Sterope
nymphA Pleiad, daughter of Atlas and Pleione, whose name means "lightning face" and who bore Oenomaus to the war god Ares.
The Myth
Sterope (also called Asterope) was one of the seven Pleiades, those daughters of Atlas who were pursued by the hunter Orion until Zeus placed them among the stars for safety. Her name connects to sterope, 'lightning flash,' suggesting the sharp, brief brilliance that defined her.
She became the lover of Ares, the god of war, and bore him Oenomaus, who grew to be king of Pisa in Elis and a man consumed by a dark prophecy. An oracle had told Oenomaus he would be killed by his son-in-law, so he challenged every suitor for his daughter Hippodamia to a chariot race — and killed them when they lost. Thirteen suitors died before Pelops finally won, with the help of divine horses and a bribed charioteer who sabotaged Oenomaus's axle.
The consequences rippled forward through generations. Pelops married Hippodamia and founded the Pelopid dynasty, which produced Atreus, Agamemnon, and the entire cursed house that drove the Trojan War and the tragedies of Aeschylus. Sterope's grandson's paranoid violence set the whole chain in motion.
Parents
Atlas and Pleione
Children
Oenomaus (by Ares)
Symbols
Fun Fact
The chain of curses leading to Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, and Orestes all traces back to Sterope's son Oenomaus murdering thirteen young men to avoid a prophecy about his son-in-law.
Explore Further
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Ares
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Pelops
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Agamemnon
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Ares (War God)
godThe god of the savage violence of battle — feared, hated, and necessary, embodying the bloodlust...
Atlas
titanThe Titan who was condemned to hold the celestial sphere on his shoulders for eternity. His name...
Atlas (Pillar of Heaven)
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Atreus
heroKing of Mycenae who murdered his nephews and fed them to his brother Thyestes, establishing the...
Clytemnestra
heroClytemnestra murdered Agamemnon on his return from Troy, driven by rage over Iphigenia's sacrifice.
Hippodamia of the Lapiths
heroLapith princess whose wedding to Pirithous was disrupted when centaurs attempted to abduct her,...
Orestes
heroOrestes killed his mother to avenge his father — then was acquitted by Athena's court.