House Atreides
Encyclopedia
House Atreides is a fictional noble family
from the Dune universe
created by Frank Herbert
. One of the Great Houses of the feudal interstellar empire known as the Imperium, its members play a role in every novel in the series. It is suggested within the series that the root of the Atreides line is the mythological Greek House of Atreus. In Homer's Iliad
, the brothers Agamemnon
and Menelaus
are dubbed "the Atreides," or, sons of Atreus.
House Atreides rules the water planet
of Caladan
, employing noble spirit, just ways and virtue in its endeavors. Also proficient in war, the family has even developed an Atreides battle language (in the 1984 film version
, this language is presented as a system of hand signals; the novels also include a spoken language). The colors of House Atreides are green and black, and their symbol is a red hawk
.
(1965), House Atreides is led by the Duke Leto Atreides I
. His concubine
is the Bene Gesserit
Lady Jessica; she had been instructed by her order to bear only female children as part of their breeding program, but out of love for Leto, she bore him a son: Paul Atreides
. This seemingly innocuous choice would drastically change the course of mankind forever.
A millennia-long feud exists between the Atreides and the decadent House Harkonnen
, who have essentially bought their status while the Atreides are related to the Emperor by blood. The fact that an Atreides once had a Harkonnen banished for cowardice in ancient times is still bitterly remembered some 10,000 years later. The Atreides are lured to the desert planet
Arrakis
under the pretense of taking over the spice-mining operation there. The spice is the most valuable commodity in the universe — it makes interstellar travel possible, extends life and can unlock dormant abilities in the Bene Gesserit — and Arrakis is its only known source. But Leto and his family are caught in a plot to destroy them, orchestrated by the Baron Harkonnen and Padishah Emperor
Shaddam Corrino IV
himself, who is threatened by Leto's rising power and influence.
An attack on the Atreides, assisted by a Harkonnen traitor
in their midst and the Imperial Sardaukar
soldier-fanatics, results in Leto's death. Paul and Jessica flee into the desert and are presumed dead; they find a place with the native Fremen
, who believe Paul is their prophesied messiah, the Mahdi. Jessica gives birth to Leto's daughter, Alia
; whom the Bene Gesserit call an Abomination
because Jessica, while still pregnant, underwent the ritual spice agony, thus inadvertently awakening Alia to full consciousness in the womb. Paul himself decides to go through the spice agony to test whether he may be the Kwisatz Haderach
, and succeeds. As a result of Jessica's earlier choice to have a son, the goal of the Bene Gesserit breeding program; the Kwisatz Haderach was born a generation early, went unnoticed and lived outside of the Sisterhood's control. Soon Paul is able to amass an army of Fremen, their fierce fighting skills enhanced by training in the Bene Gesserit weirding way. He and his Fremen concubine Chani have a son they call Leto, but the boy is killed in infancy as the battle for Arrakis intensifies. Now called Muad'Dib
, Paul leads the Fremen forces to victory over the Emperor's Sardaukar on Arrakis, and by threatening the destruction of all spice production manages to depose Shaddam and ascend the throne in his place.
(1969), Emperor Paul remains in a political marriage with Shaddam's eldest daughter, Princess Irulan, and has yet to beget another child with his true love Chani. His rule is threatened by a conspiracy spun by the other major powers in the Imperium: the Bene Gesserit, the Spacing Guild
, the Bene Tleilax
, Irulan herself and even some of the Fremen. All have reasons to resent his stranglehold on the universe and the jihad
it has unleashed. Paul lets these plots play out and manages to keep his Empire intact, but not without a price; he is blinded by the explosion of a stone burner, and Chani dies giving birth to his only heirs, the twins Leto II
and Ghanima. Paul disappears into the desert, in accordance with Fremen custom for the blind, leaving Alia as Imperial Regent and guardian of his son and daughter.
In Children of Dune
(1976), Leto II and Ghanima are uncertain of the future. Nine years old but mature beyond their years due to their also being pre-born, the pair maneuver around the ever-increasing machinations of their aunt Alia, who is slowly but surely succumbing to Abomination. Alia herself is wary of the Lady Jessica, returned from Caladan with questionable intentions. The ego-memory of the evil Baron Harkonnen
, Jessica's secret father, seduces Alia from within, promising his help in fighting off the multitude of ancestral personalities struggling for control. Soon, however, he himself has possessed her. Alia's subsequent attempt to eliminate her mother — as well as a Corrino
plot to assassinate the twins — sets off a Fremen rebellion and puts the religion of Muad'Dib in turmoil. As Leto's eyes are opened to the Golden Path that will save mankind, a mysterious blind man known as The Preacher appears to undermine Alia and her priests in the eyes of the people. He, of course, is Paul Atreides. Leto sacrifices his humanity and, for the sake of the survival of the human race, chooses to accept transformation into a sandworm
, the fearsome giant beasts of Arrakis which actually control the spice cycle. He delves into a pool of sandtrout, which form a living skin around him; his resulting body is superhuman, becoming nearly invulnerable, capable of tremendous speed and possessing the strength of many men. Paul is killed, but Leto's ascension is now guaranteed. Alia, fully fallen into madness, manages to regain control of her body long enough to leap out a high window to her death. Leto weds his sister Ghanima in a political union to consolidate power; unable to father children, he instead intends for her to take Farad'n Corrino
as a mate. This union will produce a long bloodline, which Leto will manipulate in his own breeding program to achieve the goals of his Golden Path.
(1981). Known as the Tyrant, he has dominated humanity to a breaking point; he himself has become a full man-worm hybrid, immense in size and physically more sandworm than human. His breeding program has resulted in the birth of Siona Atreides (daughter of Moneo), who possesses unique genes that make her invisible to prescience. Ready to let the final stage of his Golden Path play itself out, Leto allows Siona's plan to assassinate him to unfold. He dies, leaving Siona and the latest Duncan Idaho
ghola continue the Atreides line and pass on Siona's precious genes.
navigation machines have caused billions of people to leave the settled worlds, striking off into unknown space in a diaspora
known as the Scattering. This resettlement was one of Leto's goals for mankind's ultimate survival: the exponential growth in human numbers and colonized planets, combined with the dissemination of Siona's genes which render their bearer invisible to prescience, ensuring humanity's survival by making it impossible for any one force to track down every human in the universe or to control them all through prescience (which forces the future to happen according to the vision of the prescient).
In Heretics of Dune
(1984), one descendant of Siona Atreides is Miles Teg
, renowned commander of the military forces of the Bene Gesserit
, who bears a remarkable resemblance to his ancestor, Duke Leto I. Teg's secret daughter is Darwi Odrade (a variant on Atreides), a Bene Gesserit sister who eventually becomes Mother Superior of the Sisterhood during their ongoing struggle with the fierce Honored Matres
.
1985's Chapterhouse: Dune finds the Tleilaxu Master Scytale
a prisoner of the Bene Gesserit; one of his secret bargaining chips is a nullentropy capsule containing cells carefully and secretly collected by the Tleilaxu for millennia. These cells include those of Paul Atreides, Duke Leto Atreides and Leto II, Lady Jessica, Chani and other legendary figures.
The prequel
trilogy
Prelude to Dune
(1999–2001) by Brian Herbert
and Kevin J. Anderson
chronicles the upbringing of young Leto I prior to the events of Dune. Son to Duke Paulus Atreides (born 10,089 A.G.) and Lady Helena (born 10,095 A.G.), Leto makes a lifelong friend in Rhombur Vernius, son of Paulus' own longtime ally, Earl Dominic of the doomed House Vernius
of Ix
.
Icy and religious Lady Helena, daughter of Count Ilban of House Richese
, is unhappy with the alliance; Richese and Ix are rivals in the production of complex machinery, and she believes the Ixians often flout the sacred proscriptions of the Butlerian Jihad
, which prohibit the creation of machines "in the likeness of the human mind." Helena plots against her husband, hoping to rule through her son; she arranges for a Salusan bull to be drugged to make it stronger and more savage, knowing that skilled bullfighter Paulus is set to meet it in the ring. Paulus is killed, and soon Leto's suspicions of his mother's involvement are proven correct. Preferring to have her executed, he instead banishes her to the Sisters of Isolation, knowing it is in the best interest of the people that no one ever knows of her treachery.
, a son of Atreus
, in Greek mythology
. The descendants of Atreus are called "Atreides" (plural "Atreidai", Latinized as "Atreidae") in the Greek language
. This Royal House
included many significant figures in Greek myth.
In the Brian Herbert
/Kevin J. Anderson
Legends of Dune
novels, the Atreides family line goes back to the Greeks
on Old Earth. Vorian Atreides
was the thirteenth son of the Titan
Agamemnon, one of the twenty Titans who conquered the Old Empire, and was a Human Trustee
in Omnius' Machine Empire. He began the family house of the Atreides and was Muad'Dib
's ancestor.
Nobility
Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...
from the Dune universe
Dune universe
Dune is a science fiction franchise which originated with the 1965 novel Dune by Frank Herbert. Considered by many to be the greatest science fiction novel of all time, Dune is frequently cited as the best-selling science fiction novel in history...
created by Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert
Franklin Patrick Herbert, Jr. was a critically acclaimed and commercially successful American science fiction author. Although a short story author, he is best known for his novels, most notably Dune and its five sequels...
. One of the Great Houses of the feudal interstellar empire known as the Imperium, its members play a role in every novel in the series. It is suggested within the series that the root of the Atreides line is the mythological Greek House of Atreus. In Homer's Iliad
Iliad
The Iliad is an epic poem in dactylic hexameters, traditionally attributed to Homer. Set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek states, it tells of the battles and events during the weeks of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles...
, the brothers Agamemnon
Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Electra and Orestes. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area...
and Menelaus
Menelaus
Menelaus may refer to;*Menelaus, one of the two most known Atrides, a king of Sparta and son of Atreus and Aerope*Menelaus on the Moon, named after Menelaus of Alexandria.*Menelaus , brother of Ptolemy I Soter...
are dubbed "the Atreides," or, sons of Atreus.
House Atreides rules the water planet
Water planet
Water planet may refer to:* Issues concerning planetary habitability* Water is a fictional planet in the television series Lexx* Water is a fictional planet in the 3D CG animated television series Shadow Raiders* Ocean planet-See also:...
of Caladan
Caladan
Caladan is a fictional planet in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert, first mentioned in the 1965 novel Dune.-Overview:Caladan, the third planet of Delta Pavonis, is the ancestral fiefdom of House Atreides, who have ruled it for twenty-six generations, from the ancient Castle Caladan...
, employing noble spirit, just ways and virtue in its endeavors. Also proficient in war, the family has even developed an Atreides battle language (in the 1984 film version
Dune (film)
Dune is a 1984 science fiction film written and directed by David Lynch, based on the 1965 Frank Herbert novel of the same name. The film stars Kyle MacLachlan as Paul Atreides, and includes an ensemble of well-known American and European actors in supporting roles. It was filmed at the Churubusco...
, this language is presented as a system of hand signals; the novels also include a spoken language). The colors of House Atreides are green and black, and their symbol is a red hawk
Hawk
The term hawk can be used in several ways:* In strict usage in Australia and Africa, to mean any of the species in the subfamily Accipitrinae, which comprises the genera Accipiter, Micronisus, Melierax, Urotriorchis and Megatriorchis. The large and widespread Accipiter genus includes goshawks,...
.
The original series
Dune
At the time of the original novel DuneDune (novel)
Dune is a science fiction novel written by Frank Herbert, published in 1965. It won the Hugo Award in 1966, and the inaugural Nebula Award for Best Novel...
(1965), House Atreides is led by the Duke Leto Atreides I
Leto Atreides I
Duke Leto Atreides I is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He features in the novel Dune by Frank Herbert and in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson....
. His concubine
Concubinage
Concubinage is the state of a woman or man in an ongoing, usually matrimonially oriented, relationship with somebody to whom they cannot be married, often because of a difference in social status or economic condition.-Concubinage:...
is the Bene Gesserit
Bene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit are a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. The group is described as an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and...
Lady Jessica; she had been instructed by her order to bear only female children as part of their breeding program, but out of love for Leto, she bore him a son: Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides
Paul Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Paul is a prominent character in the first two novels in the series, Dune and Dune Messiah , and returns in Children of Dune . The character is brought back as two different gholas in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
. This seemingly innocuous choice would drastically change the course of mankind forever.
A millennia-long feud exists between the Atreides and the decadent House Harkonnen
House Harkonnen
House Harkonnen is a powerful noble family in Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. The Harkonnens are featured prominently in the original 1965 novel Dune, and are also a major presence in both the Prelude to Dune and Legends of Dune prequel trilogies by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
, who have essentially bought their status while the Atreides are related to the Emperor by blood. The fact that an Atreides once had a Harkonnen banished for cowardice in ancient times is still bitterly remembered some 10,000 years later. The Atreides are lured to the desert planet
Desert planet
A desert planet is a single-biome planet on which the climate is mostly desert, with little or no natural precipitation. Desert planets are known to exist; Mars is often considered a prime example. Indeed, many terrestrial planets would be considered desert planets by this definition...
Arrakis
Arrakis
Arrakis — informally known as Dune and later called Rakis — is a fictional desert planet featured in the Dune series of novels by Frank Herbert. Herbert's first novel in the series, 1965's Dune, is popularly considered one of the greatest science fiction novels of all time, and it is...
under the pretense of taking over the spice-mining operation there. The spice is the most valuable commodity in the universe — it makes interstellar travel possible, extends life and can unlock dormant abilities in the Bene Gesserit — and Arrakis is its only known source. But Leto and his family are caught in a plot to destroy them, orchestrated by the Baron Harkonnen and Padishah Emperor
Padishah Emperor
Padishah Emperor is the title given to the hereditary rulers of the Old Empire in the science fiction Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Original series:...
Shaddam Corrino IV
Shaddam Corrino IV
Shaddam Corrino IV is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is Padishah Emperor of the known universe in Herbert's 1965 novel Dune. Shaddam's accession to the throne is chronicled in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.Born...
himself, who is threatened by Leto's rising power and influence.
An attack on the Atreides, assisted by a Harkonnen traitor
Wellington Yueh
Dr. Wellington Yueh is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is primarily featured in the 1965 novel Dune, but also appears in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
in their midst and the Imperial Sardaukar
Sardaukar
The Sardaukar are a fictional fanatical army from Frank Herbert's Dune universe, primarily featured in the 1965 science fiction novel Dune, as well as Brian Herbert and Kevin J...
soldier-fanatics, results in Leto's death. Paul and Jessica flee into the desert and are presumed dead; they find a place with the native Fremen
Fremen
The Fremen are a group of people in the fictional Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. First appearing in the 1965 novel Dune, the Fremen inhabit the desert planet Arrakis and are based on the desert-dwelling Bedouin and Kalahari Bushmen. In Herbert's novels, Arrakis is the sole known source...
, who believe Paul is their prophesied messiah, the Mahdi. Jessica gives birth to Leto's daughter, Alia
Alia Atreides
Alia Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Introduced in the first novel of the series, 1965's Dune, the character was originally killed in Herbert's first version of the manuscript. At the suggestion of Analog magazine editor John Campbell, Herbert kept...
; whom the Bene Gesserit call an Abomination
Abomination (Dune)
Abomination, in the context of the Dune series written by Frank Herbert, refers to one who acquires full consciousness as a fetus as a result of being exposed to the ritual spice agony, gaining all their ancestral memories before birth .The spice agony ritual involves a Bene Gesserit acolyte drinking...
because Jessica, while still pregnant, underwent the ritual spice agony, thus inadvertently awakening Alia to full consciousness in the womb. Paul himself decides to go through the spice agony to test whether he may be the Kwisatz Haderach
Kwisatz Haderach
In Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe, Kwisatz Haderach is a term which refers to a prophesied messiah and superbeing. In the series, the Bene Gesserit, a matriarchal secret society, hope to create a male who can survive the deadly ritual spice agony that changes a capable female acolyte into...
, and succeeds. As a result of Jessica's earlier choice to have a son, the goal of the Bene Gesserit breeding program; the Kwisatz Haderach was born a generation early, went unnoticed and lived outside of the Sisterhood's control. Soon Paul is able to amass an army of Fremen, their fierce fighting skills enhanced by training in the Bene Gesserit weirding way. He and his Fremen concubine Chani have a son they call Leto, but the boy is killed in infancy as the battle for Arrakis intensifies. Now called Muad'Dib
Muad'Dib
Muad'Dib is a desert mouse within Frank Herbert's Dune universe. It is also the name for a constellation of stars and is taken as a name by the first novel's hero, Paul Atreides.-Dune glossary:...
, Paul leads the Fremen forces to victory over the Emperor's Sardaukar on Arrakis, and by threatening the destruction of all spice production manages to depose Shaddam and ascend the throne in his place.
Dune Messiah
Over a decade later in Dune MessiahDune Messiah
Dune Messiah is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, the second in a series of six novels. It was originally serialized in Galaxy magazine in 1969. The American and British editions have different prologues summarizing events in the previous novel...
(1969), Emperor Paul remains in a political marriage with Shaddam's eldest daughter, Princess Irulan, and has yet to beget another child with his true love Chani. His rule is threatened by a conspiracy spun by the other major powers in the Imperium: the Bene Gesserit, the Spacing Guild
Spacing Guild
The Spacing Guild is an organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. With its monopoly on interstellar travel and banking, the Guild is a balance of power against the Padishah Emperor and the assembled noble Houses of the Landsraad...
, the Bene Tleilax
Bene Tleilax
The Bene Tleilax or Tleilaxu are an extremely xenophobic and isolationist society in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. Genetic manipulators who traffic in biological products such as artificial eyes, gholas, and "twisted" Mentats, the Tleilaxu are a major power in the Imperium...
, Irulan herself and even some of the Fremen. All have reasons to resent his stranglehold on the universe and the jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
it has unleashed. Paul lets these plots play out and manages to keep his Empire intact, but not without a price; he is blinded by the explosion of a stone burner, and Chani dies giving birth to his only heirs, the twins Leto II
Leto Atreides II
Leto Atreides II is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Born at the end of Dune Messiah , Leto is a central character in Children of Dune and is the title character of God Emperor of Dune . The character is brought back as a ghola in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J...
and Ghanima. Paul disappears into the desert, in accordance with Fremen custom for the blind, leaving Alia as Imperial Regent and guardian of his son and daughter.
Children of Dune
Children of Dune
Children of Dune is a 1976 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, third in a series of six novels set in his Dune universe. Initially selling over 75,000 copies, it became the first hardcover best-seller ever in the science fiction field...
(1976), Leto II and Ghanima are uncertain of the future. Nine years old but mature beyond their years due to their also being pre-born, the pair maneuver around the ever-increasing machinations of their aunt Alia, who is slowly but surely succumbing to Abomination. Alia herself is wary of the Lady Jessica, returned from Caladan with questionable intentions. The ego-memory of the evil Baron Harkonnen
Vladimir Harkonnen
The Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He is primarily featured in the 1965 novel Dune, in which he is the secondary antagonist, and is also a major character in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson...
, Jessica's secret father, seduces Alia from within, promising his help in fighting off the multitude of ancestral personalities struggling for control. Soon, however, he himself has possessed her. Alia's subsequent attempt to eliminate her mother — as well as a Corrino
House Corrino
Imperial House Corrino is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The Corrinos come to power after mankind's victory against the thinking machines at the Battle of Corrin , and rule until deposed by Paul Atreides approximately 10,000 years later during the events...
plot to assassinate the twins — sets off a Fremen rebellion and puts the religion of Muad'Dib in turmoil. As Leto's eyes are opened to the Golden Path that will save mankind, a mysterious blind man known as The Preacher appears to undermine Alia and her priests in the eyes of the people. He, of course, is Paul Atreides. Leto sacrifices his humanity and, for the sake of the survival of the human race, chooses to accept transformation into a sandworm
Sandworm (Dune)
The sandworm is a fictional form of desert-dwelling creature from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. They first appear in the 1965 novel Dune, considered to be among the classics in the science fiction genre, and are iconic of the Dune series.In the series, the sandworms called Shai-Hulud...
, the fearsome giant beasts of Arrakis which actually control the spice cycle. He delves into a pool of sandtrout, which form a living skin around him; his resulting body is superhuman, becoming nearly invulnerable, capable of tremendous speed and possessing the strength of many men. Paul is killed, but Leto's ascension is now guaranteed. Alia, fully fallen into madness, manages to regain control of her body long enough to leap out a high window to her death. Leto weds his sister Ghanima in a political union to consolidate power; unable to father children, he instead intends for her to take Farad'n Corrino
Farad'n Corrino
Farad'n Corrino is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He appears in Herbert's 1976 novel Children of Dune, and his infancy is chronicled in the 2008 interquel Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J...
as a mate. This union will produce a long bloodline, which Leto will manipulate in his own breeding program to achieve the goals of his Golden Path.
God Emperor of Dune
Over 3,500 years later, a seemingly-immortal Leto is the title character in God Emperor of DuneGod Emperor of Dune
God Emperor of Dune is a science fiction novel by Frank Herbert published in 1981, the fourth in the Dune series. It was ranked as the #11 hardcover fiction best seller of 1981 by Publishers Weekly.-Plot introduction:...
(1981). Known as the Tyrant, he has dominated humanity to a breaking point; he himself has become a full man-worm hybrid, immense in size and physically more sandworm than human. His breeding program has resulted in the birth of Siona Atreides (daughter of Moneo), who possesses unique genes that make her invisible to prescience. Ready to let the final stage of his Golden Path play itself out, Leto allows Siona's plan to assassinate him to unfold. He dies, leaving Siona and the latest Duncan Idaho
Duncan Idaho
Duncan Idaho is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Introduced in the first novel of the series, 1965's Dune, the character became a breakout character as the readers liked him and was revived by Herbert in 1969's Dune Messiah...
ghola continue the Atreides line and pass on Siona's precious genes.
Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse Dune
Another 1,500 years passes; in the interim, humanity has been thrown into chaos. The breakdown of Leto's empire, severe famine on many worlds and the introduction of IxianIx (Dune)
Ix is a fictional planet featured in the Dune series of science fiction novels written by Frank Herbert, and derivative works. In Dune it is noted that Ix is classed with the planet Richese as "supreme in machine culture," and that Ixian solido projectors "are commonly considered the best." In...
navigation machines have caused billions of people to leave the settled worlds, striking off into unknown space in a diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
known as the Scattering. This resettlement was one of Leto's goals for mankind's ultimate survival: the exponential growth in human numbers and colonized planets, combined with the dissemination of Siona's genes which render their bearer invisible to prescience, ensuring humanity's survival by making it impossible for any one force to track down every human in the universe or to control them all through prescience (which forces the future to happen according to the vision of the prescient).
In Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune
Heretics of Dune is a 1984 science fiction novel by Frank Herbert, fifth in a series of six novels. It was ranked as the #13 hardcover fiction best seller of 1984 by The New York Times.-Plot introduction:...
(1984), one descendant of Siona Atreides is Miles Teg
Miles Teg
Miles Teg is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert.-Description:In Heretics of Dune , Miles Teg — the former Supreme Bashar of the Bene Gesserit — is noted to be 296 standard years old and to have a striking resemblance to his ancestor, Leto Atreides I...
, renowned commander of the military forces of the Bene Gesserit
Bene Gesserit
The Bene Gesserit are a key social, religious, and political force in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. The group is described as an exclusive sisterhood whose members train their bodies and minds through years of physical and mental conditioning to obtain superhuman powers and...
, who bears a remarkable resemblance to his ancestor, Duke Leto I. Teg's secret daughter is Darwi Odrade (a variant on Atreides), a Bene Gesserit sister who eventually becomes Mother Superior of the Sisterhood during their ongoing struggle with the fierce Honored Matres
Honored Matres
The Honored Matres are a fictional matriarchal organization in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe. They are described as an aggressive cult obsessed with power, violence and sexual domination...
.
1985's Chapterhouse: Dune finds the Tleilaxu Master Scytale
Scytale (Dune)
Scytale is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. In the novel Dune Messiah , Scytale is a Tleilaxu Face Dancer who participates in the conspiracy to topple the rule of Paul Atreides. He later returns as a ghola and Tleilaxu Master in Heretics of Dune and...
a prisoner of the Bene Gesserit; one of his secret bargaining chips is a nullentropy capsule containing cells carefully and secretly collected by the Tleilaxu for millennia. These cells include those of Paul Atreides, Duke Leto Atreides and Leto II, Lady Jessica, Chani and other legendary figures.
Prelude to Dune
| The Dukes Atreides | |
|---|---|
| Name | Reign |
| Miklos Atreides | Unknown |
| Kean Atreides | Unknown |
| Paulus Atreides | ??? - 10,156 A.G. |
| Leto Atreides I Leto Atreides I Duke Leto Atreides I is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. He features in the novel Dune by Frank Herbert and in the Prelude to Dune prequel trilogy by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.... |
10,140 - 10,191 A.G. |
| Emperor Paul Atreides Paul Atreides Paul Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Paul is a prominent character in the first two novels in the series, Dune and Dune Messiah , and returns in Children of Dune . The character is brought back as two different gholas in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J... |
10,191 - 10,209 A.G. |
| Imperial Regent Alia Atreides Alia Atreides Alia Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Introduced in the first novel of the series, 1965's Dune, the character was originally killed in Herbert's first version of the manuscript. At the suggestion of Analog magazine editor John Campbell, Herbert kept... |
10,209 - 10,219 A.G. |
| Leto Atreides II Leto Atreides II Leto Atreides II is a fictional character from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Born at the end of Dune Messiah , Leto is a central character in Children of Dune and is the title character of God Emperor of Dune . The character is brought back as a ghola in the Brian Herbert/Kevin J... "The God Emperor" |
10,219 - 13,728 A.G. |
| Abolition of Ducal and Imperial thrones | |
The prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
Prelude to Dune
Prelude to Dune
Prelude to Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe....
(1999–2001) by Brian Herbert
Brian Herbert
Brian Patrick Herbert is an American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert....
and Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
chronicles the upbringing of young Leto I prior to the events of Dune. Son to Duke Paulus Atreides (born 10,089 A.G.) and Lady Helena (born 10,095 A.G.), Leto makes a lifelong friend in Rhombur Vernius, son of Paulus' own longtime ally, Earl Dominic of the doomed House Vernius
House Vernius
House Vernius is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. They are featured in the prequel series Prelude to Dune and Heroes of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J...
of Ix
Ix (Dune)
Ix is a fictional planet featured in the Dune series of science fiction novels written by Frank Herbert, and derivative works. In Dune it is noted that Ix is classed with the planet Richese as "supreme in machine culture," and that Ixian solido projectors "are commonly considered the best." In...
.
Icy and religious Lady Helena, daughter of Count Ilban of House Richese
House Richese
House Richese is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. Their homeworld is the planet Richese, which is described thus in the glossary of Dune:- The family :...
, is unhappy with the alliance; Richese and Ix are rivals in the production of complex machinery, and she believes the Ixians often flout the sacred proscriptions of the Butlerian Jihad
Butlerian Jihad
The Butlerian Jihad is an event in the back-story of Frank Herbert's fictional Dune universe. Occurring over 10,000 years before the events chronicled in his 1965 novel Dune, this jihad leads to the outlawing of certain technologies, primarily "thinking machines", a collective term for computers...
, which prohibit the creation of machines "in the likeness of the human mind." Helena plots against her husband, hoping to rule through her son; she arranges for a Salusan bull to be drugged to make it stronger and more savage, knowing that skilled bullfighter Paulus is set to meet it in the ring. Paulus is killed, and soon Leto's suspicions of his mother's involvement are proven correct. Preferring to have her executed, he instead banishes her to the Sisters of Isolation, knowing it is in the best interest of the people that no one ever knows of her treachery.
Mythological origins
In the original novels, House Atreides claims descent from AgamemnonAgamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Electra and Orestes. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area...
, a son of Atreus
Atreus
In Greek mythology, Atreus was a king of Mycenae, the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, his descendants are known as Atreidai or Atreidae....
, in Greek mythology
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
. The descendants of Atreus are called "Atreides" (plural "Atreidai", Latinized as "Atreidae") in the Greek language
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
. This Royal House
Royal House
A royal house or royal dynasty consists of at least one, but usually more monarchs who are related to one another, as well as their non-reigning descendants and spouses. Monarchs of the same realm who are not related to one another are usually deemed to belong to different houses, and each house is...
included many significant figures in Greek myth.
In the Brian Herbert
Brian Herbert
Brian Patrick Herbert is an American author who lives in Washington state. He is the elder son of science fiction author Frank Herbert....
/Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson
Kevin J. Anderson is an American science fiction author with over forty bestsellers. He has written spin-off novels for Star Wars, StarCraft, Titan A.E., and The X-Files, and with Brian Herbert is the co-author of the Dune prequels...
Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune
Legends of Dune is a prequel trilogy of novels written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in Frank Herbert's Dune universe.* Dune: The Butlerian Jihad * Dune: The Machine Crusade * Dune: The Battle of Corrin...
novels, the Atreides family line goes back to the Greeks
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....
on Old Earth. Vorian Atreides
Vorian Atreides
Vorian Atreides is a fictional character in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. The ancestor of Paul Atreides, Vorian is a key character in the Legends of Dune trilogy created by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.-Family history:...
was the thirteenth son of the Titan
Titan (Dune)
The Titans are a group of fictional characters in the Legends of Dune series of novels, written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson and set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert...
Agamemnon, one of the twenty Titans who conquered the Old Empire, and was a Human Trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
in Omnius' Machine Empire. He began the family house of the Atreides and was Muad'Dib
Muad'Dib
Muad'Dib is a desert mouse within Frank Herbert's Dune universe. It is also the name for a constellation of stars and is taken as a name by the first novel's hero, Paul Atreides.-Dune glossary:...
's ancestor.
Atreides family tree
The following family tree assembles information from Frank Herbert's original novels as well as the prequel series Legends of Dune and Prelude to Dune.The Atreides in the Dune games
House Atreides has been featured in all of the Dune computer games:| Game | | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dune Dune (video game) Dune is a 1992 video game, based upon Frank Herbert's science fiction novel of the same name. Developed by Cryo Interactive and published by Virgin Interactive, is the first of the Dune computer games. Dune blended adventure with economic and military strategy, and is considered by many the most... |
The game casts the player as Paul Atreides, with the goal of driving the Harkonnens out of spice management. | ||
| Dune II Dune II Dune II: The Building of a Dynasty is a Dune computer game released in 1992 by Westwood Studios... |
If you choose the Atreides campaign, you can build a unique tank called the Sonic Tank. The Fremen are special units invoked from the Atreides Palace, uncontrollable but summonable by the player. House Atreides' color is blue in this game, green being taken by House Ordos House Ordos House Ordos is a mercantile House in the Dune universe as presented in the Westwood Studios Dune video games produced from 1992 to 2001. The House is listed in the non-canon Dune Encyclopedia by Willis E... . |
||
| Dune 2000 Dune 2000 Dune 2000 is a real-time strategy video game, released by Westwood Studios in 1998 for Microsoft Windows, and later ported to the PlayStation. It is a partial remake of Dune II, which is also based on Frank Herbert's Dune universe. The story of the game is similar to Dune II, and is continued in... |
Like Dune II as before, but the Fremen are controllable. | ||
| Emperor: Battle for Dune Emperor: Battle for Dune Emperor: Battle for Dune is a Dune video game, released by Westwood Studios on June 12, 2001. It is based in Frank Herbert's science fiction Dune universe.... |
The alliance between the Atreides and the Fremen is dissolved, but can still be forged. Atreides are still blue. | ||
| Frank Herbert's Dune | Cast as Paul Atreides, the player must win the trust of the Fremen on Arrakis and defeat Baron Harkonnen. | ||