Thyestes
In
Greek mythology,
Thyestes was the son of
Pelops, King of
Mycenae, and
Hippodamia and father of
Pelopia and
Aegisthus. Thyestes and his twin brother,
Atreus, were exiled by their father for having murdered their step-brother,
Chrysippus in their desire for the throne of
Olympia. They took refuge in
Mycenae, where they ascended to the throne upon the absence of King
Eurystheus, who was fighting the
Heracleidae. Eurystheus had meant for their lordship to be temporary; it became permanent due to his death in conflict.
Atreus, (Thyestes' brother and King of Mycenae) vowed to sacrifice his best lamb to
Artemis. Upon searching his flock, however, Atreus discovered a golden lamb which he gave to his wife,
Aerope, 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. Thyestes agreed to give the kingdom back when the sun moved backwards in the sky, a feat that
Zeus 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 feet. He served Thyestes his own sons and then taunted him with their hands and feet. This is the source of modern phrase "Thyestian 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), that son would kill Atreus. Thyestes did so and the son,
Aegisthus, 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 and
Menelaus to
Sparta, where King
Tyndareus gave the pair their wives, his daughters,
Clytemnestra and
Helen. 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, Aegisthus seduced his wife, Clytemnestra, and the couple plotted to kill her husband upon his return. They succeeded, killing Agamemnon and his new concubine,
Cassandra. Eight years later, Agamemnon's son
Orestes returned to Mycenae and, with the help of 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
The Eumenides.
In the 1st century
Seneca the Younger wrote a tragedy called
Thyestes.
Caryl Churchill wrote a translation of Seneca's play in
2001.
In 2004
Jan van Vlijmen (1935-2004) completed his opera
Thyeste. The
libretto was a text in French by
Hugo Claus, based on his 20th century play with the same title (in Dutch:
Thyestes).
Press release about the 2005 premiere of this opera in Brussels| Thyestes myths as told by story tellers |
|---|
| 1. Crime and banishment of Thyestes: the Laius and Chrysippus myth, read by Timothy Carter |
| Bibliography of reconstruction: Pindar, Olympian Ode, I (476 BCE); Apollodorus Library and Epitome 3.5.5 (140 BCE); Hyginus, Fables, 85. Chrysippus; 243. Women who Committed Suicide (1st c. CE); Pausanias, Description of Greece, 9.5.5-10, 6.20.7 (c. 160 - 176 CE); Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists, Book XIII, 602 (c. 200 CE); Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Greeks, ii, 34, 3 - 5 (150 - 215 CE) |
|
