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In Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Thyestes (T??st??) was the son of Pelops
Pelops

In Greek mythology, Pelops , king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus, was venerated at Olympia, Greece, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the Ancient Olympic Games, the most important expression of unity, not only for the Peloponnesus, "land of Pelops", but for all Hellenes....
, King of Olympia
Olympia, Greece

Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi....
, and Hippodamia
Hippodamia

Hippodamia , was a daughter of King Oenomaus and wife of Pelops with whom her offspring were Thyestes, Atreus, and Pittheus, Alcathous....
 and father of Pelopia
Pelopia

In Greek mythology, Pelopia was a name attributed to three individuals.*Pelopia, the daughter of Thyestes. Thyestes had been fighting with his brother, Atreus, for the throne of Mycenae for some time, as well as having an affair with Atreus' wife, Aerope....
 and Aegisthus
Aegisthus

In Greek mythology, Aegisthus was the son of Thyestes and of his daughter, Pelopia.Thyestes felt he had been deprived of the Mycenae throne unfairly by his brother, Atreus....
. Thyestes and his twin brother, Atreus
Atreus

In Greek mythology, Atreus was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, a king of Mycenae, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, his descendants are known as Atreidai or Atreidae....
, were exiled by their father for having murdered their half-brother, Chrysippus
Chrysippus (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Chrysippus was a divine hero of Elis in the Peloponnesus, a young boy, the Illegitimacy son of Pelops king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus and the nymph Axioche....
 in their desire for the throne of Olympia
Olympia, Greece

Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi....
. They took refuge in Mycenae
Mycenae

Mycenae , is an archaeology in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 6 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north....
, where they ascended to the throne upon the absence of King Eurystheus
Eurystheus

In Greek mythology, Eurystheus was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean Greece strongholds in the Argolid: Sthenelus was his father and the "victorious horsewoman" Nicippe his mother, and he was a grandson of the hero Perseus , as was his opponent Heracles....
, who was fighting the Heracleidae
Heracleidae

In Greek mythology, the Heracleidae or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles , especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira ....
. Eurystheus had meant for their lordship to be temporary; it became permanent due to his death in conflict.

Atreus
Atreus

In Greek mythology, Atreus was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, a king of Mycenae, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, his descendants are known as Atreidai or Atreidae....
 (Thyestes' brother and King of Mycenae) vowed to sacrifice his best lamb to Artemis
Artemis

In Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth/virginity/fertility, the hunt and was often depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.....
.






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In Greek mythology
Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the Ancient Greece concerning their List of Greek mythological figures#Immortals and Greek hero cult, Cosmology#Metaphysical cosmology, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices....
, Thyestes (T??st??) was the son of Pelops
Pelops

In Greek mythology, Pelops , king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus, was venerated at Olympia, Greece, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the Ancient Olympic Games, the most important expression of unity, not only for the Peloponnesus, "land of Pelops", but for all Hellenes....
, King of Olympia
Olympia, Greece

Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi....
, and Hippodamia
Hippodamia

Hippodamia , was a daughter of King Oenomaus and wife of Pelops with whom her offspring were Thyestes, Atreus, and Pittheus, Alcathous....
 and father of Pelopia
Pelopia

In Greek mythology, Pelopia was a name attributed to three individuals.*Pelopia, the daughter of Thyestes. Thyestes had been fighting with his brother, Atreus, for the throne of Mycenae for some time, as well as having an affair with Atreus' wife, Aerope....
 and Aegisthus
Aegisthus

In Greek mythology, Aegisthus was the son of Thyestes and of his daughter, Pelopia.Thyestes felt he had been deprived of the Mycenae throne unfairly by his brother, Atreus....
. Thyestes and his twin brother, Atreus
Atreus

In Greek mythology, Atreus was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, a king of Mycenae, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, his descendants are known as Atreidai or Atreidae....
, were exiled by their father for having murdered their half-brother, Chrysippus
Chrysippus (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Chrysippus was a divine hero of Elis in the Peloponnesus, a young boy, the Illegitimacy son of Pelops king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus and the nymph Axioche....
 in their desire for the throne of Olympia
Olympia, Greece

Olympia , a sanctuary of ancient Greece in Elis, is known for having been the site of the Olympic Games in classical times, comparable in importance to the Pythian Games held in Delphi....
. They took refuge in Mycenae
Mycenae

Mycenae , is an archaeology in Greece, located about 90 km south-west of Athens, in the north-eastern Peloponnese. Argos is 6 km to the south; Corinth, 48 km to the north....
, where they ascended to the throne upon the absence of King Eurystheus
Eurystheus

In Greek mythology, Eurystheus was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean Greece strongholds in the Argolid: Sthenelus was his father and the "victorious horsewoman" Nicippe his mother, and he was a grandson of the hero Perseus , as was his opponent Heracles....
, who was fighting the Heracleidae
Heracleidae

In Greek mythology, the Heracleidae or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles , especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira ....
. Eurystheus had meant for their lordship to be temporary; it became permanent due to his death in conflict.

Atreus
Atreus

In Greek mythology, Atreus was the son of Pelops and Hippodamia, a king of Mycenae, and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Collectively, his descendants are known as Atreidai or Atreidae....
 (Thyestes' brother and King of Mycenae) vowed to sacrifice his best lamb to Artemis
Artemis

In Greek mythology, Artemis was the daughter of Zeus and Leto, and the twin sister of Apollo. She was the Hellenic goddess of forests and hills, child birth/virginity/fertility, the hunt and was often depicted as a huntress carrying a bow and arrows.....
. Upon searching his flock, however, Atreus discovered a golden lamb which he gave to his wife, Aerope
Aerope

A?rope was, in Greek mythology, a daughter of Catreus, king of Crete, and granddaughter of Minos. Her father, who had received an oracle that he should lose his life by one of his children, gave her and her sister, Clymene, to Nauplius, who was to sell them in a foreign land....
, to hide from the goddess. She gave it to her lover, Thyestes (also Atreus' brother), who then convinced Atreus to agree that whoever had the lamb should be king. Thyestes produced the lamb and claimed the throne.

Atreus retook the throne using advice he received from Hermes
Hermes

Hermes is the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. An Twelve Olympians, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travelers, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures, of invention, of general commerce, and of the cunni...
. Thyestes agreed to give the kingdom back when the sun moved backwards in the sky, a feat that Zeus
Zeus

Zeus in Greek mythology is the king of the gods, the ruler of Mount Olympus and the god of the sky father and List of thunder gods. His symbols are the thunderbolt, eagle, bull , and oak....
 accomplished. Atreus retook the throne and banished Thyestes.

Atreus then learned of Thyestes' and Aerope's adultery and plotted revenge. He killed Thyestes' sons and cooked them, save their hands and heads. He served Thyestes his own sons and then taunted him with their hands and heads. This is the source of modern phrase "Thyestean Feast," or one at which human flesh is served.

An oracle then advised Thyestes that, if he had a son with his own daughter (Pelopia
Pelopia

In Greek mythology, Pelopia was a name attributed to three individuals.*Pelopia, the daughter of Thyestes. Thyestes had been fighting with his brother, Atreus, for the throne of Mycenae for some time, as well as having an affair with Atreus' wife, Aerope....
), that son would kill Atreus. Thyestes did so and the son, Aegisthus
Aegisthus

In Greek mythology, Aegisthus was the son of Thyestes and of his daughter, Pelopia.Thyestes felt he had been deprived of the Mycenae throne unfairly by his brother, Atreus....
, did kill Atreus. However, when Aegisthus was first born, he was abandoned by his mother, ashamed of her incestuous act. A shepherd found the infant Aegisthus and gave him to Atreus, who raised him as his own son. Only as he entered adulthood did Thyestes reveal the truth to Aegisthus, that he was both father and grandfather to the boy and that Atreus was his uncle. Aegisthus then killed Atreus.

Aegisthus and Thyestes ruled over Mycenae jointly, exiling Atreus' sons, Agamemnon
Agamemnon

In Greek mythology, Agamemnon / is the son of King Atreus of Mycenae and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus and the husband of Clytemnestra; different mythological versions make him the king either of Mycenae or of Argos....
 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....
 to Sparta
Sparta

Sparta was a city-state in ancient Greece, situated on the Eurotas River in the southern part of the Peloponnese. From circa 650 BC it rose to become the dominant military power in the region and as such was recognized as the overall leader of the combined Greek forces during the Greco-Persian Wars....
, where King Tyndareus
Tyndareus

In Greek mythology, Tyndareus ???da?e?? was a Sparta king, son of Oebalus and Gorgophone , husband of Leda and father of Helen, Castor and Polydeuces, Clytemnestra, Timandra , Phoebe and Philonoe....
 gave the pair their wives, his daughters, Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra

Clytemnestra was the wife of Agamemnon, king of the Ancient Greece kingdom of Mycenae or Argos. In the Oresteia by Aeschylus, she was a femme fatale who murdered her husband, Agamemnon—said by Euripides to be her second husband—and his concubine Cassandra....
 and Helen
Helen

In Greek mythology, Helen , better known as Helen of Sparta later Helen of Troy, was the daughter of Zeus and Leda , wife of King Menelaus of Sparta and sister of Castor and Pollux, Castor and Pollux and Clytemnestra....
. When Tyndareus died, he gave his throne to Menelaus, who then helped Agamemnon overthrow Aegisthus and Thyestes.

When Agamemnon left Mycenae for the Trojan War
Trojan War

In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta....
, Aegisthus seduced his wife, Clytaemnestra, and the couple plotted to kill her husband upon his return. They succeeded, killing Agamemnon and his new concubine, Cassandra
Cassandra

In Greek mythology, Cassandra was the daughter of King Priam and Queen Hecuba of Troy. Her beauty caused Apollo to grant her the gift of prophecy....
. Eight years later, Agamemnon's son Orestes
Orestes (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Orestes was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek theatre and of various legends connected with his madness and purification....
 returned to Mycenae and, with the help of his sister Electra
Electra

In Greek mythology, Electra was an Argosian princess and daughter of King Agamemnon and Queen Clytemnestra, and was a sibling to sisters Iphigeneia, Chrysothemis, and brother Orestes....
, killed both their mother, Clytemnestra, and Aegisthus.

Tired of the bloodshed, the gods exonerated Orestes and declared this the end of the curse on the house of Atreus, as described in Ęschylus' play
Drama

Drama is the specific Mode of fiction Mimesis in performance. The term comes from a Ancient Greek word meaning "Action " , which is derived from "to do" ....
 The Eumenides.

In theatre

In the first century AD, Seneca the Younger
Seneca the Younger

Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a Ancient Rome Stoicism philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature....
 wrote a tragedy called Thyestes. Jasper Heywood
Jasper Heywood

Jasper Heywood, SJ , son of John Heywood, translated into English three plays of Seneca the Younger, the Troas , the Thyestes and Hercules Furens ....
, then a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford
Oxford

Oxford is a City status in the United Kingdom, and the county town of Oxfordshire, in South East England. It has a population of 151,000. The rivers River Cherwell and River Thames run through Oxford and meet south of the city centre....
, published a verse
Verse

Verse may refer to:Poetry*Verse , a line of poetry, a stanza*Blank verse is a type of poetry having regular meter but no rhyme*Free verse is a type of poetry written without the use of strict meter or rhyme, but that is still recognizable as 'poetry'...
 translation
Translation

Translation is the hermeneutics of the Meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an Dynamic and formal equivalence text, likewise called a "translation," that communicates the same message in another language....
 in 1560. Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill

Caryl Churchill is an England dramatist known for her use of non-Naturalism techniques and feminist themes. She is acknowledged as a major playwright in the English language and a leading female writer....
 wrote a translation of Seneca's play in 2001. Shakespeare's tragedy Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus may be William Shakespeare earliest tragedy; it is believed to have been written sometime between 1584 and the early 1590s....
 derives some of its plot elements from the story of Thyestes. In 1681, John Crowne
John Crowne

John Crowne was a Kingdom of Great Britain dramatist and a native of Nova Scotia.His father "Colonel" William Crowne, accompanied the Thomas Howard, 2nd Earl of Arundel and Surrey on a diplomatic mission to Vienna in 1637, and wrote an account of his journey....
 wrote Thyestes, A Tragedy, based closely on Seneca's Thyestes, but with the incongruous addition of a love story. In 1796, Ugo Foscolo
Ugo Foscolo

Ugo Foscolo was a Greece-born Italy writer, revolutionary and poet. On the death of his father, a physician in Split /Spalato, today Croatia , the family removed to Venice, and at the University of Padua Foscolo completed the studies begun at the Dalmatian grammar school....
 (1778-1827) wrote a tragedy called Tieste that was represented first in Venice
Venice

Venice is a city in northern Italy, the capital city of the Italian regions Veneto, a population of 271,251 . Together with Padua, Italy, the city is included in the Padua-Venice Metropolitan Area ....
 one year later. In 2004, Jan van Vlijmen (1935-2004) completed his opera Thyeste. The libretto
Libretto

A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, sacred or secular oratorio and cantata, Musical theater, and ballet....
 was a text in French by Hugo Claus
Hugo Claus

Hugo Maurice Julien Claus was a leading Belgian literature author, writing primarily in Dutch . Prominent as a novelist, poet, playwright, Painting and film director, he was a frequent contender for the Nobel Prize in literature while he was alive....
, based on his 20th century play with the same title (in Dutch: Thyestes). Thyestes appears in Ford Ainsworth's one-act play, Persephone.

In popular culture

The South Park
South Park

South Park is an United Statesn animation situation comedy, notorious for its toilet humour, surrealism, and often black comedy, which satirizes Subject matter in South Park including religion, politics, violence, abuse, sexuality, and mental disorder....
 Season 5 episode Scott Tenorman Must Die
Scott Tenorman Must Die

"Scott Tenorman Must Die" is episode 69 of the Comedy Central animated series South Park. It originally aired on July 11, 2001. It features the band Radiohead as guest stars, a rarity as usually any 'stars' on the show are imitated....
 is also loosely based on the Thyestes myth, though it is more based on Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus
Titus Andronicus

Titus Andronicus may be William Shakespeare earliest tragedy; it is believed to have been written sometime between 1584 and the early 1590s....
.

External links



Spoken-word myths - audio files