Atreus (1316 BC-1218 BC) was a King of Mycenae in the Peloponnese during the 13th century BC. He was the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus.
Biography[]
Atreus was one of the sons of Pelops and Hippodamia, and he and his brother Thyestes were exiled by their father for murdering their half-brother Chrysippus in their desire for the throne of Olympia. They took refuge in Mycenae, where they ascended to the throne in the absence of King Eurystheus, who was fighting against Heracles' descendants; Eurystheus intended for their stewardship to be temporary, but his death in battle made it permanent. In 1218 BC, Atreus was murdered by the usurper Thyestes' son Aegisthus. Atreus' sons were Agamemnon and Menelaus, two of the Achaean leaders during the Trojan War; Aegisthus would kill Agamemnon in 1175 BC.