prepared by Tracy Marks
Torrey Philemon at Ancient Sites (folded 3/01)
A.S. index   Oresteia links

TANTALUS
Tantalus, once a barbarian king, is condemned eternally to stand in water underneath trees bearing fruit, but never able to drink or eat because both food and drink are out of his grasp. Why was he punished? Sources point to a variety of reasons.

First, respected by the gods, King Tantalus was invited to their banquets, but took advantage of their hospitality. Without their permission, he shared some of their secrets with men; he also attempted to give to men the nectar and ambrosia of the gods. In addition, he kept asking the gods for more privileges, hoping to become like them.

However his greatest crime was to slaughter his own son Pelops, cut him up and boil him, and serve him to the gods as a delectable feast. Different sources present different reasons for this abominable act, but the two primary reasons appear to be: to honor the gods and thank them for their generosity by making the most valuable sacrifice of all – his beloved son; and (most commonly accepted) to test the gods’ omniscience, and prove that he could trick them and outwit them.

The gods were outraged when they discovered the nature of Tantalus’ abominable gift, and condemned him to eternal deprivation in Hades. Meanwhile, Hermes collected the pieces of Pelops, and placed them in a "cauldron of rebirth" so that Zeus, Clotho (one of the Fates) and Rhea could use their combined talents to restore him to life. A new, rejuvenated Pelops  emerged from the cauldron – whole except for an ivory shoulder provided by Demeter, who had eaten Pelops’ shoulder before discovering his identity. Pelops, bearing the curse of his father’s crime in his ivory shoulder, then became Poseidon's attendant and cupbearer.

PELOPS
As a young man, Pelops sought to marry Hippodamia of Pisa. To do so, he had to defeat her father, king of Pisa, in a chariot race. By bribing Myrtilus, his father’s charioteer, to remove linchpins from his master’s chariot, Pelops won the race and the hand of his bride. But when he spurned Myrtilus, he incurred the wrath of Myrtilus’ father, Hermes, who then cursed the descendants of Pelops – and therefore of his sons, Atreus and Thyestes.

Zeus however, influenced by Hermes, stirred unrest by encouraging Hermes to initiate a new agreement between Atreus and Thyestes. Thyestes agreed to give up the kingdom when the sun went backwards, assuming this would never happen. But Zeus made sure that the sun next set in the east, and that Atreus therefore became king.

Atreus however was furious at this brother for committing adultery with his wife, and plotted against him, inviting him to come to Mycenae under the pretext of a family reconciliation. Atreus then served Thyestes a sumptuous feast – which too late Thyestes learned consisted of his own beloved sons, cut up and boiled, and served as meat – just as Pelops had served his own son to the gods.

The devastated Thyestes then sought revenge, turning to the Oracle of Delphi for guidance. The Oracle told him that he must lie once with his daughter Pelopia, who would bear him a son, who would in time become his avenger. Disguising his identity from Pelopia, he raped her, and she bore a son, Aegisthus.

Ironically, however, Atreus eventually married this same Pelopia, and along with his own sons Agamemnon and Menelaus, raised Aegisthus as his own son. Years later, when Atreus, ignorant of his origins, spurred Aegisthus to kill Thyestes, Aegisthus learned his true father’s identity and the nature of Atreus’ crime against him. Horrified, Aegisthus slew Atreus instead of Thyestes. Agamemnon and Menelaus, fearing for their lives, fled into exile. 

As Thyestes and Atreus had been enemies, now Aegisthus, son of Thyestes, was at odds with Atreus’s sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus. The stage is now cast for Aegisthus to seduce Agamemnon’s wife Clytemnestra and to capitalize on her rage against Agamemnon for sacrificing their daughter Iphigenia and abandoning her for ten years in order to win glory at war against the Trojans.

Breaking Free: Beyond Family Curse and Conditioning

What relevance? Consider how the sins, deficiencies, emotional complexes, personality disorders, addictions etc. of a parent influence on a core level the personality, outlook and behaviors of the children. Consider how children, as they become adults, struggle more and more consciously with the legacy they "inherited" from their parents – often either becoming like the parent they condemn or reacting against that parent, engaging in extremely opposite behaviors which are just as likely to have problematic consequences.

Or consider the Jungian viewpoint – how the shadow of the parent, the unresolved emotional complexes that brew deep within the parent’s unconscious, are passed on to and usually unconsciously enacted by the children.

How difficult it is for children of the most dysfunctional families – and what greater dysfunctional family is there than the House of Atreus? – to truly liberate themselves from the twisted, tormenting influences of their past. Such liberation may mean:

"violently" (at least emotionally) separating themselves from the toxic parent;

struggling with guilt experienced as a result of turning against the parent, as well as with the unrequited longing for a love they never had and will probably never have;

coming to terms with the "fury" that they carry in regard to violations they have experienced, and which lead them to overreact to difficulties in the present;

attempting to break free of the entire psychological complex they have carried, in all its polarizing forms, as a result of their psychological and indeed often generational heritage.

For us, the Oresteia raises many significant questions. Among them:

When one is violated at a core level, how can one deal with the torment and fury of such violation without becoming violent – or a violater oneself?

How does one choose when confronted with two sets of choices (representing apparently contradictory values) which are both morally and emotionally agonizing? How does one act when all one’s alternatives appear to be no-win?

To what extent does one have a choice – and how and in what manner can one act freely when compelled by such overpowering internal forces?

When one acts from the Fury within in order to be true to one’s own moral code and/or emotional need, how does one then deal with the other Fury – the Fury of one’s guilt in regard to those one has hurt in the process?

Must the child who inherits the toxic energy, and behavioral patterns of a destructive parent – or develops dysfunctional patterns in reaction to such a parent – emotionally destroy/radically break free from that parent’s influence? Must he or she bear the guilt and aloneness for doing so – in order to build a healthier self?

If we are continually motivated by fears, feelings and perceptions originating from a twisted past, how do we truly break free of it and put it to rest?

Who are our helpers in this process, how do we find them, and what kind of help can they provide? How can they help us become what we need to become in order to break free of a binding past and be true to ourselves in the present?