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679px-William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1825-1905) - The Remorse of Orestes (1862)

Orestes was pursued by the Furies for committing matricide

Orestes was the only son of Agamemnon and Clytaemnestra. He was the grandson of (paternally) Atreus and Aerope and (maternally) Tyndareus and Leda. Thus he inherited both the kingdoms of Mycenae and Sparta. He was also the last member of his family to be affected by the curse placed upon his family.

Murder of Agamemnon[]

When his father returned from Troy he was murdered by Clytaemnestra and Aegisthus (Orestes' uncle). As the only male descendant of Agamemnon, Aegisthus planned to kill him, however, Orestes' sister Electra, smuggled him out of Mycenae to the court of king Strophius, their father's brother-in-law. When he was 20, he returned with Pylades, his cousin. With the instruction of Apollo and Athena, he kills his mother and her lover and is subsequently plagued by the Erinyes/Furies. Eventally, he was tried for matricide by the gods and acquitted by Athena and Apollo. He eventually married Hermione, daughter of Helen and Menelaus, inheriting almost all of the Peloponnese. His sister Electra, married Pylades.

Later life[]

Orestes is said to have died at age 70 in Arcadia by a snake bite.

Family[]

Atreid Genealogy in Greek mythology
 
 
 
 
Plouto
 
Zeús
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hḗrā
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tantalus
 
Eurythemista
 
Árēs
 
Sterope
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Oenomaus of Pisa
 
Evarete
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Oeme
 
 
Broteas
 
 
 
 
Niobe
 
Amphion
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Perseus of Mycenae
 
Andromeda
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pelops
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hippodamia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tantalus
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Atreus
 
Aerope
 
 
 
Thyestes
 
 
 
Nicippe
 
Sthenelus
 
Electyron
 
Eurydice
 
Astydamia
 
Alcaeus
 
Pittheus
 
Henioche
 
Alcathous
 
Pyrgo
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Pelopia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Eurystheus
 
Zeús
 
Alcmene
 
 
 
 
 
Amphitryon
 
 
 
 
 
Aethra
 
Aegeus of Athens
 
Periboea
 
Telamon of Aegina
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Helen
 
Menelaus
 
 
 
Agamemnon
 
Clytaemnestra
 
Aegisthus
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hḗrācles
 
 
 
Iphicles
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Theseus
 
 
 
 
 
Ajax
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hermione
 
 
 
Orestes
 
 
Iphigenia
 
 
 
Electra
 
Pylades
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Tisamenus
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Strophius
 
 
 
 
 
Medon
Preceded by:
Aegisthus (Second Rule)
King of Mycenae
Mythic
Succeeded by
Tisamenus


Preceded by:
Menelaus
King of Sparta
Mythic
Succeeded by
Tisamenus
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