AEROPE (daughter of Catreus)
Figure of myth · daughter of Catreus, the king of Crete
- Parents
- Catreus
- Siblings
- Clymene, Althaemenes, Apemosyne
- Consorts
- Atreus
- Children
- Agamemnon, Menelaus, Tantalus, Anaxibia
- In the sources
- 9 ancient passages
Aerope, daughter of Catreus, king of Crete, was the wife of Atreus and the mother of Menelaos.1,2,3,4 She was a Cretan woman, sister to Clymene, Apemosyne, and Althaemenes, whose life became entangled in deceit.5,3,6
Catreus handed Aerope over to Nauplius to be sold into foreign lands.4 Thyestes seduced her, and she engaged in a treacherous marriage that contributed to the woes of the house.1,7,5 In one account, she bore Agamemnon and Menelaus to Plisthenes, becoming his wife, while other sources name Atreus as their father.8,6,4,1,2 According to Hesiod, she was also the mother of Pleisthenes.9
Aerope handed the preserved lamb to Thyestes.7 Her son Agamemnon later led the Mycenaean forces.2 The codex lists her children as Agamemnon, Menelaus, Tantalus, and Anaxibia.
The codex facts behind this entry
Aerope is the daughter of Catreus, the king of Crete. Apollodorus 3.2.1 +2
