Ethereal Chronicles

TANTALUS AND PELOPS

The curse of Atreus is a long tale steeped in tragedy, the stain of Tantalus’ treachery being the first to befall the family. Tantalus was a mortal; a foolish mortal at that, tainted too harshly by his pride. He wished to test the omniscience of the formidable gods, and so he did, though at the cost of morality. Tantalus slaughtered not a stranger, but his own son Pelops, cutting the boy into neat pieces and serving them in a divine feast to the gods. Though many of the gods saw through his ruse, Demeter, lost in sorrow for her stolen daughter, absentmindedly partook, tasting a morsel of Pelops’ shoulder and savouring the strange taste in her mouth. Zeus, however, was overcome by rage, flipping the table so that the grotesque offering scattered across the floor. He condemned Tantalus to the depths of Tartarus where he would endure eternal torment; forever parched in a pool from which he could not drink, and eternally famished beneath a branch laden with fruit just beyond his grasp. Pelops’ life was restored, and Zeus, in divine recompense, replaced the bone of his missing shoulder with gleaming ivory forged in Hephaistos’ workshop.

Pelops grew to win the hand of the beautiful Hippodamia in a chariot race against her father, King Oenomaus. His victory, however, was lined with treachery; he had conspired with his servant, Myrtilus, to sabotage the chariot. The plan had worked, resulting in Oenomaus’ violent death. But Myrtilus orchestrated a betrayal of his own when, one night, he attempted to ravage Hippodamia. Pelops, furious at the violation of his wife, did not hesitate to cast Myrtilus in the dirt and stab him until the ground was spongy with blood. With his dying breath, Myrtilus cursed Pelops and all of his descendants, binding them all to an inescapable legacy of ruin and suffering.

ATREUS AND THYESTES

Now Hippodamia lovingly bore two sons, Atreus and Thyestes. But their bond was tainted with ambition and greed, which separated them from a third half brother, Chrysippus. Knowing that the right to the throne would next befall them, the brothers plotted to murder Chrysippus. Their heinous act led to their inevitable exile to Mycenae, where Atreus took the throne to rule as king with his wife, Aerope.

What Atreus did not suspect was the forbidden passion that Aerope indulged in with his brother Thyestes. When Atreus discovered a golden lamb amongst his flock, he believed it his path to securing his position as king. But Aerope, betraying her husband, gave the lamb to Thyestes, who suggested that whoever possessed the finest lamb would claim the throne. When Thyestes presented the stolen lamb, Atreus, humiliated, was forced to give up his throne.

But Atreus, determined in nature, would not let his position fall so easily, seeking out the aid of the mighty Zeus. The king of the gods, sympathetic towards Atreus, intstructed Atreus to propose a divine test; should the sun rise in the west and set in the east, it would prove Atreus as the rightful king. Atreus presented the challenge to Thyestes, who scoffed at the absurdity of his claim, agreeing without hesitation and thinking nothing more of the matter. The next morning, the sun rose where it had set the night before, ordered by Helios who condemned Thyestes’ disloyalty. The omen proclaimed Atreus’ right as king, and so Atreus ruled once more.

Atreus ruled Mycenae for some time before unease began to worm its way into his heart. Aerope had grown increasingly distant, her bed often cold and empty by morning. So he decided, one night, to follow her. He found her in Thyestes’ arms, shaking and drenched in sweat from the passion that she had long denied him. Disgusted, Atreus devised a plan to enact his revenge.

The following evening, Atreus invited Thyestes to a sumptuous feast; steaming loaves of bread, jugs of dark, fragrant wine and platters piled high with tender, savory meat. Delighted, Thyestes took a seat at the chair opposite his brother, who regarded him with a calm demeanor, eyes masking his betrayal. With unrestrained hunger, Thyestes tore into the feast, stuffing mouthfuls of meat past his lips, groaning with pleasure at the taste. Atreus smiled hollowly, calling for more food to be brought forth. Thyestes reached out again, his satisfaction abruptly curdling into horror as a severed, bloodied hand dropped onto his plate. His trembling gaze fell to the mangled finger, where his son’s ring gleamed cruelly beneath the torchlight. And so, wracked with revulsion and despair, Thyestes was cast into exile for the consumption of human flesh, an unforgivable crime, indeed.

Thyestes seethed in his exile. Desperate for revenge, he consulted an oracle, who promised him that the son he would conceive with his daughter would rise to kill Atreus. Consumed by his rage, Thyestes acted without hesitation, forcing himself upon his daughter despite her cries of protest and horror. From this unnatural act, a son was born; Aegisthus.

AEGISTHUS, AGAMEMNON AND CLYTEMNESTRA

Aegisthus’ mother abandoned him the moment he entered the world, unable to look upon the aftermath of the incestuous shame that had broken her. Left to wail in the wilderness, the infant was discovered by a passing shepherd, who brought him to Atreus. Atreus raised the child with tenderness, treating him as though he were his own. But when Aegisthus eventually reached the cusp of manhood, Atreus felt it his duty to deliver the truth. Aegisthus, in his rage, turned on Atreus, murdering him and fulfilling the prophecy foretold before his birth.

Atreus did not die without heirs. He left behind him three children: Agamemnon, Menelaus and a daughter, Anabixia. Agamemnon married Clytemnestra, while Menelaos wed her sister Helen, whose beauty would spark the uprising at Troy.

Clytemnesta was sickened by the murder of her daughter, and, in Agamemnon’s absence, her grief soured to a desire for vengeance. During the Trojan war, Clytemnestra gave herself to Aegisthus, entertaining an affair. When Agamemnon finally returned from Troy, Clytemnesta feigned affection, preparing for him a warm bath. He sighed in the heat, rubbing the grime of war from his tired body, and when he rose to get out, his wife held out for him a robe. But as he draped it over his damp head, he became entangled, for there was no opening. Clytemnestra, satisfied with her plan, brought the dagger that she had hidden in her clothes towards his chest, stabbing him until the robe was stained crimson. Their son, Orestes, was exiled that same night, no longer an ally but a threat to the reign of Aegisthus.

Orestes grew into a young man, but the hatred he held toward his mother and her lover never waned. Wishing to avenge the death of his father, he sought the direction of Apollo, who encouraged him to carry out the task. Orestes did so with no mercy, but the burden of his actions weighed heavy on his heart in the years that followed. Tormented with guilt, he pleaded to Athena. His nobleness ended the curse that had befallen his family, purging the evil that would never again contaminate his bloodline.