The Curse of Atries

[Mahdi]

We were in Reformation class today and the prof mentioned The Curse of Atries, how the sins of the father passed down, etc. etc.

Now, being me, and by that I mean very bored witht he lecture, my mind started wandering (the colouring my piece of paper blue wasn't as stimulating as I ahd hoped), could this have been the reason Herbert selected the Atreides as his protoganists?

Essentially, it would be Paul and Leto II finally redeaming there family for its sins of the past....

If I remember correctly, Leto himself believed in some kind of God.

[Sober]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Atreus

Interesting, the article says that Orestes, the son of Agamemmnon Atreides, ENDS the curse over House Atreus by avenging his father's death. Intersting that there are a few parallels to Dune. Perhaps Herbert was trying to project this story in a sci-fi setting. Maybe he used the curse, and instead of having it end at Orestes, have it continue. But then again, the crimes of House Atreus aren't that bad. I mean, Paul killed 60 Billion in his Jihad, and Leto II, many more.

Orestes was still quite young when Agamemnon was killed by Clytemnestra. He was sent into exile and swore revenge. He was torn between avenging his father and not killing his mother.

[Caid Ivik]

Curse of Atreides wasn't a special spell or what. It was a game of fate, which led the family to neverending conflicts and hate. In Dune this curse lasts further, perhaps it seems in the first part that "it is calm now", but in ie Heretics, Atreides is a synonym of curse again.

[TMA_1]

good point, I am going to look into it.