Editing Mycenae (section)

==Mycenae in Greek mythology and legends==

===Kings of Mycenae===

{| style="margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;" border="0" width=700px class="wikitable sortable"
! King !! Notable information
|-
|width=111px|[[Perseus (mythology)|Perseus]]||Grandson of King [[Acrisius]] of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]]; Legendary founder of Mycenae and the Perseid dynasty; considered one of the greatest [[Greek hero|heroes]] and slayer of monsters before the times of [[Heracles]].
|-
|[[Electryon]]||Son of [[Perseus (mythology)|Perseus]] and [[Andromeda (mythology)|Andromeda]]; his succession was disputed by the [[Taphos|Taphians]] under [[Pterelaos]], who assaulted Mycenae, lost, and stole the cattle; the cattle were recovered by [[Amphitryon]], but he accidentally killed Electryon with a club in an unruly cattle incident.
|-
|[[Sthenelus (son of Perseus)|Sthenelus]]||Younger brother of [[Electryon]]; exiles [[Amphitryon]] after taking power; expands prestige of his kingdom by marrying [[Nicippe]], a daughter of King [[Pelops]] of [[Ancient Elis|Elis]], the most powerful state of the region; he was killed by [[Hyllus]], the son of [[Heracles]]. 
|-
|[[Eurystheus]]||Son of [[Sthenelus]]; resentful towards [[Heracles]] for his father's death, he persecutes the [[Heracleidae]]; final king of the Perseid dynasty when he and his sons are all killed during his war against [[Athens]] for housing the Heracleidae.
|-
|[[Atreus]]||Maternal uncle of [[Eurystheus]] and founder of the Atreid dynasty; competed against his brother [[Thyestes]] for the throne and persecuted him after winning; was killed by Thyestes's son [[Aegisthus]] to restore his father to the throne.
|-
|[[Thyestes]]||Brother of [[Atreus]]; ruled jointly with his son [[Aegisthus]]; exiled the sons of Atreus, [[Agamemnon]] and [[Menelaus]] to [[Sparta]]; both Thyestes and Aegisthus are removed from power and exiled after Menelaus becomes king of Sparta and invades to place his brother Agamemnon to the throne. 
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|[[Agamemnon]]||Son of [[Atreus]] and [[Aerope]]; commanded the Greeks during the [[Trojan War]]; his wife [[Clytemnestra]] becomes lovers with [[Aegisthus]] whom both plot and kill Agamemnon upon his return. 
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|[[Aegisthus]]||Son of [[Thyestes]]; returns to the throne after killing [[Agamemnon]] and rules Mycenae for 7 years; he and his lover [[Clytemnestra]] are killed by the son of Agamemnon, [[Orestes]] who is forced to flee and is pursued by the [[Erinyes]].
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|[[Aletes of Mycenae|Aletes]]||Son of [[Aegisthus]] and [[Clytemnestra]]; assumes the throne at a young age after his parents are killed by his half-brother [[Orestes]] who flees; Orestes returns several years later with troops and kills Aletes and takes the throne. 
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|[[Orestes]]||Son of [[Agamemnon]] and [[Clytemnestra]]; takes the throne after returning to Mycenae and killing his half-brother [[Aletes of Mycenae|Aletes]]; he spends his reign building a larger state in the Peloponnese; he dies in [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]] from a [[snake]] bite.
|-
|[[Tisamenus (son of Orestes)|Tisamenus]]||Son of [[Orestes]]; final king of the Atreid dynasty; he was killed in the final battle with the [[Heracleidae]] who sought to retake the [[Peloponnese]] as their ancestral lands; they divided his territories amongst themselves and brought the end of the Mycenaean Kingdom.
|}

===Perseid dynasty===
{{main|Perseids (mythology)}}
[[File:Pompejanischer Maler des 1. Jahrhunderts 001.jpg|thumb|[[Perseus]], from [[Pompeii]]]]

Classical Greek myths assert that Mycenae was founded by [[Perseus]], grandson of king [[Acrisius]] of [[Argos, Peloponnese|Argos]], son of Acrisius's daughter, [[Danaë]] and the god [[Zeus]]. Having killed his grandfather by accident, Perseus could not, or would not, inherit the throne of Argos. Instead he arranged an exchange of realms with his cousin, [[Megapenthes]], and became king of [[Tiryns]], Megapenthes taking Argos. After that, he founded Mycenae and ruled the kingdoms jointly from there.

Perseus married [[Andromeda (mythology)|Andromeda]] and had many sons. His son, [[Electryon]], became the second of the dynasty, but the succession was disputed by the [[Taphos|Taphians]] under [[Pterelaos]], another Perseid, who assaulted Mycenae, lost, and retreated with the cattle. The cattle were recovered by [[Amphitryon]], a grandson of Perseus, but he killed his uncle by accident with a club in an unruly cattle incident and had to go into exile.

The throne went to [[Sthenelus]], third in the dynasty, a son of Perseus. He set the stage for future greatness by marrying [[Nicippe]], a daughter of King [[Pelops]] of [[Ancient Elis|Elis]], the most powerful state of the region and the times. With her he had a son, [[Eurystheus]], the fourth and last of the Perseid dynasty. When a son of [[Heracles]], [[Hyllus]], killed Sthenelus, Eurystheus became noted for his enmity to Heracles and for his ruthless persecution of the [[Heracleidae]], the descendants of Heracles.

This is the first we hear in legend of those noted sons, who became a symbol of the [[Dorians]]. Heracles had been a Perseid. After his death, Eurystheus determined to annihilate these rivals for the throne of Mycenae, but they took refuge in Athens, and in the course of war, Eurystheus and all his sons were killed. The Perseid dynasty came to an end and the people of Mycenae placed Eurystheus's maternal uncle, [[Atreus]], a Pelopid, on the throne.

===Atreid dynasty===
The people of Mycenae had received advice from an [[oracle]] that they should choose a new king from among the Pelopids. The two contenders were [[Atreus]] and his brother, [[Thyestes]]. The latter was chosen at first. At this moment nature intervened and the sun appeared to reverse direction by setting in the east. Atreus argued that because the sun had reversed its path, the election of Thyestes should be reversed. The argument was heeded, and Atreus became king. His first move was to pursue Thyestes and all his family – that is, his own kin – but Thyestes managed to escape from Mycenae.

[[File:The Return Of Agamemnon - Project Gutenberg eText 14994.png|thumb|left|''The Return of Agamemnon'', illustration from ''Stories from the Greek Tragedians'' by Alfred Church, 1897]]

In legend, Atreus had two sons, [[Agamemnon]] and [[Menelaus]], the Atreids. [[Aegisthus]], the son of Thyestes, killed Atreus and restored Thyestes to the throne. With the help of King [[Tyndareus]] of [[Sparta]], the Atreids drove Thyestes again into exile. Tyndareus had two ill-starred daughters, [[Helen of Troy|Helen]] and [[Clytemnestra]], whom Menelaus and Agamemnon married, respectively. Agamemnon inherited Mycenae and Menelaus became king of Sparta.

[[File:The Murder Of Agamemnon - Project Gutenberg eText 14994.png|thumb|right|The Murder of Agamemnon, illustration from ''Stories from the Greek Tragedians'' by Alfred Church, 1897]]

====Homeric poems====
Soon, Helen eloped with [[Paris (mythology)|Paris]] of [[Troy]]. Agamemnon conducted a 10-year war against Troy to get her back for his brother. Because of lack of wind, the warships could not sail to [[Troy]]. In order to please the gods so that they might make the winds start to blow, [[Agamemnon]] sacrificed his daughter [[Iphigenia]]. According to some versions of the legend, the hunting goddess [[Artemis]] replaced her at the very last moment with a [[deer]] on the altar, and took [[Iphigenia]] to [[History of Crimea#Tauri and Scythians|Tauris]] (see ''[[Iphigenia in Tauris]]'' by [[Euripides]]). The deities, having been satisfied by such a sacrifice, made the winds blow and the Greek fleet departed.

Legend tells us that the long and arduous Trojan War, although nominally a Greek victory, brought anarchy, piracy, and ruin; already before the Greek fleet set sail for Troy, the conflict had divided the gods as well, and this contributed to curses and acts of vengeance following many of the Greek heroes. After the war [[Agamemnon]] returned to Mycenae and was greeted royally with a red carpet rolled out for him. Shortly thereafter, he was slain by [[Clytemnestra]], who hated him bitterly for having ordered the sacrifice of their daughter [[Iphigenia]] in order to gain favorable winds to Troy. Clytemnestra was aided in her crime by Aegistheus, her lover, who reigned subsequently, but [[Orestes (mythology)|Orestes]], her son by Agamemnon, was smuggled out to [[Phocis]]. He returned as an adult with his sister [[Electra]] to slay Clytemnestra and Aegistheus. He then fled to Athens to evade justice and a matricide, and became insane for a time. Meanwhile, the throne of Mycenae went to [[Aletes (son of Aegisthus)|Aletes]], son of Aegistheus, but not for long. Recovering, Orestes returned to Mycenae with Electra to kill Aletes and took the throne. This story is told in numerous plays, including the [[Oresteia]], [[Electra (Sophocles play)|Sophocles' ''Electra'']], and [[Electra (Euripides play)|Euripides' ''Electra'']].

====End of the Atreids====
Orestes then built a larger state in the Peloponnese, but he died in [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]] from a [[snake]] bite. His son, [[Tisamenus]], the last of the Atreid dynasty, was killed by the [[Heracleidae]] on their return to the [[Peloponnesus]]. They claimed the right of the Perseids to inherit the various kingdoms of the Peloponnese and cast lots for the dominion of them, thus leaving the Atreids as the final rulers of Legendary Mycenae.