powerful of the Greek kings, was made commander-in-chief.[34]. The next day, he accepted Agamemnons gifts and set out against the Trojans. According to the accounts given by Pindar and the tragedians, Agamemnon is slain in a bath by his wife alone, after being ensnared by a blanket or a net thrown over him to prevent resistance. A Trojan priestess, captured by Agamemnon and carried to Argos as his slave and mistress. Helen and Paris by Charles Meynier (19th century). Agamemnon, was the first of a trilogy of plays ( the Oresteia ), performed back to back during the Great Dionysia of 458BC; it focused on two generations of 'The Cursed House of Atreus'. The Anger of Achilles by Jacques-Louis David (1819). Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Quintus of Smyrna: Agamemnon features in the fourth-century CE epic Posthomerica, which describes the end of the Trojan War. . Note that Lucretius calls Agamemnons daughter Iphianassa, not Iphigenia.