(Following the cycle of blood shed among the relatives in the Orestia) .
It all started when Thyestes seduced Atreus" wife and contested his right to the throne. To get even, Atreus killed Thyestes children and fed them to him. When Thyestes realized what his brother had done he cursed him and his descendants. From that point on the house of Atreus saw many wrongs and much retaliation. Vengeance was the theme that surrounded it. There"s a Spanish quote that comes to mind when I think of the House of Atreus; "La venganza nunca es buena, mata el alma y te envenena." Which means, "Vengeance is never a good thing, it kills your soul and it poisons you." Except, it seems like for the House of Atreus the quote is more like "it poisons your soul and it kills you. " .
Atreus had two sons, Agammemnon and Menelaus. Agammemnon would be the second of the family to commit murder in cold blood. He however, did not kill to avenge something that had been done to him. He killed to get something he wanted. He wanted to win a war. A war to which he would take hundreds of warriors to fight and dieto return a woman to her husband. A woman who had left because she wanted to, not because the conflicting party had kidnapped her. Still, Agammemnon turns his daughter, Iphigeneia into a sacrificial victim for a God so that he can win the war. Like his father, Agammemnon lies to the victim. He tells his daughter and wife that they need to go to him because she is to be wed. When they get there instead of a wedding Iphigeneia receives death.
After he kills her daughter Agammemnon goes on to fight and win the war. Mean while, he expects Clytaemnestra to be sitting in her living room writing about how much she misses her adorable husband. But how can she? The man he married and loved leaves to go in search of a woman who left because she wanted to. Than after lying to her, he kills one of their children. And when he returns, he returns ten long years later with a mistress.
