Chapter 124 This Sinful Family

Tantaros I's son, King Pelops of Inlis, had five sons.

Pelops' eldest son was Pitheus, the king of Troezen and the grandfather of the former Athenian king Theseus.

Pelops' second son was Coprose, who was a favorite of Eurystheus, the king of Mycenae.

Pelops' third and fourth sons were the twin brothers Atreus and Thyestes.

Pelops' fifth son was Chrysippus, who was forced to give birth to the goddess of nature Axioke.

Chrysippus was abducted by King Lainus of Thebes when he was a teenager and murdered by his two brothers Atreus and Thyestes.

Atreus and Thyestes were expelled for murdering Chrysippus, and the two brothers came to Mycenae, which was ruled by their nephew Eurystheus.

This pair of brothers, who were supposed to share weal and woe, later turned against each other for the throne of Mycenae.

In order to defeat his brother, Thyestes hooked up with his sister-in-law Elop.

When Atreus learned about this, he not only expelled Thyestes, but also forcibly married Thyestes' daughter Philopia as revenge.

After escaping from Mycenae, Thyestes had been hiding in a city-state called Epidaurus in the northern part of the Argos region.

The rulers of Epidaurus were the young Alcmaeon and Amphilochus.

Their father was the hero god Amphiaraus, who was worshipped as the god of prophecy and medicine by the locals after his death.

In the myths made up by humans hundreds of years later, the hero god Amphiaraus was not only one of the prototypes of Apollo, the god of prophecy and medicine, but also the prototype of Asclepius, the son of Apollo and the god of medicine.

Atreus had long known that Thyestes was hiding in Epidaurus.

It was only because he did not want to bear the sin of killing his blood relatives that Atreus pretended not to know where Thyestes was hiding.

Now that Thyestes had become a threat to Atreus's secure throne of Mycenae, Atreus immediately put aside all his concerns and asked his eldest son Agamemnon to go to Epidaurus and capture Thyestes.

Mycenae.

The prison cell of the royal palace.

When Agamemnon took Thyestes back to the prison cell, Atreus came to the prison cell and had a long-awaited meeting with Thyestes for ten years.

Atreus stood outside the prison cell, looking at Thyestes who had become a prisoner and teased.

"My dear brother, I really didn't expect that we would meet again one day. If you could escape far away, away from Mycenae and Argos, I would never make the decision to kill my twin brother. It's a pity that you foolishly hid in Argos, wanting to compete with me for the throne of Mycenae."

"I have long given up competing with you for the throne."

Facing Atreus' accusation, Thyestes said with a wry smile.

"I have been hiding in Epidaurus for these years, and I have long understood that I have no strength to defeat you. I did not leave the Argos region just to know whether my children Philopia and Tantalus are doing well."

Thyestes did not seem to be lying, and Atreus felt a little guilty.

"Whether you still have the ambition to compete with me for the throne, your existence itself is a threat to my becoming the king of Mycenae. Thyestes! After you die, I will take good care of Philopia and Tantalus for you."

After that, Atreus left the cell and thought about how to kill Thyestes.

Because Atreus and Thyestes are twin brothers, Atreus did not want to kill Thyestes himself.

After all, killing blood relatives is a serious crime that is not forgiven by the gods, and killing twin brothers is considered to be like killing another self.

Ten years ago, in the Theban War, the twin brothers Polynices and Etecles, who turned against each other, died together, which was regarded as a case that twin brothers should not kill each other.

Thinking of the brothers Polynices and Etecles who died together, Atreus decided to let someone else replace him as the murderer of Thyestes.

The betrayal of Agamemnon and Menelaos' mother to Atreus did not affect Atreus' feelings for the two sons.

Philopia was Atreus' wife who was forcibly married in revenge for his brother, and Aegisthus, the son of Philopia, was just the product of Atreus' revenge on Thyestes.

After weighing the status of Agamemnon, Menelaos, and Aegisthus in his heart, Atreus decided to let Aegisthus become the murderer of Thyestes and bear the felony of killing his blood relative.

So Atreus summoned Aegisthus in the palace hall and told him that Thyestes was the biggest threat to his becoming the king of Mycenae, and asked Aegisthus to kill Thyestes himself.

Aegisthus did not know that Thyestes was his grandfather on the surface, but actually his biological father.

In order to get Atreus's approval, Aegisthus accepted the task without hesitation.

When Aegisthus came to the cell and was about to kill Thyestes with the sword he carried with him, Thyestes suddenly looked at the sword in Aegisthus' hand and said.

"My child, you can't kill me."

"I already know that you are my grandfather, and I am ready to kill you. Because to me, my father is more important than my grandfather."

"I am both your grandfather and your father."

Seeing Aegisthus's unbelievable expression, Thyestes said guiltily.

"The sword in your hand is the token I left for your mother when I forced her to be pregnant with you. If you don't believe me, you can ask your mother first if the real owner of this sword is your father. ”

"My mother is your daughter! If what you say is true, then I am a humanoid demon who is hated by humans and gods. My father... Atreus did not dote on his brother Agamemnon and Mene Brother Laos loves me so much, is it because he has always suspected that I am not his real son? "

Thinking that Atreus had not given him true fatherly love over the years, Aegisthus suppressed the idea of ​​killing Thyestes immediately and went to his mother Philopia to ask the truth.

Philopia's room.

After Aegisthus asked Philopia for the truth with his sword, he learned that the man who forced him on Atreus's night out was his father. Philopia's eyes darkened and she fainted.

After Aegisthus woke up Philopia, Philopia cried and touched Aegisthus's cheek with tears in her eyes.

"Poor child... I thought that being forced to be Atreus's wife would make me the most unfortunate woman in the world, but I didn't expect that you would be even more unfortunate than me. When I was forced by Atreus, I You should die so that you will not be born into this world with an unfortunate identity. The only thing I can do for you now is to use my life to wash away the sins you were born with."

After saying this, Philopia snatched the sword from Aegisthus' hand and pierced his heart.

"Mother--"

The mother who loved him most in the world died like this. While Aegisthus cried bitterly, he felt endless hatred for Atreus in his heart.

Without Atreus, perhaps Philopia could have married a husband who loved her and had a happy family.

Atreus, who had ruined his mother's life, now wanted him to bear the guilt of killing a blood relative, the man who was both his grandfather and his father.

After the revenge plan was brewed in Aegisthus's heart, Aegisthus pulled out the blood-stained sword from Philopia and went to the hall where Atreus was.

Palace hall.

Aegisthus showed Atreus the blood-stained sword and said that he had killed Thyestes. Atreus immediately left the throne happily and took Aegisthus to the cell to confirm Thyestes. Is Stacey really dead?

Poof!

Before Atreus could finish his words, Aegisthus stabbed Atreus in the abdomen with his blood-stained sword.

"My mother is dead. As a husband, of course you should go and accompany her."

Pushing Atreus to the ground, Aegisthus turned to Thyestes in the cell and said.

"I don't want to be killed by Agamemnon. Now I release you and we will deal with Agamemnon and Menelaus together."