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Agamemnon

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Sources

Ancient

Apollodorus

3.2.2

And Catreus gave Aerope and Clymene to Nauplius to sell into foreign lands; and of these two Aerope became the wife of Plisthenes, who begat Agamemnon and Menelaus; and Clymene became the wife of Nauplius, who became the father of Oeax and Palamedes.

E.3.12

Of the Mycenaeans, Agamemnon, son of Atreus and Aerope: a hundred ships. Of the Lacedaemonians, Menelaus, son of Atreus and Aerope: sixty ships.

Dictys Cretensis (4th century AD)

1.1

Also Menelaus and his older brother Agamemnon, the sons of Aerope and Plisthenes, came to get their share. (They had a sister, Anaxibia, who at that time was married to Nestor.) People often thought that their father was Atreus, because when their real father, Plisthenes, died young without having made a name for himself, Atreus, pitying their plight, had taken them in and brought them up like princes.

Euripides

Helen

390–392

before you ever begot my father, Atreus, to whom were born, from his marriage with Airope, Agamemnon and myself, Menelaos, a famous pair;

Iphigenia in Tauris

4–5

Atreus, whose children are Menelaus and Agamemnon;

Orestes

16

... from Atreus and Aerope of Crete were born the famous Agamemnon, if he really was famous, and Menelaus.

Hesiod

fr. 137 Most [= fr. 194 MW]

137 (194 MW)

137

a Schol. D in Hom. Il. 1.7 (p. 21 van Thiel²)

a Scholia on Homer’s Iliad

According to Homer, Agamemnon was the son of Pelops’ son Atreus, and his mother was Aerope; but according to Hesiod he was the son of Pleisthenes.

b Tzetz. Exeg. Il. 1.122 (p. 68.19 Hermann)

b Tzetzes’ commentary on Homer’s Iliad

Agamemnon, and Menelaus likewise, are considered to be children of Atreus’ son Pleisthenes according to Hesiod and Aeschylus, but according to the poet (i.e., Homer) and everyone they were simply sons of Atreus himself. . . . According to Hesiod, Aeschylus, and some others, Pleisthenes was the son of Atreus and Aerope, and the children of Pleisthenes and Dias’ daughter Cleolla were Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Anaxibia. Because Pleisthenes died young, they were brought up by their grandfather Atreus, and so they are considered by many to be Atreids.

c Schol. in Tzetz. ad loc. (p. 11 Papathomopoulos)

c Scholia on Tzetzes’ commentary on Homer’s Iliad

According to Homer, Agamemnon and Menelaus were the sons of Pelops’ son Atreus and of Aerope from Crete, Catreus’ daughter; according to Hesiod they were the sons of Pleisthenes, a hermaphrodite or lame, who wore women’s clothing.

fr. 138 Most [= fr. 195 MW]

138 (195 MW; 91 H) 1–Scutum 18: P. Oxy. 2494A; 1–Scutum 5: P. Oxy. 2355

138 1–Shield 18: Oxyrhynchus papyrus; 1–Shield 5: Oxyrhynchus papyrus

from Crete] he¹ led off [

the daughter of Catreus] and of the beautiful-haired Naead

] beautiful-ankled Aeropea

] to his home, to be called [his dear wife. [5]

she bore]bius, and warlike Menelaus and godly Agamemnon, who over spacious [Argos

to his father, was lord and ruler. [5]

¹ Pleisthenes

• Gantz, p. 552

fragmentary lines of that poem [the Ehoiai] just preceding the tale of Alkmene appear to attest that Aerope (not Kleola) is the mother of Agamemnon and Menelaos (and a third son: Anaxibios?), although whether by Atreus or Pleisthenes we cannot tell (Hes fr 195 MW).

fr. 155.94 [= fr. 204 MW; 110 H]

She [Helen] bore beautiful-ankled Hermione in the halls,

fr. 248 Most [= fr. 175 MW; *9 H]

248 (175 MW; *9 H) Schol. in Soph. El. 539a (p. 186 Xenis), de filiis Helenae

248¹ Scholia on Sophocles’ Electra

Hesiod:

She² bore Hermione to spear-famed Menelaus

and last of all she bore Nicostratus, scion of Ares

¹ In the Catalogue of Women (Fr. 155, ll. 94ff.), the birth of Helen’s daughter, Hermione, is followed immediately after by Zeus’ decision to end the heroic age; the first line of this fragment duplicates Fr. 155, lines 94–95, and it is not clear where one could place the second line (even assuming that it followed the first line directly, although ὁπλότατον, “last of all,” may suggest that other children were named in one or more intervening lines that have been lost). From the Great Ehoiai perhaps?

² That is, Helen.

Homer

Iliad

11.126–131

lord Agamemnon took, the twain being in one car, and together were they seeking to drive the swift horses, for the shining reins had slipped from their hands, and the two horses were running wild; but he rushed against them like a lion, [130] the son of Atreus [Ἀτρεΐδης], and the twain made entreaty to him from the car: “Take us alive, thou son of Atreus, [Ἀτρέος υἱέ] and accept a worthy ransom;

4.462

Ἀτρέος υἱέ (son of Atreus)

Odyssey

1.35–36

Even as now Aegisthus, beyond that which was ordained, took to himself the wedded wife of the son of Atreus, and slew him on his return,

Hyginus

Fabulae [Grant]

97

Agamemnon, son of Atreus and Aërope, from Mycenae, with a hundred ships;

117

Strophius had married Agamemnon's sister, Astyoche

Pausanias

2.29.4

the grandson of Crisus was Pylades, whose father was Strophius, son of Crisus, while his mother was Anaxibi, sister of Agamemnon.

Scholia on Iliad

1.7 [= Hesiod fr. 137a Most = fr. 194 MW]

According to Homer, Agamemnon was the son of Pelops' son Atreus, and his mother was Aerope; but according to Hesiod he was the son of Pleisthenes.

Gantz, p. 552

Iliad scholia tell us that while Homer makes Agamemnon the son of Atreus and Aerope (she is not mentioned in the Iliad or Odyssey; presumably the scholiast gets this from the Epic Cycle), in Hesiod he and his brother are the sons of Pleisthenes (ΣA Il 1.7 = Hes fr. 194 MW).

2.249

Gantz, p. 552

Another Iliad scholion repeats this idea, although without mentioning Hesiod; it does cite Porphyrios and "many others" for it, and adds that Pleisthenes died young, having done nothing of note, whereupon his sons were raised by Atreus (ΣA Il 2.249)

3.175 [= Cinaethon fr. 3]

From Helen and Menelaus Ariaithos records a son Maraphius, from whom the Maraphians of Persia descend; or as Cinaethon says, Nicostratus.³¹

³¹ For Nicostratus see “Hesiod,” fr. 175.

Scholia on Tzetzes' Exegesis in Iliadem 1.122

Hesiod fr. 137c Most [= fr. 194 MW]

Accordimg to Homer, Agamemmnon and Menelaus were the sons of Pelops' son Atreus and Aerope from Crete, Catreus' daughter, according to Hesiod they were the sons of Pleisthenes, a hemaphrodite or lame, who wore women's clothing.

Gantz, p. 553

Tzetzes offers one other curious bit of information, not in his Exegesis but in his scholia to that work: while in Homer Agamemnon and Menelaos are the sons of Atreus, son of Pelops, in Hesiod they are the sons of Pleisthenes, the hermaphrodite or lame one, who wore a woman's mantle (addendum to Hes fr. 194 MW).²⁴

Sophocles

Ajax 1295–1297.

Jebb's translation

And you yourself were born from a Cretan mother, whose father found a stranger straddling her and who was consigned by him to be prey for the mute fish.

Lloyd-Jones' translation:

And you yourself are the son of a Cretan mother, whom your father, finding a lover with her, sent to be destroyed by dumb fishes.

Tzetzes

Allegories of the Iliad

Prolegomena

508–511

The Greeks were commanded by two kings:

the famous Agamemnon and Menelaos

sons, according to most authorities, of Atreus and Aerope;

according to others, the children of Pleisthenes and Kleole.

Exegesis in Iliadem

1.122

Hesiod fr. 137b Most

Agamemnon, and Menelaus likewise, are considered to be children of Atreus' son Pleisthenes according to Hesiod and Aeschylus, but according to the poet (i.e. Homer) and everyone they were simply sons of Atreus himself. ... According to Hesiod, Aeschylus, and some others, Pleisthenes was the son of Atreus and Aerope, and the children of Pleisthenes and Dias' daughter Cleolla were Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Anaxibia. Because Pleisthenes died young, they were brought up by their grandfather Atreus, and so they are considered by many to be Atreids.

(Evelyn-White pp. 202–203)

Agamemnon and Menelaus likewise according to Hesiod and Aeschylus are regarded as the sons of Pleisthenes, Atreus' son. And according to Hesiod, Pleisthenes was a son of Atreus and Aerope, and Agamemnon, Menelaus and Anaxibia were the children of Pleisthenes and Cleolla the daughter of Dias.

Gantz, p. 552

Tzetzes (in his Exegesis in Iliadem) explains further what we will have already guessed, that in this version Pleisthenes is the son of Atreus. He goes on to say that for Hesiod, Aischylos, and others, Pleisthenes is born of Aerope, and that this Pleisthenes, wed to Kleola, daughter of Atreus' brother Dias (she is thus his own first cousin), begets Agamemnon and Menelaos, and Anaxibia (pp. 68-69 Hermann, reproduced in part as Hes fr. 194 MW).^{23 [Pelops' children here (which in fact match perfectly those reported by Σ Or 4) are in part omitted by Merkelbach and West. For the form "Kleolla" actually reported by Tzetzes, see West 1985.111-12.]}

Modern

Collard and Cropp

2008a

p. 517

myth more commonly has Atreus as Aerope’s husband, and Menelaus and Agamemnon their sons, not Pleisthenes as the husband and father (see further our Introduction to Pleisthenes).

2008b

p. 79

Not much can be said about the subject of this play. Pleisthenes is an obscure figure, unknown or ignored in the Homeric poems but apparently identified in the Hesiodic Catalogue of Women (F 194) as a son of Atreus; in this tradition Pleisthenes and (probably) Aerope, rather than Atreus and Aerope, were the parents of Agamemnon and Menelaus.¹ In Cretan Women Euripides seems to have had Pleisthenes take Aerope as his wife after her expulsion from Crete (see our Introduction to that play). In 5th-century poetry Agamemnon and Menelaus could be referred to both as Atreus’ sons and as Pleisthenes’ offspring (see e.g. Aeschylus, Agamemnon 1569, 1602). According to the [cont.]

¹ Alternatively Pleisthenes is a son, or bastard son, of Pelops, and thus Atreus' brother or half-brother (Schol. on Pindar, Olympians 1.89). A Pleisthenes son of Thyestes (Hyginus, Fab. 88.1, Seneca, Thyestes 726) and a Pleisthenes son of Menelaus and Helen (Cypria fr. 10 Davies) are best regarded as separate inventions.

p. 80

Byzantine scholar John Tzetzes, ‘Hesiod’ explained that the two had become Atreus’ heirs after Pleisthenes died prematurely, and that Pleisthenes had been lame and sexually ambiguous;2 but it is not clear whether these details really stem from early mythical traditions (as Papathomopoulos argues) or from later rationalizations of conflicting legends about their parentage.

Gantz

p. 223

In chapter 5 ... Pausanias goes on to ... while Krisos' son Strophios became by Anaxibia (sister of Agamemnon) the father of Pylades (.29.4)

p. 552

Homer never mentions him [Pleisthenes], either in Iliad 2's succession account or elsewhere, and while the standard epithet Atridês can me simply "descendant of Atreus," both the Iliad and the Odyssey on occasion call Agamemnon or Menelaos specifically a son of Atreus. But the Hesiodic Corpus saw matters differently: Iliad scholia tell us that while Homer makes Agamemnon the son of Atreus and Aerope (she is not mentioned in the Iliad or Odyssey; presumably the scholiast gets this from the Epic Cycle), in Hesiod he and his brother are the sons of Pleisthenes (ΣA Il 1.7 = Hes fr. 194 MW). Another Iliad scholion repeats this idea, although without mentioning Hesiod; it does cite Porphyrios and "many others" for it, and adds that Pleisthenes died young, having done nothing of note, whereupon his sons were raised by Atreus (ΣA Il 2.249). Tzetzes (in his Exegesis in Iliadem) explains further what we will have already guessed, that in this version Pleisthenes is the son of Atreus. He goes on to say that for Hesiod, Aischylos, and others, Pleisthenes is born of Aerope, and that this Pleisthenes, wed to Kleola, daughter of Atreus' brother Dias (she is thus his own first cousin), begets Agamemnon and Menelaos, and Anaxibia (pp. 68-69 Hermann, reproduced in part as Hes fr. 194 MW).^{23 [Pelops' children here (which in fact match perfectly those reported by Σ Or 4) are in part omitted by Merkelbach and West. For the form "Kleolla" actually reported by Tzetzes, see West 1985.111-12.]} Here too we find the father dying young, so that the grandfather Atreus raises the sons who come to be thought of as his. Whether the "Hesiodic" source for all this could be the Ehoiai is unclear, for fragmentary lines of that poem just preceding the tale of Alkmene appear to attest that Aerope (not Kleola) is the mother of Agamemnon and Menelaos (and a third son: Anaxibios?), although whether by Atreus or Pleisthenes we cannot tell (Hes fr 195 MW). If that is correct, then either Tzetzes has drawn some of this information from his other named sources alone, or his reference to "Hesiod" intends another part of the Hesiodic Corpus.

We should note here (as likely happens in Euripides) that a father adopting [cont.]

p. 553

his sons' children might possibly marry the mother as well; thus it would be no surprise to find Aerope (or even Kleola) in some accounts married first to Pleisthenes then Atreus. But in the scholia to the Orestes (where Dias is again a brother of Atreus), we find just the opposite: here Atreus marries Kleola, daughter of Dias, she who was the wife of Pleisthenes in Tzetzes, the two of them become the parents of the (infirm of body) Pleisthenes (Σ Or 4). We might suppose that the roles of Aerope and Kleola have simply been reversed, were it not that Pleisthenes marries someone quite new, one Eriphyle by whom he becomes the father of Agamemnon, Menelaos, and Anaxibia.

Grimal

s.v. Agamemnon

Ἀγαμέμμων Agamemnon appears in the legends ...

Hard

p. 355

Although there was disagreement on whether she married Atreus of Pleisthenes (an obscure figure who was sometimes interposed into the Mycenean king-list between Atreus and Agamemnon, see p. 508), she became the mother of Agamemnon and Menelaos in either case.

p. 441

Although Hermione is the only child of Helen and Menelaos in the Homeric epics, the couple are sometimes credited with a son too, Nikostratos (Victorious Army), whos name would suggest that he was born after the Trojan War. Or eles Nikostratus was an illegitimate son of Menelaos by a slave girl, as is the case with Megapenthes, who was fathers by the king shortly after the abduction of Helen, hence his name (Great Sorrow).^{22 [Hes fr. 175; Apollod. 3.11.1; Paus. 2.18.5 (Nikostratus illegitimate like Megapenthes).]}

p. 507

Atreus left two young sons AGAMEMNON and MENELAOS, ...

p. 508

Agamemnon and Menelaos are sometimes described as the sons of PLEISTHENES, son of Atreus, rather than as sons of Atreus himself.^{178 [Hes. fr. 194, 195.]} It is stated in this connection that Atreus was married to his niece Kleola or Kleolla, a daughter of Dias, son of Pelops, while Pleisthenes was married to Aerope; or else the pattern is inverted and Atreus is said to have married Aerope as usual while Pleisthenes married Kleola.^{179 [Aerope seems to be the mother of Menelaos in the papyrus fragment in Hes. fr. 195, even if Tzetzes (under fr. 194) quotes 'Hesiod' as saying that Menelaos and Agamemnon were chidren of Pleisthenes and Kleolla. According to Apollod. 3.2.2, Nauplios married Aerope to Pleisthenes, who fathers A. and M. by her (a story probably derived from Euripides, see schol. Soph. Ajax 1297).]} This makes little difference since Pleisthenes is a shadowy figure who is said to have died prematurely, leaving his sons to be reared by Atreus.^{180 [Schol. Il. 2.249.]}

p. 566

the father of STROPHIOS, who became a brother-in-law of Agamemnon by marrying his sister Anaxibia.^{99 [Paus. 2.29.4]}

Parada

s.v. Agamemnon