Aerope
Queen of Mycenae whose adultery with Thyestes caused the devastating curse upon the House of Atreus
The Legend of Aerope
Aerope was a Cretan princess, daughter of King Catreus, who married Atreus, king of Mycenae. Her fateful adultery with Atreus's brother Thyestes became one of the most consequential betrayals in Greek mythology. When Atreus acquired a golden-fleeced lamb, a divine sign of kingship, he kept it as proof of his right to rule. Aerope secretly stole the lamb and gave it to her lover Thyestes, allowing him to claim the throne. Zeus intervened by reversing the course of the sun, confirming Atreus as the rightful king. When Atreus discovered the affair, his vengeance was horrific: he killed Thyestes' sons and served their flesh to their father at a feast. Aerope was cast into the sea for her betrayal. Her adultery ignited the cycle of murder and revenge that cursed the House of Atreus for generations.
Parents
Catreus
Children
Agamemnon and Menelaus
Symbols
Fun Fact
Aerope's theft of the golden lamb triggered the curse that would ultimately destroy three generations of the House of Atreus
Explore Further
Anaxibia
🗡 heroMarriage, royalty
Mycenaean princess who married Strophius of Phocis and raised the young Orestes in secret
Thyestes
🗡 herocurse
Brother of Atreus who seduced his sister-in-law and was tricked into eating his own children at the feast of Atreus.
Pandion
🗡 herokingship
King of Athens who married off his daughters Procne and Philomela, both of whom suffered terribly at the hands of Tereus.
Pelops
🗡 herokingship
Son of Tantalus, restored to life by the gods with an ivory shoulder, who won his bride by cheating in a chariot race and cursed his line.
Chrysippus
🗡 heroNone recorded
A son of Pelops whose abduction by Laius of Thebes brought a curse upon the house of Laius and introduced the theme of transgression that haunted the Oedipus cycle
Phaedra
🗡 heroQueen consumed by forbidden love
Phaedra was the wife of Theseus who was cursed by Aphrodite to fall hopelessly in love with her stepson Hippolytus — her suicide and false accusation destroyed him.
Pelops
🗡 heroFounder of the Peloponnese dynasty
Pelops was the prince served as food to the gods by his father Tantalus, restored to life with an ivory shoulder, and founder of the cursed dynasty that ruled Mycenae.
Cephalus and Procris
🗡 heroLovers destroyed by jealousy
Cephalus and Procris were devoted spouses whose mutual jealousy — tested by Eos and by a magic gift — led to Procris's accidental death.
Icarius
🗡 heroNone recorded
A legendary king of Sparta and father of Penelope who tried to prevent his daughter from leaving with Odysseus after her marriage
Anchises
🗡 heroLove, royalty, Troy
Trojan prince beloved by Aphrodite and father of Aeneas, the legendary founder of Rome
Paris
🗡 heroPrince who caused the Trojan War
Paris was the Trojan prince whose judgement of three goddesses and abduction of Helen ignited the Trojan War — the most consequential act of desire in Western mythology.
Megara
🗡 heroNone recorded
First wife of Heracles, given to him as a reward and later killed in his madness