The Oresteia is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus concerning Agamemnon's murder by Clytaemnestra, the murder of Clytaemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, and end of the curse on the House of Atreus.
The House of Atreus begins with Tantalus of Lydia. Tantalus was the son of Zeus who enjoyed cordial relations with gods until he decided to slay his son Pelops and feed him to the gods as a test of their omniscience.
Most of the gods, as they were served, were appalled and did not partake. But Demeter, who was distracted due to the abduction by Hades of her daughter Persephone, obliviously ate Pelops' shoulder.
The gods threw Tantalus into the Underworld, where he spends eternity standing in a pool of water beneath a fruit tree with low branches. Whenever he reaches for the fruit, the branches raise his intended meal from his grasp. Whenever he bends down to get a drink, the water recedes before he can drink. Thus is derived the word "tantalising." The gods brought Pelops back to life, replacing the bone in his shoulder with a bit of ivory, thus marking the family forever afterwards.
Pelops and Hippodamia.- Pelops married HYippodamia after winning a chariot race against her father, King Oenomaus, by arranging for the sabotage of his future father-in-law's chariot and resulting in his death. Oenomaus was the son of Ares, the Greek god of War, one of the 12 Olympians, son of Zeus and Hera. In Greek literature, Ares often represent the physical or violent and untamed aspect of war, in contrast to his sister the armored Athena, whose functions as a goddess of Intelligence include military strategy and generalship. Are, although embodied the physical valor necessary for success in War, he was a dangerous force, "overwhelming, insatiable in battle, destructive, and man-slaughtering. His sons Phobos (Fear) and Deimos (Terror) and his lover, or sister, Enyo (Discord) accompanied him on his war chariot. In the Illiad, his father Zeus tells him that he is the god most hateful to him. An association with Ares endows places and objects with a savage, dangerous, or militarized quality.
King Oenomaus of Pisa, fearful of a prophecy that claimed he would be killed by his son-in-law, had killed 18 suitors of his daughter Hippodamia after defeating them in a chariot race. He affixed their heads to the wooden columns of his palace.
Pelops, worried about losing, went to the seaside and invoked Poseidon, his former lover. Reminding Poseidon of their love (Aphrodite's sweet gifts), Pelops asked Poseidon for help. Smiling, Poseidon caused a chariot drawn by winged horses to appear. Pelops, still unsure of himself, convinced Oenomaus's charioteer, Myrtilus, a son of Hermes, to help him win. Myrtilus was convinced by Pelops promising him half of Oenomaus' kingdom and the 1st night in bed with Hippodamia. The night before the race, while Myrtilus was putting Oenomaus' chariot together, he replaced the bronze linchpins attaching the wheels to the chariot axle with fake ones of beeswax. The race began, and went on for a long time. But as just as Oenomaus was catching up to Pelops and readying to kill him, the wheels flew off and the chariot broke apart. Myrtilus survived, but Oenomaus was dragged to death by his horses.
When Myrtilus tried to claim his reward and have sex with Hippodamia, Pelops killed Myrtilus by throwing him off a cliff into the sea. As Matylus died, he curse Pelops. This was the source of the curse that haunted Hippodamia and Pelops' children Atreus and Thyestes as well as their descendants Agamemnon, Aegisthus, Menelaus, and Orestes.
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