Editing Mycenae (section)

===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.