Atreidae
/ˌeɪtriːˈiːdiː/noun
The mythological descendants of Atreus, especially the royal family of Mycenae that includes Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Orestes.
Did you know?The Atreidae are central to the mythic “curse of the House of Atreus,” a cycle of betrayal, cannibalism, murder, and vengeance dramatized in Greek tragedy.
Etymological Timeline
Mycenaean and Archaic Greek tradition
Greek
Atreus
“The personal name of the legendary king whose descendants formed the Atreid line; its deeper etymology is uncertain.”
Classical Greek
Ancient Greek
Ἀτρεΐδαι (Atreídai)
“The sons or descendants of Atreus; a patronymic plural formed from Atreus.”
5th Century BCE
Ancient Greek
οἱ Ἀτρεΐδαι
“The Atreids, especially Agamemnon and Menelaus, as portrayed in epic and tragedy.”
1st Century BCE–1st Century CE
Latin
Atridae
“The descendants of Atreus, used in Latin retellings and literary references to Greek myth.”
19th Century
English
Atreidae
“An English scholarly and literary term for the House of Atreus or its descendants.”