In
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...
, Thyestes (pronounced , gr, Θυέστης, ) was a king of
Olympia. Thyestes and his brother,
Atreus, were exiled by their father for having murdered their half-brother,
Chrysippus, in their desire for the throne of Olympia. They took refuge in
Mycenae
Mycenae ( ; grc, Μυκῆναι or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos; and south of Corinth. ...
, where they ascended the throne upon the absence of King
Eurystheus
In Greek mythology, Eurystheus (; grc-gre, Εὐρυσθεύς, , broad strength, ) was king of Tiryns, one of three Mycenaean strongholds in the Argolid, although other authors including Homer and Euripides cast him as ruler of Argos.
Fami ...
, who was fighting the
Heracleidae
The Heracleidae (; grc, Ἡρακλεῖδαι) or Heraclids were the numerous descendants of Heracles (Hercules), especially applied in a narrower sense to the descendants of Hyllus, the eldest of his four sons by Deianira (Hyllus was also ...
. Eurystheus had meant for their lordship to be temporary; it became permanent because of his death in conflict.
The most popular representation of Thyestes is that of the play ''Thyestes'' by
Seneca
Seneca may refer to:
People and language
* Seneca (name), a list of people with either the given name or surname
* Seneca people, one of the six Iroquois tribes of North America
** Seneca language, the language of the Seneca people
Places Extrat ...
in 62 AD. This play is one of the originals for the revenge tragedy genre. Although inspired by Greek mythology and legend, Seneca's version is different.
__TOC__
Family
Thyestes was the son of
Pelops
In Greek mythology, Pelops (; ) was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus region (, lit. "Pelops' Island"). He was the son of Tantalus and the father of Atreus.
He was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the O ...
and
Hippodamia, and father of
Pelopia and
Aegisthus
Aegisthus (; grc, Αἴγισθος; also transliterated as Aigisthos, ) was a figure in Greek mythology. Aegisthus is known from two primary sources: the first is Homer's '' Odyssey'', believed to have been first written down by Homer at th ...
. His three sons by a
naiad, who were killed by
Atreus, were named Aglaus,
Orchomenus and Calaeus.
Myth
Pelops
In Greek mythology, Pelops (; ) was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus region (, lit. "Pelops' Island"). He was the son of Tantalus and the father of Atreus.
He was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the O ...
and
Hippodamia are parents to Thyestes. However, they were cursed by
Myrtilus
In Greek mythology, Myrtilus (Ancient Greek: Μυρτίλος) was a divine hero and son of Hermes. His mother is said variously to be the Amazon Myrto;Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, ''Argonautica'' 1.752 Phaethusa, daughter of Danaus; or a nymph ...
, a servant of King
Oenomaus, the father of Hippodamia. Myrtilus was promised the right to Hippodamia's virginity and half of Pelops' kingdom, but Pelops denied both to him and killed him by throwing him into the sea. With his dying gasp, Myrtilus cursed their line, which is where Thyestes and Atreus comes in.
Thyestes' brother and King of Mycenae,
Atreus, vowed to sacrifice his best lamb to
Artemis
In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified wit ...
. Upon searching his flock, however, Atreus discovered a golden lamb which he gave to his wife,
Aerope
In Greek mythology, Aerope (Ancient Greek: Ἀερόπη) was a Cretan princess as the daughter of Catreus, king of Crete. She was the sister to Clymene, Apemosyne and Althaemenes. Aerope's father Catreus gave her to Nauplius, to be drowned, or ...
, to hide from the goddess. She gave it to her lover, Thyestes, 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 the gods. Zeus sent
Hermes
Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...
to him, advising him to get Thyestes to agree that should the sun rise in the west and set in the east, Atreus could have his throne back. Atreus did so, and
Helios reversed his normal course, in anger over Thyestes' actions.
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. When Thyestes was done with his feast, he released a loud belch, which represents satiety and pleasure and his loss of self-control.
An oracle then advised Thyestes that, if he had a son with his own daughter
Pelopia, that son would kill Atreus. Thyestes did so by raping Pelopia (his identity hidden from her) and the son,
Aegisthus
Aegisthus (; grc, Αἴγισθος; also transliterated as Aigisthos, ) was a figure in Greek mythology. Aegisthus is known from two primary sources: the first is Homer's '' Odyssey'', believed to have been first written down by Homer at th ...
, did kill Atreus. However, when Aegisthus was first born, he was abandoned by his mother, ashamed of the origin of her son. 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.
While Thyestes ruled Mycenae, the sons of Atreus,
Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the ...
and
Menelaus
In Greek mythology, Menelaus (; grc-gre, Μενέλαος , 'wrath of the people', ) was a king of Mycenaean (pre- Dorian) Sparta. According to the ''Iliad'', Menelaus was a central figure in the Trojan War, leading the Spartan contingent of th ...
, were exiled to
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
. There, King
Tyndareus
In Greek mythology, Tyndareus (; Ancient Greek: Τυνδάρεος, ''Tundáreos''; Attic: Τυνδάρεως, ''Tundáreōs''; ) was a Spartan king.
Family
Tyndareus was the son of Oebalus (or Perieres) and Gorgophone (or Bateia). He married ...
accepted them as the royalty that they were. Shortly after, he helped the brothers return to Mycenae to overthrow Thyestes, forcing him to live in
Kythira
Kythira (, ; el, Κύθηρα, , also transliterated as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira) is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands ...
, where he died.
Legacy
As a token of good will and allegiance, King Tyndareus offered his daughters to Agamemnon and Menelaus as wives,
Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra (; grc-gre, Κλυταιμνήστρα, ''Klytaimnḗstrā'', ), in Greek mythology, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and the twin sister of Helen of Troy. In Aeschylus' '' Oresteia'', she murders Agamemnon – said by E ...
and
Helen
Helen may refer to:
People
* Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, the most beautiful woman in the world
* Helen (actress) (born 1938), Indian actress
* Helen (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name)
Places
* Helen, ...
respectively.
When Agamemnon left Mycenae for the
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...
, Aegisthus seduced Agamemnon's wife,
Clytemnestra
Clytemnestra (; grc-gre, Κλυταιμνήστρα, ''Klytaimnḗstrā'', ), in Greek mythology, was the wife of Agamemnon, king of Mycenae, and the twin sister of Helen of Troy. In Aeschylus' '' Oresteia'', she murders Agamemnon – said by E ...
, and the couple plotted to kill her husband upon his return. They succeeded, killing Agamemnon and his new concubine,
Cassandra
Cassandra or Kassandra (; Ancient Greek: Κασσάνδρα, , also , and sometimes referred to as Alexandra) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be belie ...
. Clytemnestra and Aegisthus had three children:
Aletes,
Erigone, and Helen who died as an infant.
Seven or eight years after the death of Agamemnon, Agamemnon's son
Orestes
In Greek mythology, Orestes or Orestis (; grc-gre, Ὀρέστης ) was the son of Clytemnestra and Agamemnon, and the brother of Electra. He is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and of various myths connected with his madness an ...
returned to Mycenae and, with the help of his cousin
Pylades
In Greek mythology, Pylades (; Ancient Greek: Πυλάδης) was a Phocian prince as the son of King Strophius and Anaxibia who is the daughter of Atreus and sister of Agamemnon and Menelaus. He is mostly known for his relationship with his cou ...
and his sister
Electra, 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
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
'
play
Play most commonly refers to:
* Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment
* Play (theatre), a work of drama
Play may refer also to:
Computers and technology
* Google Play, a digital content service
* Play Framework, a Java framework
* P ...
''
The Eumenides
The ''Oresteia'' ( grc, Ὀρέστεια) is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BCE, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of t ...
''.
However, other stories say that when Aletes and Erigone came of age and became rulers at Mycenae, Orestes returned with an army then killed his half-brother and raped his half-sister, who gave birth to a son,
Penthilus
Penthilus (; Ancient Greek: Πένθιλος) is the illegitimate or legitimate son of half-siblings Orestes and Erigone in Greek mythology.
Family
Penthilus' grandmother was Clytemnestra. His maternal and paternal grandfathers were Aigisth ...
.
Theatre
In the first century AD,
Seneca the Younger
Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature.
Seneca was born in ...
wrote a tragedy called ''
Thyestes
In Greek mythology, Thyestes (pronounced , gr, Θυέστης, ) was a king of Olympia. Thyestes and his brother, Atreus, were exiled by their father for having murdered their half-brother, Chrysippus, in their desire for the throne of Olym ...
''. In 1560
Jasper Heywood
Jasper Heywood (1535 – 9 January 1598) was an English Jesuit priest. He is known as the English translator of three Latin plays of Seneca, the '' Troas'' (1559), the '' Thyestes'' (1560) and '' Hercules Furens'' (1561).
Life
He was son o ...
, then a Fellow of
All Souls College
All Souls College (official name: College of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full members of t ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, published a
verse translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...
.
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
's tragedy ''
Titus Andronicus
''Titus Andronicus'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written between 1588 and 1593, probably in collaboration with George Peele. It is thought to be Shakespeare's first tragedy and is often seen as his attempt to emul ...
'' derives some of its plot elements from the story of Thyestes. In 1681,
John Crowne
John Crowne (6 April 1641 – 1712) was a British dramatist.
His father "Colonel" William Crowne, accompanied the earl of Arundel on a diplomatic mission to Vienna in 1637, and wrote an account of his journey. He emigrated to Nova Scotia whe ...
wrote ''Thyestes, A Tragedy'', based closely on Seneca's Thyestes, but with the incongruous addition of a love story.
Prosper Jolyot Crebillon (1674-1762) wrote a tragedy "Atree et Thyeste" (1707), which is prominent in two tales of ratiocination by
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
. In 1796,
Ugo Foscolo
Ugo Foscolo (; 6 February 177810 September 1827), born Niccolò Foscolo, was an Italian writer, revolutionary and a poet.
He is especially remembered for his 1807 long poem ''Dei Sepolcri''.
Early life
Foscolo was born in Zakynthos in the Io ...
(1778–1827) wrote a tragedy called ''Tieste'' that was first presented in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
one year later.
Caryl Churchill, a British dramatist, also wrote a rendition of ''Thyestes.'' Churchill's specific translation was performed at the Royal Court Theater Upstairs in London on June 7, 1994
[Seneca; Churchill, Caryl. Thyestes. : Nick Hern Books, 2014. Ebook Library. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.] In 2004,
Jan van Vlijmen (1935–2004) completed his opera ''Thyeste''. The
libretto was a text in French by
Hugo Claus
Hugo Maurice Julien Claus (; 5 April 1929 – 19 March 2008) was a leading Belgian literature, Belgian author who published under his own name as well as various pseudonyms. Claus' literary contributions spanned the genres of drama, the novel, a ...
, based on his 20th century play with the same title (in Dutch: ''Thyestes''). Thyestes appears in
Ford Ainsworth's one-act play, ''Persephone''.
Seneca's influence in literature is reflected through other works. In Arnold's Sonnet on Shakespeare, the influence of Seneca is apparent. "The reminiscence of Atreus’ speech in the ''Thyestes'' of Seneca, which might subtend Cleopatra's own passionate, distended rhetoric about Antony" (Edgecombe, 257).
[Edgecombe, Rodney Stenning. "A Debt To Seneca In Arnold's Sonnet On Shakespeare." ''Notes And Queries'' 60.2 (2013): 258. ''Print.'']
References in literature
*''
Bibliotheca'' Epitome 2.10-2.15
*
Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus (; 64 BC – AD 17) was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' ''De Grammati ...
, ''Fabulae'', 85: Chrysippus, 86:Sons of Pelops, 88:Atreus
*
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
' ''Agamemnon''
*
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is wid ...
, ''The Purloined Letter'', 140
*Milton, Paradise Lost, book 10, lines 687-691
References
{{Authority control
Incest in mythology
Kings of Mycenae
Plays by Caryl Churchill
Titus Andronicus
Mythological rapists
Kings in Greek mythology
Deeds of Zeus
Helios in mythology