{"id":2181,"date":"2026-07-31T17:45:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:45:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/classics-courses-syllabi\/house-of-atreus-outline\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T17:45:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T17:45:31","slug":"house-of-atreus-outline","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/classics-courses-syllabi\/house-of-atreus-outline\/","title":{"rendered":"Curse of the House of Atreus Outline"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"2181\" class=\"elementor elementor-2181 elementor-bc-flex-widget\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-vw9zbbg elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"vw9zbbg\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-zmsndd2\" data-id=\"zmsndd2\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-jklb7cl elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"jklb7cl\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The\nFive Generations of the House of Atreus, and its Curse<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-oxlkb5u elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"oxlkb5u\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>by\nDr. Janice Siegel<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-kf3jd6m elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"kf3jd6m\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Tantalus (son\nof Zeus)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-70vhjqi elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"70vhjqi\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>He thought he could outwit\nthe gods by tricking them into eating human flesh (his own son Pelops). Tantalus\nis punished for his arrogance for eternity in Hades: tortured by thirst, he\nstands in water that reaches only to his chin; tortured by hunger, he must look\nat but not touch boughs of fruit dangling in front of him. Thus the word\n&#8220;tantalizing&#8221; describes something we want but cannot have. It is said\nthat none of the gods ate of the flesh except Demeter, who was preoccupied with\nthoughts of her missing daughter (the tale of Hades abducting Persephone). When\nthe child was reassembled (gods can do that), the shoulder eaten by Demeter was\nreplaced by one of ivory.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-vsbbmjs elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"vsbbmjs\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Pelops (son of\nTantalus)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4scgjoo elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4scgjoo\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Once grown, Pelops decided to\nvie for the hand of the beautiful Hippodamia. According to rules set by her\nfather, Oenomaus, hopeful suitors had to stake their life on beating him in a\nchariot race. Pelops cheated with the help of Myrtilus, Oenomaus&#8217; charioteer.\nThey replaced the wooden pin holding his front wheel on with one of wax. Several\nlaps into the race, the wax was melted by the friction of the wheel and fell\noff, causing a crash in which Oenomaus was killed. In exchange for\n&#8220;rigging&#8221; the race, Pelops had promised Myrtilus that he could sleep\nwith Hippodamia first, but he refused to honor the agreement after he won the\ngirl. Myrtilus tried to rape Hippodamia and as Pelops threw him off a cliff,\nMyrtilus levied a curse against his house. This story is told in the pedimental\nsculpture of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia. Pictures soon. As its mythical\nfounder, Pelops gives his name to the southern part of Greece, the Peloponnesus\n(&#8220;island of Pelops&#8221;).<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-hkmvwu9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"hkmvwu9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Atreus and\nThyestes (sons of Pelops)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7yx0tho elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7yx0tho\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>In addition to other friction\nbetween them (they had vied for the throne of Mycenae), Thyestes had an affair\nwith Atreus&#8217; wife, Aerope. In response, Atreus killed and cooked Thyestes&#8217;\nchildren and served them to him at a banquet (under the pretense of friendly\nreconciliation). Thyestes asked the Oracle of Delphi (Temple of Apollo) advice\non how to even the score. He was told that he could only wreak vengeance on his\nbrother through a son born of his own daughter. He disguised himself and raped\nhis Pelopia, his daughter. She bore Aegisthus. Aegisthus killed Atreus and\nrestored Thyestes to the throne of Mycenae. (In his telling of this tale,\nAeschylus uses a different version &#8211; he says that Thyestes escaped from Atreus&#8217;\nfeast with the infant Aegisthus tucked under his arm, and this infant grew up to\navenge his father&#8217;s mistreatment by killing Atreus&#8217; son, Agamemnon.)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-u8yjrs8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"u8yjrs8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Agamemnon and\nMenelaus (sons of Atreus)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-qloyifd elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"qloyifd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Hustled out of Mycenae as\nchildren, they escaped Thyestes&#8217; wrath, came back later when they were grown and\nwith the help of Tyndareus King of Sparta, expelled Thyestes. Each married a\ndaughter of Tyndareus (Agamemnon = Clytemnestra; Menelaus = Helen). Agamemnon\nbecame King of Mycenae; Menelaus, Sparta. The unified Greek forces declared war\nagainst Troy because their prince, Paris, abducted Helen. Agamemnon, leader of\nthe Greek forces, sacrificed his own daughter, Iphigenia<i>,<\/i> to appease the\ngoddess Artemis, so that the fleet could sail to Troy. While Agamemnon is away,\nClytemnestra invites Aegisthus to rule Argos with her. Upon Agamemnon&#8217;s\ntriumphant return from Troy, Clytemnestra and Aegisthus murder him for his\nvarious crimes against them.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-vlberx1 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"vlberx1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Orestes and\nElectra (children of Agamemnon)<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9iqxxy9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9iqxxy9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>They murder Aegisthus and\ntheir mother, Clytemnestra, for the crime of murdering their father, Agamemnon.\nWe will see how this cycle of blood-guilt and vengeance ends in the <u>Oresteia<\/u>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-putdw4g elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"putdw4g\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>top<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2167,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2181","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2181\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.hsc.edu\/drjclassics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}