Atreus

Atreus (Ancient Greek: Ἀτρεύς) was a king of Mycenae from Greek mythology. He was a son of Pelops and Hippodamia. He was married to Aerope and was the father of Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Anaxibia.

Mythology
Atreus and his twin brother Thyestes were exiled by Pelops because they murdered their half-brother Chrysippus. They were banished to Mycenae with their mother, Hippodamia, although she hanged herself.

King of Mycenae
In Mycenae, Atreus promised to sacrifice his best lamb to the goddess Artemis. However, he discovered a golden lamb and gave it to his wife Aerope in order to hide it from the goddess. Aerope gave the lamb to Thyestes, whom she was having an affair with. Thyestes convinced Atreus to proclaim that whoever had the lamb should claim the throne of Mycenae, so Thyestes revealed that he had the lamb and became the king.

With the advice and guidance of Hermes, Atreus was able to reclaim the throne from Thyestes by making him promise to give up the throne if the sun moved backwards in the sky. With the help of Zeus, said feat was accomplished. After reclaiming the throne, Atreus banished his brother.

After learning about the affair between his twin brother and his wife, Atreus killed the sons of Thyestes and cooked their flesh except for his hands and feet. He tricked Thyestes into eating the flesh of his sons and then taunted him with their hands and feet. Thyestes was exiled for consuming human flesh so he consulted an oracle for advice. The oracle told Thyestes to sire a son by his own daughter, which is how Aegisthus was born by Pelopia. However, after Aegisthus was born, Pelopia abandoned him due to her shame at how he was conceived. Aegisthus was found by a shepherd and was given to Atreus. and was raised as his son.

After Aegisthus became an adult, Thyestes revealed the truth to him and he killed Atreus.