Prophecy and appeals to the gods

A theme that appears throughout all of these plays is that of prophecy and appeals to the gods. The House of Pelops is doomed from the time that Tantalus, a son of Zeus, serves Pelops, his son, as the meal at a banquet of the gods. The ghost of Tantalus mourns the current generation of his family's sins which makes their predecessors' sins appear small. These sins cause even Tantalus to look innocent. The Fury predicts horrible things to happen in the House of Pelops and wants to fill the house with the revenge of Tantalus. The fate of Thyestes' children will be to have their bodies boiled in pieces; the Fury has devised a meal so strange that even Tantalus will run from it. At the Fury's bidding, Tantalus' old hunger awakes, and Tantalus agrees to follow the Fury. The Fury commands...