<p>The people of Mycenae had received an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle" class="extiw" title="en:Oracle">oracle</a> that they should choose a new king from among the Pelopids. The two contenders were <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atreus" class="extiw" title="en:Atreus">Atreus</a> and his brother, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thyestes" class="extiw" title="en:Thyestes">Thyestes</a>. The latter was chosen at first. At this moment nature intervened. The sun appeared to reverse direction and set in the east. Because the sun had reversed direction, he argued, the election of Thyestes should be reversed. Atreus became king. His first move was to pursue Thyestes and all his family, but Thyestes managed to escape Mycenae.
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The Return of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agamemnon" class="extiw" title="en:Agamemnon">Agamemnon</a>. In legend, Atreus had two sons, Agamemnon and Menelaus, the Atreids. Aegisthus, the son of Thyestes, killed Atreus and restored Thyestes to the throne. With the help of King Tyndareus of Sparta, the Atreids drove Thyestes again into exile. Tyndareus had two ill-starred daughters, Helen and Clytemnestra, whom Menelaus and Agamemnon married, respectively. Agamemnon inherited Mycenae and Menelaus was regent in Sparta.
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/46159968@N00">Ken Russell Salvador</a>
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originally posted to <b><a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Flickr" class="mw-redirect" title="Flickr">Flickr</a></b> as <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/46159968@N00/416666916">Royal Palace, Mycenae Atreid Dynasty</a>