[Greek heroic] Atreus, king of Mycene, was the son of Pelops and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. He was the grandson of Tantalus, whose family was blighted by curses from the gods for five generations. The misfortunes of the house of Atreus were favorite subjects for Greek tragic dramatists. Atreus vowed to sacrifice the finest animal in his flock to Artemis; however, when he discovered a golden lamb in the flock, he reneged on the promise and hid the lamb away. At the same time his wife, Aerope, was having an affair with his brother, Thyestes. Aerope secretly gave the lamb to Thyestes, and Thyestes then got Atreus to agree that the possessor of the golden lamb should be king. Thyestes produced the lamb and seized the throne. Atreus was determined to be king again. On the advice of Hermes, he got Thyestes to agree to yield the throne when the sun ran backwards in its course. Zeus then made the sun set in the east, and Atreus became king once more, banishing Thyestes for good measure. ...
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ATREO. ATREUS
