Reversing Greek Mythology

King Pelops of Inlys, son of Tantalus I, had five sons.

Pelops' eldest son was Petheus, king of Trozen and grandfather of Theseus, the former king of Athens.

The second son of Pelops was Coprous, who served as a favorite of King Eurystheus of Mycenae during his lifetime.

The third and fourth sons of Pelops were twin brothers Atreus and Thyestes.

The fifth son of Pelops was Chrysippus, who was forced to give birth to Axioce, the goddess of nature.

When Chrysippus was a boy, he was abducted by King Laion of Thebes and murdered by his two brothers, Atreus and Thyestes.

Atreus and Thyestes were expelled for the murder of Chrysippus, and the two brothers came to Mycenae, where their nephew Eurystheus ruled.

This pair of brothers, who were supposed to share weal and woe, later turned against each other to compete for the throne of Mycenae.

In order to win over his brother, Thyestes hooked up with his sister-in-law Eloper.

When Atreus learned of this, he not only expelled Thyestes, but also forcibly married Thyestes' daughter Philopia as revenge.

After Thyestes escaped from Mycenae, he had been hiding in a city-state called Epidaurus in the northern Argos region.

The rulers of the city of Epidaurus were young Alcmaeon and Amphilochus.

Their father was the heroic god Amphiaraos, who was worshiped by the locals as the god of prophecy and medicine after his death.

In the myths fabricated by humans hundreds of years later, the heroic god Amphiaraus was not only one of the prototypes of Apollo, the god of prophecy and medicine, but also the prototype of Asclepius, the god of medicine, the son of Apollo.

Atreus had long known that Thyestes was hiding in the city of Epidaurus.

Just because he didn't want to bear the sin of killing his blood relatives, Atreus kept pretending not to know where Thyestes was hiding.

Now Thyestes became a threat to Atreus's ability to secure the throne of Mycenae. Atreus immediately put aside all scruples and asked his eldest son Agamemnon to go to the city of Epidaurus to capture Thyestes. Come back.

Mycenae.

The cells of the royal palace.

When Agamemnon brought Thyestes back to the cell and imprisoned him, Atreus came to the cell and had a meeting with Thyestes that he had not seen for ten years.

Atreus stood outside the cell, looking at Thyestes who had become a prisoner under his command, and teased.

"My dear brother, I really didn't expect that we would meet again one day. If you could escape far away, away from Mycenae and Argos, I would definitely not kill my twin brother. Decision. It’s a pity that you are foolish enough to hide in Argos and try to compete with me for the throne of Mycenae.”

"I have given up fighting with you for the throne a long time ago."

Faced with Atreus' accusation, Thyestes said with a wry smile.

"I have been hiding in the city of Epidaurus for these years, and I have long understood that I do not have the strength to defeat you. I did not leave the Argos region just to know how my children Philopia and Tantalus were doing. "

Thyestes seemed not to be lying, and Atreus felt a little guilty.

"Regardless of whether you still have the ambition to compete with me for the throne, your existence itself is a threat to me becoming the king of Mycenae. Thyestes! After you die, I will take care of Philopia and Tantalus.”

With that, Atreus left his cell and thought about how to kill Thyestes.

Because Atreus and Thyestes were twin brothers, Atreus did not want to kill Thyestes himself.

After all, killing a blood relative is a serious crime not forgiven by the gods. Killing a twin brother is considered to be like killing another self.

In the Theban War ten years ago, the estranged twin brothers Polynices and Etecles died together, which was regarded as an example of how twin brothers cannot kill each other.

Thinking of the two brothers Polynices and Etecles who died together, Atreus decided to let someone else become the murderer of Thyestes in his place.

The betrayal of Atreus by the mother of Agamemnon and Menelaus did not affect Atreus's feelings for these two sons.

Philopia was the wife that Atreus forcibly married in revenge for his younger brother, and Philopia's son Aegisthus was just the product of Atreus' revenge on Thyestes.

After weighing the status of Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Aegisthus in his heart, Atreus decided to make Aegisthus the murderer of Thyestes and shoulder the responsibility of killing his blood relatives. of felony.

So Atreus summoned Aegisthus in the palace hall and told him that Thyestes was his biggest threat to becoming the king of Mycenae, and asked Aegisthus to kill Thyestes himself. .

Aegisthus did not know that Thyestes, ostensibly his maternal grandfather, was actually his biological father.

In order to gain Atreus' approval, Aegisthus accepted this task without hesitation.

When Aegisthus came to the cell and was about to kill Thyestes with the sword he carried, Thyestes suddenly looked at the sword in Aegisthus' hand and said.

"My child, you cannot kill me."

"I already know that you are my grandfather, and I am ready to kill you. Because to me, my father is more important than my grandfather."

"I am both your grandfather and your father."

Seeing Aegisthus' disbelieving expression, Thyestes said guiltily.

"The sword in your hand is the token I left for your mother when I forced her to be pregnant with you. If you don't believe me, you can ask your mother first if the real owner of this sword is your father. ”

"My mother is your daughter! If what you say is true, then I am a humanoid demon who is hated by humans and gods. My father... Atreus did not dote on his brother Agamemnon and Mene Brother Laos loves me so much, is it because he has always suspected that I am not his real son? "

Thinking that Atreus had not given him true fatherly love over the years, Aegisthus suppressed the idea of ​​killing Thyestes immediately and went to his mother Philopia to ask for the truth.

Philopia's room.

After Aegisthus asked Philopia for the truth with his sword, he learned that the man who forced him on Atreus's night out was actually his father. Philopia's eyes darkened and she fainted.

After Aegisthus woke up Philopia, Philopia cried and touched Aegisthus's cheek with tears in her eyes.

"Poor child... I thought that being forced to be Atreus's wife would make me the most unfortunate woman in the world, but I didn't expect that you would be even more unfortunate than me. When I was forced by Atreus, I You should die so that you will not be born into this world with an unfortunate identity. The only thing I can do for you now is to use my life to wash away the sins you were born with."

After saying this, Philopia snatched the sword from Aegisthus' hand and pierced his heart.

"Mother--"

The mother who loved him most in the world died like this. While Aegisthus cried bitterly, he felt endless hatred for Atreus in his heart.

Without Atreus, perhaps Philopia could have married a husband who loved her and had a happy family.

Atreus, who had ruined his mother's life, now wanted him to bear the guilt of killing a blood relative, the man who was both his grandfather and his father.

After the revenge plan was brewed in Aegisthus's heart, Aegisthus pulled out the blood-stained sword from Philopia and went to the hall where Atreus was.

Palace hall.

Aegisthus showed Atreus the blood-stained sword and said that he had killed Thyestes. Atreus immediately left the throne happily and took Aegisthus to the cell to confirm Thyestes. Is Stacey really dead?

Poof!

Before Atreus could finish his words, Aegisthus stabbed Atreus in the abdomen with his blood-stained sword.

"My mother is dead. As a husband, of course you should go and accompany her."

Pushing Atreus to the ground, Aegisthus turned to Thyestes in the cell and said.

"I don't want to be killed by Agamemnon. Now I release you and we will deal with Agamemnon and Menelaus together."