Editing Oresteia (section)

== Relation to the curse of the House of Atreus ==
The House of [[Atreus]] began with [[Tantalus]], son of Zeus, who murdered his son, [[Pelops]], and attempted to feed him to the gods. The gods, however, were not tricked and banished Tantalus to the Underworld and brought his son back to life. Later in life Pelops and his family line were cursed by [[Myrtilus]], a son of Hermes, catalyzing the curse of the House of Atreus. Pelops had two children, Atreus and [[Thyestes]], who are said to have killed their half-brother Chrysippus, and were therefore banished.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022%3Atext%3DEpitome%3Abook%3DE%3Achapter%3D2%3Asection%3D12 E.2.12]; [[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]], ''Chiliades'' [https://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html#18 1.18.30]</ref>

Thyestes and [[Aerope]], Atreus' wife, were found out to be having an affair, and in an act of vengeance, Atreus murdered his brother's sons, cooked them, and then fed them to Thyestes. Thyestes had a son with his daughter and named him Aegisthus, who went on to kill Atreus.

Atreus' children were [[Agamemnon]], [[Menelaus]], and [[Anaxibia]]. Leading up to here, we can see that the curse of the House of Atreus was one forged from murder, incest and deceit, and continued in this way for generations through the family line. To put it simply, the curse demands blood for blood, a never ending cycle of murder within the family.<ref>Aeschylus. ''The Agamemnon of Aeschylus.'' London :J. W. Parker, 1848.</ref><ref>Powell, Barry P.  ''Classical Myth''. Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1998.

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Those who join the family seem to play a part in the curse as well, as seen in Clytemnestra when she murders her husband Agamemnon, in revenge for sacrificing their daughter, Iphigenia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Zeitlin|first=Froma I.|date=1966-01-01|title=Postscript to Sacrificial Imagery in the Oresteia (Ag. 1235–37)|jstor=2936034|journal=Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association|volume=97|pages=645–653|doi=10.2307/2936034}}</ref> Orestes, goaded by his sister Electra, murders Clytemnestra in order to exact revenge for her killing his father.<ref name="fagles188">Fagles (1977), p. 188</ref>

Orestes is said to be the end of the curse of the House of Atreus. The curse holds a major part in the ''Oresteia'' and is mentioned in it multiple times, showing that many of the characters are very aware of the curse's existence. Aeschylus was able to use the curse in his play as an ideal formulation of tragedy in his writing.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Aeschylus |title=Eumenides |last2=Sommerstein |first2=Alan H. |date=1989 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-24084-0 |series=Cambridge Greek and Latin classics |location=Cambridge [England] ; New York}}</ref>