Editing Aegisthus (section)

== Family ==
Aegisthus was the son of [[Thyestes]] and Thyestes's own daughter [[Pelopia (daughter of Thyestes)|Pelopia]], an [[incest]]uous union motivated by his father's rivalry with the house of [[Atreus]] for the throne of [[Mycenae]]. Aegisthus murdered Atreus in order to restore his father to power, ruling jointly with him, only to be driven from power by Atreus's son [[Agamemnon]]. In another version, Aegisthus was the sole surviving son of Thyestes after Atreus killed his brother's children and served them to Thyestes in a meal.<ref>Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010). {{Google books|tOgWfjNIxoMC|Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman mythology.|page=13}}</ref>

While Agamemnon [[Trojan War|laid siege to Troy]], his estranged queen [[Clytemnestra]] took Aegisthus as a lover. The couple killed Agamemnon upon the king's return, making Aegisthus king of Mycenae once more. Aegisthus ruled for seven more years before his death at the hands of Agamemnon's son [[Orestes]].