S7E4 - The Curse of the House of Atreus

The stories featured in Greaking Out are original adaptations of classic Greek myths.

This week's story features lots of unaliving, trying to dodge prophecy, matricide, a deadly accident, a very uncomfortable dinner, cannibalism, and Clytemnestra's revenge.

So today's story is all about family and a pretty dysfunctional one at that.

If you've been listening to our show for a while now, you'll know that family drama is a fairly common theme in Greek mythology.

The Olympians came to power by winning a war against their own father, the Titan Cronus.

There has been family tension ever since.

Right, so while this topic isn't really new, today's saga is particularly bleak and a little violent.

It's about a family causing harm and destruction to each other for generations.

It's also about a curse.

There's that, too.

It all starts with Tantalus, king of Sipylus.

Listeners may remember Tantalus from an earlier episode of our show.

Tantalus was the king who killed his son and tried to trick the gods into eating him for dinner.

Yeah, that's pretty gross.

It's on record as being one of the most insulting things a human has ever done to a god.

Yeah, and you know your own son.

So we're starting off on a bad foot already with the way we're treating family, but Tantalus certainly suffered the consequences of his actions.

Zeus sent him to Tartarus, the prison in the underworld where he remained for all eternity.

But it wasn't just Tantalus who was punished for his crime.

Tantalus' family would go on to be plagued by one of the worst family curses in history, and many believe that it all started because of Tantalus' despicable actions.

So I guess, really, it should be called the curse of the house of Tantalus.

It is called the Curse of the House of Atreus because, by the time Atreus was born, the curse was very obvious.

The curse infected five generations, beginning with Tantalus.

and ending with Orestes, his great-great-grandson.

After Tantalus, the next in the family line was his son Pelops, the same son that Tantalus killed and served to the gods.

Pelops was resurrected and brought back to life by Zeus.

He was even given a prosthetic shoulder made from ivory to hide the spot where Demeter had taken a bite of his shoulder.

Yeah, that was nice.

And when Pelops was older, he wanted to find a wife, settle down, and start a family of his own.

And he had just the woman in mind, the beautiful Hippodamia of Pisa There was just one small problem Hippodamia's father King Oinemus didn't want her to get married You see the king had heard of a prophecy that his future son-in-law would be the one to kill him he figured the easiest way to stop this from happening was to never have a son-in-law to begin with still Hippodamia was quite the catch and suitors were starting to ask for her hand in marriage.

So the king decided to put a stop to these proposals by issuing a challenge.

All suitors must compete against me in a chariot race.

If the suitor wins, he gets to marry my daughter.

But if I win, I get to kill him.

Enter the race at your own risk.

13 suitors decided they were up for the challenge anyway.

But the king was an expert chariot driver and one by one the suitors were killed.

The king also used unbeatable horses, according to legend.

So when Pelops arrived at the scene, he was a little hesitant about joining the competition.

After all, he had already been killed once and he didn't want to repeat the experience anytime soon.

So he decided to ask one of the king's servants to help.

He chose a small, sickly-looking man that was responsible for washing the king's chariots.

The servant's name was Myrtilis.

You there, Pelops whispered.

I need you to help me beat the king in the race.

Myrtilis looked up in surprise.

He wasn't used to being addressed by men of Pelops' status, but he was smart enough to seize an opportunity when he saw one.

Of course I will help you, sir, Myrtilis replied, for a price.

Myrtilus' role and intention are interpreted differently across Greek mythology.

Right.

Some say he asked for a lot of money, and some say he asked to marry Hippodamia himself.

But whatever the agreement was, Pelops made the bargain with Martillus.

Now Martillus' plan was to replace a linchpin on one of the wheels of the king's chariot with one made of wax.

This would surely cause the wheel to fly off during the race.

Pelops would win, accept the compliments of his new father-in-law, and live his best life.

So the next morning, Pelops entered his chariot and prepared to compete against the king.

He felt the sun beating down on his face as he readied his horses.

Hippodamia watched from the side with a look of annoyance on her face.

You can imagine how this whole process was pretty miserable for her, right?

She, like many Greek women of the time, didn't have a choice in who she would marry, but she was forced to endure these races regardless.

When the race started, the king's chariot took off quick as a flash.

Pelops tried to keep up, but he knew it was futile.

The king really was an incredibly talented racer.

Pelops was starting to panic.

He prayed that Myrtilis' plan would be successful.

Suddenly, a back wheel spun off the king's chariot.

It was working!

Pelops watched as the vessel rocked and weaved until it suddenly turned over and crashed.

Pelops didn't stick around to see what happened next.

He rode straight to the finish line as fast as he could.

Chariots are the racing vehicle of choice in most of Greek mythology.

They are typically composed of a small cart, two wheels, and four spokes.

They are pulled by horses that are usually not unbeatable.

Well, that's true, but even with unbeatable horses, the king couldn't overcome a missing wheel and a chariot crash.

The king's crash was really bad, too.

Pelops could see the wreckage behind him, and there was no movement there.

But it didn't matter.

All that mattered was that Pelops had won.

He had done it.

Victory was his.

Pelops pulled his chariot over at the finish line, which was located on the beach, surrounded by cliffs.

To greet the crowd and claim his prize, he'd have to climb up the rope ladder hanging off the cliffside.

He was just one climb away from his new life with Hippodamia by his side.

But before he could make the climb, he found himself face to face with Myrtilis.

Sir, my payment, please.

Martillis had found his way to the beach and was already demanding his reward.

See, he was nervous now that the deed was done.

Surely, someone would figure out what had caused the crash eventually, and he needed to take his reward and get out of town quickly.

But Pelops was starting to worry too.

Martillis was the only person who knew what really happened in that race.

And now that the crimes had elevated from sabotage to potential regicide, the stakes were higher.

Sabotage is to purposefully damage or destroy something, usually for personal gain.

And regicide is the killing of a king or queen.

Right, and one of those is much worse than the other.

What if Myrtilis told someone?

Pelops would lose everything.

He would never get to marry Hippodamia if the truth came out.

No.

This needed to end now.

Let me climb up the ladder and get your reward.

Follow me up, Pelops said.

He climbed to the top of the cliff and looked down at Martillus, climbing behind him.

When Martillus reached the top, without a word, Pelops pushed him backwards off the ladder, causing him to fall to his death.

When people saw Martillis' body, Pelops claimed it was an accident and the old man had slipped.

I feel obligated to point out that there are many other ways Pelops could have handled that situation.

Yeah, you are right about that.

Many people think that this is the real reason the curse of the house of Atreus exists.

Some claim that Martillus cursed Pelops and his entire family while he was falling to his death.

Seems plausible to me.

Okay, so while the origin of the curse is debatable, one thing is for certain.

Pelops' family would endure tragedy for years to come.

He'd killed his own father-in-law, after all.

That was a violation of family bonds that isn't easily recovered from.

Well, things turned out okay for Pelops.

He returned to Pisa as king and organized chariot races for the Olympic Games.

He was beloved by many.

This area of Greece is called the Peloponnese Peninsula, named after Pelops.

Sure, on paper, things were looking good for Pelops, but in actuality, his family life was falling apart.

Hippodamia never fully trusted him and secretly suspected him for the death of Myrtilis and her father.

Smart woman.

His sister and nieces and nephews suffered tragedy after tragedy.

And his sons, Atreus and his brother, were truly some of the most horrible characters in Greek mythology.

We're going to skip over them because they were mostly horrible and not very interesting.

Which brings us to the next generation.

Atreus had two sons before he died, Agamemnon and Menelaus.

Those names ring a bell?

Well, before we get to them, we're going to take a short break.

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Welcome back.

Yeah, you heard me right.

Atreus's two sons were Agamemnon and Menelaus.

You might remember those names from last season.

Agamemnon and Menelaus played key roles in the Trojan War.

Exactly.

We are talking about that Agamemnon and that Menelaus.

For a while, things seemed like they were looking up for the house of Atreus.

The two brothers were living in Sparta, a very prominent kingdom at the time, and even married two Spartan princesses.

Agamemnon married Clytemnestra and became king of Argos.

And Menelaus married her beautiful sister Helen and became king of Sparta.

Like I said, things were going relatively well, but if you followed along last season, you know that things don't exactly stay that way for the two brothers.

While it seemed like Menelaus had a happy marriage with Helen, she soon left Sparta with Paris, the Prince of Troy, starting what would become the legendary Trojan War.

Helen is known as the face that launched 1,000 ships.

Or, as I pointed out last season, 1,186 ships.

But...

She wasn't the one who was cursed.

So, maybe it wasn't her face that launched ships.

Hey, you you got a point there, Oracle.

Menelaus spent the next decade fighting the Trojan War, pining after Helen, his lost love.

And while some say things eventually worked out with Menelaus and Helen, there were still countless deaths and destruction surrounding them, not to mention the ruin of an entire city as a result of their union.

And while Agamemnon's marriage didn't exactly have the ripple effects of Menelaus and Helen's, it was just as unfortunate.

Things really started to go wrong for Agamemnon and Clytemnestra at the start of the Trojan War.

Again, you might remember this story from last season, but let me provide a quick rewind.

Agamemnon had just convinced everyone, including the great warrior Achilles, to come and fight in the Trojan War.

He had everybody on board the ships, and they were all ready to sail to Troy, except there was no wind.

Sailboats don't work without wind, so the boats couldn't make the voyage.

Some say this happened because the goddess Artemis was angry angry that Agamemnon killed her sacred deer in a hunting expedition.

But it could also be another example of the curse of the house of Atreus at work.

True, but curse or no curse, there was no wind and Agamemnon had to do something to get his army to Troy.

When he asked an oracle for advice, she told him that he would have to sacrifice his daughter, Iphigenia, to make amends.

Now, in some versions of the story, Iphigenia was actually sacrificed, and in others, the goddess Artemis was able to save her at the last second.

I am a fan of the second version, where she makes it out alive.

Me too, Oracle, me too.

But despite the outcome of Iphigenia's fate, the intent was clear.

Agamemnon was willing to sacrifice his own daughter to start the Trojan War and achieve fame and power.

And like any good mother, Clytemnestra didn't exactly take this well.

She was furious and spent the years of the Trojan War devastated and heartbroken.

She remained behind in Mycenae and truly believed her daughter to be dead.

While she was still legally married to Agamemnon, in her heart, the two had separated years ago.

She even ended up with a new boyfriend, Agisthus.

Incidentally, Aegisthus was Agamemnon's cousin, meaning, spoiler, alert, he was also ruined by the curse of the house of Atreus.

When Agamemnon finally returned 10 years later, after starting a massive war and sacrificing her daughter in the process, Clytemnestra wasn't exactly happy to see him.

That first night at dinner was a tense one.

Clytemnestra couldn't believe that Agamemnon dared to come back into their home after what he had done to their daughter.

Agamemnon couldn't believe that Clytemnestra was dating his cousin.

And Aegisthus couldn't believe that he would once again be playing second fiddle to Agamemnon.

We have to do something, Clytemnestra whispered to Aegisthus that night after everyone had gone to bed.

He can't get away with what he has done.

He can't just come back here and pretend like everything is fine.

It didn't take much convincing for Aegisthus to get on board.

He knew that getting rid of Agamemnon would only benefit his power in Mycenae.

And so, Aegisthus and Clytemnestra snuck into Agamemnon's chambers and made sure that he did not wake up in the morning.

You mean they killed him?

Well, yeah, I was trying to be a little more poetic about it but yes they straight up murdered him there is certainly a lot of death in this story I tried to warn you and unfortunately it just gets worse you see Iphigenia wasn't Agamemnon's only child he had two other children with Clytemnestra a son named Orestes who was the youngest and a daughter named Electra While the Trojan War was underway, Orestes had been sent off to live with his family members, but Elektra had remained at home.

And while she loved her mother, Elektra missed her father greatly.

She spent every night praying for Agamemnon's return.

Even though Clytemnestra told her about the horrible thing he had done, Elektra didn't truly believe her.

She knew that there had to be an explanation.

She spent years waiting for her father to come home so that she could hear his side of the story.

But she was never given the opportunity to talk with him.

Because he was murdered by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.

Precisely.

Elektra was blinded by her anger over this.

She couldn't understand how her mother could do such a thing.

Elektra wanted revenge, but she knew she needed help.

So she called her brother Orestes to come home and lend a hand.

When Orestes arrived, Elektra convinced him that it was his responsibility to handle the situation and avenge Agamemnon's death.

Avenging your father is fairly common in ancient Greece.

In fact, it was practically considered to be be a son's greatest duty.

Well that may be true but Orestes was in a bit of a tough situation because in order to avenge his father he'd have to kill his own mother and that was definitely not a common practice in ancient Greece or you know today anywhere.

Matricide the act of killing one's own mother is one of the most horrific crimes a person could commit in ancient Greece.

It was offensive to mortals and gods alike.

Right, ancient Greeks really put a lot of importance on taking care of your family, and this

was not how you did it.

Orestes didn't know what to do.

He had been sent away his entire life, and truly, he had no loyalty to either parent.

But Electra, who he was close to, was pressuring him to defend his father's honor.

You are his son, she proclaimed.

You have to do something.

It is your duty.

So Orestes Orestes prayed to Apollo, who sent him to an oracle for guidance.

This oracle was the oracle of Delphi, which we will talk about later this season.

You are your father's son.

You have to avenge him and reclaim his honor, the oracle said.

Orestes felt like he had no choice.

His sister wanted him to do it.

The oracle wanted him to do it.

He felt like he had to do it.

So, somewhat reluctantly, he did.

Orestes killed both Clytemnestra and Aegisthus.

The exact details are unclear.

When people found out what Orestes had done, he was immediately an outcast, taunted by anyone he encountered on the streets.

He wasn't welcome anywhere, and he certainly wasn't considered eligible for the throne or any other leadership position.

But nothing was worse than his own guilt.

At night, he was visited by the Furies, immortal beings who tormented anyone who committed horrendous crimes.

The Furies, otherwise known as the Orinoes, were actually goddesses of vengeance.

They punished people for crimes against the natural order, like killing your own mother, for instance.

Yeah, they were particularly terrifying creatures that made life rather unpleasant.

They also had snakes for hair, which I consider to be a positive attribute, but others may disagree.

Orestes prayed to Apollo again for help because he couldn't do anything else.

Please, Apollo, he began.

I asked your oracle for wisdom and I acted on her guidance.

Now I am truly miserable.

What should I do?

How can I redeem myself?

Apollo wasn't sure.

Your situation is particularly unique.

I will ask the goddess Athena for her wisdom.

Perhaps she can help.

Athena listened intently when Orestes told her his story and tried to think of a solution.

While I understand where you are coming from, she began.

You have committed a crime and your actions do deserve consequence.

We shall let others decide your fate and determine what those consequences should be.

Athena suggested that Orestes have an official trial and let the outcome be decided by his peers.

The ancient Greeks considered this to be the first trial in their history.

Orestes pleaded his case and the jury listened intently.

When it came time for deliberations, they couldn't reach an agreement.

Athena decided that she would be the tiebreaker.

This is not very professional and would never be an acceptable course of action in today's judicial system.

And because Orestes had spoken so honestly and truly and seemed to regret his actions, she ruled in his favor.

Orestes was allowed to return to the kingdom and take the throne in his father's place.

I truly believe that you have learned your lesson, Athena said.

You will be a great king and a great father someday.

I'm sure you will be the one to break the curse.

Orestes was confused.

Curse?

What curse?

Orestes asked.

The one that has haunted your family for decades.

But Orestes had never heard of this curse before.

He had no idea that his family had been doomed for generations.

Now Orestes was angry.

If they had never been cursed, maybe none of this would have happened.

Lives could have been saved.

Wars could have been prevented.

His father could still be alive.

I will never have children, Orestes swore.

This curse will end with me.

And Orestes kept his promise.

He knew that the curse of the house of Atreus would only cause more pain and suffering in the world, and he could not let that happen.

And so, when Orestes died, the house of Atreus officially died out, and the curse was finally broken.

Is that the end of the episode?

Yeah, that's it.

It was a bit of a downer.

It was a bit depressing, I'll admit, but there were some good lessons there.

Like, don't kill your mom.

Well, yeah, but uh...

Or sacrifice your daughter to start a war.

Well, yeah, okay, that too, sure.

Or eat people.

You know, I was going to comment on the flawed human condition and our need for love and family and forgiveness, but you know what?

Yeah, let's just go with what you're saying.

Creaking out.

Thanks for listening.

This one was kind of a bunch of bummers all in one.

But next week we have some good, clean, spooky fun with some underworld beans.

Listen and you'll see it creaking

out.

National Geographic Kids Creaking Out is written by Kenny Curtis and Jillian Hughes and hosted by Kenny Curtis, with Tori Kerr as the Oracle of Wi-Fi, audio production and sound design by Scotty Beam, and our theme song was composed by Perry Gripp.

Dr.

Adria Haluska was our subject matter expert, and Emily Everhart is our producer.