|
Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 25 general entries.
|
 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 House of Atreus
| It all started with the most horrible of crimes: the killing of one's own child. Tantalus murdered his son Pelops and served his flesh to the gods to test their omniscience. What was the name of the only goddess who tasted this unusual dish? | Curse of the House of Pelops
|
Demeter. As a punishment Tantalus was condemned to suffer an everlasting hunger, in spite of having water and food close to him. Pelops was later restored by the gods to life. His shoulder, eaten by Demeter, distracted over the loss of her daughter, Persephone, was replaced by an ivory one. Later, Pelops won his wife, Hippodamia, by cheating in a chariot race. Afterwards he killed Myrtilus, the charioteer of his rival, whom he had bribed to win the race. Dying Myrtilus cursed the house of Pelops: it was the beginning of their misfortunes.
| Agamemnon, the son of Atreus, leader of the Greek forces, had to sacrifice his own daughter to appease Artemis who sent contrary winds to delay the Greek fleet heading for Troy. What was the name of the victim? | Curse of the House of Pelops
|
Iphigenia. Iphigenia was saved by Artemis (who sent an animal to be sacrificed in her place) and taken to Tauris, a city on the Black Sea, to serve as her highest priestess. Later she was reunited there with her brother Orestes. Her story was told by Euripides in his two plays: 'Iphigenia at Aulis' and 'Iphigenia at Tauris'.
| Aegisthus, the son of Thyestes, seduced Agamemnon's wife, Clytemnestra, and the two of them murdered Agamemnon after his return from the Trojan War. Who else was killed along with Agamemnon? | Curse of the House of Pelops
|
his mistress Cassandra. Clytemnestra, the woman who murdered her own husband, was half-sister of Helen of Troy. She was angry with Agamemnon for sacrificing their daughter, Iphigenia; she was also mad at him for bringing home his mistress, the prophet Cassandra, with him.
| Aegisthus married Clytemnestra and ruled Mycene for a few years. They were both murdered by Agamemnon's son Orestes, who plotted this crime with his sister. What was the name of this woman, who helped to kill her own mother? | Curse of the House of Pelops
|
Electra. The role of Electra in the killing of Clytemnestra is not quite clear. According to some myths (and also in a play by Euripides) she took an active part in the murder. According to others, she "only" encouraged her brother. After the matricide, Orestes was haunted by the Erinyes, goddesses of revenge, until he reached Athens. He was tried there and acquitted by the tribunal called Areopagus. It put an end to the curse of the house of Pelops.
Tantalus. As punishment for serving the gods a mortal, Tantalus was condemned in the Underworld by being denied food and drink.
| When Pelops fell in love with Hippodameia, he competed in a contest in order to marry her. What kind of contest was this? | The Cursed House of Pelops
|
A chariot race. Pelops ended up winning the race for Hippodamia's hand while Hippodamia's father, Oenomaus, was thrown to his death.
Laius. Laius had kidnapped and raped Chrysippus after falling in love with him. He was later cursed and his son, Oedipus, murdered him.
Atreus. Thyestes and Atreus hated each other. In fact, Atreus killed Thyestes' sons and fed them to him, while Thyestes raped his own daughter in order to fulfill a prophecy to get back at Atreus.
Clytemnestra. Clytemnestra was the wife of Agamemnon. She was also famous for killing him.
Chryseis. Agamemnon and Clytemnestra had 4 daughters: Iphigenia, Iphianassa, Chrysothemis, and Electra. Chryseis was just the daughter of Chryses, some priest of Apollo in the "Iliad".
| Menelaus on the other hand had a famous wife who started the Trojan war. He and his wife, Helen, had a daughter. What was her name? | The Cursed House of Pelops
|
Hermione. Hermione was also the wife of Neoptolemus and later Orestes.
Cassandra. Agamemnon brought back Cassandra, the famous prophetress who was cursed by Apollo so nobody would believe her prophecies.
Electra and Orestes. Electra and Orestes worked together and murdered both Clytemnestra and her love Aegisthus.
f. False, he married his cousin Hermione. Pylades was his male cousin and best friend.
My unloved wife. According to Euripides, Hermione married Neoptolemus due to political reasons, but he never cared for her, partly because she was childless, and partly due to the fact that his beloved concubine had already given him a son.
Agamemnon. Kings Agamemnon of Mycenae and Menelaos of Sparta were brothers; thus their children, betrothed in infancy to each other, were cousins. Their common grandfather was Atreus and their family descended directly from Pelops, son of Tantalus.
My granddaughter. Hermione was Helen's only child, thus one of the granddaughters of king Tyndareus -- even though the real father of the famous beauty was not the king of Sparta, but the king of gods, Zeus.
| My name was Orestes and I had just returned from the faraway land of Tauris; immediately after my return I headed for Hermione's house. Why? | Hermione and the House of Atreides
|
Because I wanted to marry her. Orestes was Hermione's first fiance and when he returned from his journey, he decided to regain her from Neoptolemus. While the fathers of both young men disliked each other, Orestes and Neoptolemus did not even meet each other before this time. The father of Orestes could not bid him to do this, since he had already been dead for quite some time.
Klytemnestra, the aunt of Hermione. Hermione had a cousin named Electra who was not a wife, but a daughter of Agamemnon; her mother was Hermione's aunt, queen Klytemnestra.
| My name was Pylades and I was the best friend of Orestes. When our adventures finally ended, Hermione and I became family. What was our relationship? | Hermione and the House of Atreides
|
I married Hermione's sister-in-law, Electra. Having regained his senses and his kingdom, Orestes decided that his best friend and his beloved sister should get married. Pylades married Hermione's sister-in-law and they became family. One may add that they were, in fact, related even before, because the mother of Pylades, Anaxibia, was a sister of Hermione's father, Menelaos.
Hermione's son by Orestes. Tisamenus was the only child of the couple. According to some versions of the myth, Orestes did have a son by his lover Erigone, but his name was Pentilos, not Tisamenus. Electra and Pylades had two sons, Strophios and Medon. Hermione seems to have become an exceptionally good wife for Orestes: mythology knows nothing about any outside lovers of hers!
| Once I was the beloved wife of Hector, Troy's greatest hero. Then I became a captive and concubine of Neoptolemus, and a rival to Hermione. What was my name? | Hermione and the House of Atreides
|
Andromache. All the ladies enumerated here were Trojan princesses or queens: old Hecuba was Hector's mother, while Cassandra the seeress and Polyxena the priettiest of Trojan ladies were the sisters of the hero. Andromache was Hector's wife and the mother of his only child, Astyanax.
She hated me. Molossus was Achilles' grandson, the illegitimate child of Neoptolemus and Andromache. Hermione hated him and, according to Euripides, she even wanted to kill him at some point, but the boy was saved by his great-grandfather, king Peleus. Through Molossus, whom he venerated as his forefather, Alexander the Great believed himself to be descended from the great Achilles.
"Orestes" and "Andromache". In "Electra", Euripides tells the story of the Atreidae family, but relates earlier events. "Trojan Women" is devoted to the fate of Trojan captives immediately after the fall of Troy, while "Phaedra" is a tragedy about the family of Theseus. Only "Orestes", which relates the life of Hermione's fiance, and "Andromache", the tragedy about Hector's widow and Hermione's rival, feature the character of Helen's daughter.
|
Fun Trivia | 
Quizzes | 
Games
| 
People | 
Services | 
Help | 
Me
