Aerope

Mortal Cretan princess, daughter of Catreus son of Minos; wife of Atreus and mother of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Her adultery with her husband's brother Thyestes — and her theft of the golden lamb to give him — is the human spark of the Atreid feud. Drowned at sea by Atreus in the dominant tradition. The mortal mother through whom the commander Agamemnon and his brother Menelaus descend.

Children

• Agamemnon
• Anaxibia daughter of Atreus
• Menelaus

Domains

• queenship

Relations

• spouse: AtreusApollod. Epit. 2.10; Soph. Aj. 1295-1297 (primary)
• lover: ThyestesApollod. Epit. 2.10-12; Eur. Or. 1009-1010 (primary)
• mother of: AgamemnonApollod. Epit. 2.15-16; Hom. Il. 2.104-108 (Atreid line) (primary)
• mother of: Anaxibia daughter of AtreusApollod. Epit. 2.16; Paus. 2.29.4 (primary)

Sources

• existence: Soph. Ajax 1295-1297; Eur. Cretan Women (fr.), Orestes 1009-1010; Apollodorus 3.2.1-2, Epitome 2.10-16; Hyg. Fab. 86 (primary)
• parentage: Apollod. 3.2.1-2 (daughter of Catreus son of Minos) (primary)