CHAPTER VII.

THE PELOPIDS.

Misfortunes and celebrity of the Pelopids.—Pelops—eponym of Peloponnêsus.—Deduction of the sceptre of Pelops.—Kingly attributes of the family.—Homeric Pelops.—Lydia, Pisa, etc., post-Homeric additions.—Tantalus.—Niobê.—Pelops and Œnomaus, king of Pisa.—Chariot victory of Pelops—his principality at Pisa.—Atreus, Thyestês, Chrysippus.—Family horrors among the Pelopids.—Agamemnôn and Menelaus.—Orestês.—The goddess Hêrê and Mykênæ.—Legendary importance of Mykênæ.—Its decline coincident with the rise of Argos and Sparta.—Agamemnôn and Orestês transferred to Sparta. 153-167