Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com – Once the wheel of misfortune has been set in motion, it can be challenging to stop it from spinning. Tragedies have an uncanny tendency to follow each other, and the House of Atreus certainly experienced the greatest miseries life has to offer.
King Menelaus and Helen of Troy by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein. Credit: Public Domain
The misadventures of the House of Atreus is a tragic tale that has inspired writers for almost three thousand years. “Of the thirty-three Greek dramas which have come down to us intact, eight of them are concerned with members of this accursed family. Scores of later writers, including many contemporaries, have also mined the riches of this tragic tale.” 1
It is a remarkable story that shows how dangerous it is to awaken the ancient Greek gods’ fury. All family members and descendants of the mythical Mycenaean king Atreus had to suffer all their lives for horrible deeds made in the past. Shameful arrogance was unacceptable to ancient Greek gods, whose punishment often lasted a lifetime.
But why were the Atreids cursed?
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