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House of Atreus from Edith Hamilton’s Mythology Zeus Tantalus Amphion Niobe Pelops Hippodamia Atreus Helen Menelaus Thyestes Agamemnon Iphigenia Electra Clytemnestra Orestes Some background information about the curse on the House of Atreus: Tantalus was Zeus’ mortal child, favored by the gods and allowed to dine with them at their table. In an act of arrogance, Tantalus decided to trick the gods --- he killed and boiled his own son Pelops and served him to the gods. The gods discovered his scheme and punished him by setting him a pool in Hades where he stood forever dying of hunger and thirst with food and water visible to him but just out of his reach. The Gods restored Pelops to life but both he and his sister (Niobe) were doomed to suffer the wrath of the gods. Pelops had two sons – Atreus and Thyestes. When Thyestes had an affair with his brother (Atreus’) wife, Atreus took revenge by killed Thyestes’ two little children, boiling them, and serving them to Thyestes. Atreus had two sons – Agamemnon and Menelaus. Menelaus married Helen (over whose kidnapping the Trojan war was fought). Agamemnon was THE general the Greek armies assaulting Troy. Many times throughout The Odyssey, Gods and mortals reference the story of Agamemnon’s death. Before leaving for Troy, he sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia, to the Gods, in order to ensure favorable winds on the sea. His wife (Clytemnestra) never forgave him. When he returned home from Troy, he took with him Cassandra, the daughter of Troy’s King Priam and Queen Hecuba. Remember that Cassandra, besides being a princess, was also a prophetess – she could see the future. Questions: Read Edith Hamilton’s Mythology pages 351-363 1. Why was Agamemnon considered the most fortunate of the victorious Greek chieftans? 2. Describe, using specific details from the text, the atmosphere back home awaiting Agamemnon. 3. Who do we know about Clytemnestra? How does she greet Agamemnon upon his return? 4. Describe, using specific details from the text, Cassandra’s reaction as she is taken into Agamemnon’s house. 5. What do we know about Aegisthus? 6. What do we know about Electra? 7. Who was Orestes? How was he “so placed that he must choose between two hideous wrongs”? 8. What God advises Orestes? What is Orestes told to do? 9. What vision is Orestes haunted by both immediately after his bloody act and even years afterwards? 10. Why does Orestes have to beg forgiveness? How does he do so? Why does Athena grant it?