28 Oct The curse of the House of Atreus – The curse began with King Tantalus, who attempted to test the gods’ omniscience (hubris)
Greek mythology and literature include the histories of several dynasties—those based in Thebes, Crete, Athens, and Mycenae—whose inveterate moral failures brought down retribution upon generation after generation.
The curse placed upon the House of Atreus started before the time of Atreus himself, and was first brought down upon the family line by Tantalus.
Tantalus was the son of Zeus, and would become the king of Sipylus, and by the nymph Dione, Tantalus would become father to Niobe, Broteas and Pelops.
The Banquet of Tantalus
Tantalus was in a privileged position, and was privy to some of his father’s plan, this though made him conceited, and taken to exceeding the boundaries expected of mortals. On one occasion Tantalus even went as far as playing a “joke” upon the gods.
Tantalus invited all of the gods of Mount Olympus to a fantastic banquet, and for some unknown reason, Tantalus decided that the main course would be made from the body parts of his own son Pelops. Thus Pelops was killed and cut up before being served to the gods.
All bar Demeter, amongst the gods saw what Tantalus had done, and refused to eat, but Demeter was distracted, for her daughter Persephone had gone missing, and automatically took a bite from the meal in front of her.
The gods would bring Pelops back to life, but one bone was missing, the shoulder having been consumed by Demeter, and so the goddess crafted a replacement bone from ivory.
When Pelops was brought back to life he was an improved version of himself, for the work of the gods had made him more handsome than before.
The actions of Tantalus was said to be the starting point for the curse placed upon the House of Atreus.
The gods denounced Tantalus’s act as an atrocity. As punishment, they imprisoned him for all eternity, hungry and thirsty, in a pool of water beneath fruit-laden branches that forever elude his grasp. (Tantalus’s name is the root of the English word “tantalize.”)
His children would suffer also for Niobe would witness the slaughter of her children, and Broteas self-immolated.
Pelops himself would leave Sipylus, and arrive at the kingdom of Oenomaus at Pisa (Greece).
The House of Atreus was plagued by corruption, curses, betrayal, incest, and the most heinous crime of all, the murder of family members. And the tale had just started …
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SOURCES :
1. ancientgreecereloaded.com
2. metopera.org
3. wikipedia
IMAGE : The Banquet of Tantalus ,Hugues Taraval,1767
