Atreus and Fiesta

The sons of the great hero Pelops were Atreus and fiest. The charioteer of King Oenomaus once cursed Pelops Myrtil, treacherously killed by Pelops, and with his curse doomed the entire genus of Pelops to great atrocities and death. Myrtil's curse weighed heavily on Atreus and Fiesta. They committed a number of atrocities. Destroyed Atreus and Fiesta Chrysippus, the son of the nymph Axions and their father Pelops. This is the mother of Atreus and Fiesta Hippodamia persuaded to kill Chrysippus. Having committed this atrocity, they fled from their father's kingdom, fearing his wrath, and took refuge with the king of Mycenae Sphenel, the son of Perseus, who was married to their sister Nikippe. When did Sphenel and his son die Eurystheus, captured by Iolaus, died at the hands of his mother Hercules Alkmene, Atreus began to rule over the Mycenaean kingdom, since Eurystheus left no heirs. His brother Fiest was jealous of Atreus and decided to take away his power in any way. He stole from his brother, with the help of Atreus' wife Aeropa, a golden-crowned ram given to him by god by Hermes. Fiest stole this ram because it was said by the gods: "the one who owns the golden-crowned ram will rule over Mycenae." Having kidnapped aries, Fiest demanded power over the kingdom - after all, he had aries. Angry at the Fiesta Zeus-the thunderer, by heavenly signs he made it clear to the inhabitants of Mycenae that he was trying to seize the Fiesta power in an unholy way. The Mycenaeans refused to recognize Fiesta as king, and he, fleeing from his brother's anger, was forced to flee Mycenae. Taking revenge on his brother, he secretly took away Atreus' son from Mycenae, Polysthenes. In a foreign land, Fiest brought up Polysthenes as his own son, and inspired him with a great hatred for Atreus. The insidious Fiest wanted to use Polysthenes as an instrument of revenge against his brother. When Polysthenes grew up, Fiestes sent him to Mycenae, telling him to kill Atreus. But the young man himself fell by the hand of his father. Atreus was horrified when he found out who the young man he had killed was. He swore to take revenge on his brother and came up with an insidious and brutal plan. Atreus, in order to carry out his plan, pretended that he was ready to reconcile with the Fiesta. He sent to his brother and called him to return to Mycenae. When Fiestos returned to Mycenae, he and Atreus' wife Aerope began plotting against Atreus again, thinking only about how to kill his brother. Atreus knew about this, and his determination to take revenge on his treacherous brother became even stronger. He ordered to secretly seize the sons of Fiesta, the young Polysthenes and Tantalus, and kill them. From their bodies, Atreus prepared a terrible meal for his brother.

He invited Fiesta to a feast and set before him viands of the meat of his sons. The thunder of Zeus rolled across the sky. The Thunderer was angry with Atreus for his evil deed. The radiant sun god Helios also shuddered with horror, he turned his chariot and drove his winged horses back to the east, so as not to see how the father would be fed with the meat of his sons. Fiest, suspecting nothing, sat down to a meal and ate quietly. Fed up with the Fiesta. Suddenly a vague premonition of great misfortune seized him, and he asked Atreus about his sons. Atreus called the servants and told them to show the heads and legs of Polysthenes and Tantalus to the Fiesta. Fiest wept when he saw that his sons had died. He begged Atreus to give him the corpses of his sons to bury them. But Atreus replied to his brother that his sons were already buried by him, but not in the ground, but in himself. In horror, Fiest realized what kind of food he had just eaten. He knocked over the table and fell to the floor with a terrible scream. Distraught with grief, he finally jumped up and, cursing Atreus and his entire family, ran out of the palace. Remembering nothing, seeing nothing, he fled from Mycenae Fiesta and took refuge in the desert. He hid there for a long time, finally came to the king of Epirus Fesprot, who gave him shelter.

The gods were angry with Atreus for the atrocities he had committed. To punish him, they sent a crop failure on Argolis. Nothing grew in the fat fields. Famine reigned in the domain of Atreus. Thousands of residents died. Atreus turned to the oracle to find out about the cause of the misfortune. The oracle gave the answer that the disaster would stop only when the Fiesta was returned to Mycenae. Atreus searched all over Greece for his brother for a long time, but could not open his hiding place. Finally, he found his young son Egisf. Atreus brought Aegisphus to his palace and raised him as a son.

Many years have passed. Somehow by chance the sons of Atreus, Menelaus and Agamemnon, discovered where the Fiesta is hiding. They managed to capture Fiesta and bring him to Mycenae. Atreus did not reconcile with his brother. He imprisoned him in a dungeon and decided to kill him. He called Egisphus, gave him a sharp sword, ordered him to go to the dungeon and kill the prisoner there. Egisf did not know what terrible task Atreus, whom he considered his father, was sending him to. As soon as Egisf entered the prison, he immediately recognized in him his son Fiest. He revealed to him who he was, and the father and son immediately made a plan in the dungeon to destroy Atreus. Aegisphus returned to the palace and told Atreus that he had obeyed his orders and killed the prisoner. Atreus was glad that he had finally managed to ruin his brother. He hastened to the seashore to sacrifice to the Olympian gods. Here, during the sacrifice, Aegisphus stabbed him to death with the same sword that Atreus had given him to kill his father with. Released Egisf Fiesta from prison. Fiestes and his son seized power over Mycenae. The sons of Atreus, Menelaus and Agamemnon, were forced to flee. They found protection from the king of Sparta Tyndarea. There they married the daughters of Tyndareus - Menelaus, beautiful as a goddess Aphrodite, Elena, and Agamemnon - on Clytemnestre. After a while Agamemnon returned to Mycenae, killed Fiesta and began to rule where his father once ruled. Menelaus, after the death of Tyndareus, became king of Sparta.