Cleolla appears only within genealogical accounts of the house of Pelops. The most commonly known tradition makes Agamemnon and Menelaus sons of Atreus and Aerope, but alternative accounts recorded by later grammarians and scholiasts place Cleolla in different roles. John Tzetzes (citing Hesiod, Aeschylus, and others) reports a tradition in which Cleolla, daughter of Dias (son of Pelops), by Pleisthenes (son of Atreus and Aerope) is the mother of Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Anaxibia. A scholion on Euripides' Orestes (line 4) reports another variant in which Cleolla married her uncle Atreus and by him was the mother of Pleisthenes, who in turn fathered Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Anaxibia (by Eriphyle). These competing placements make her a genealogical link used to reconcile or present alternative ancestries for the Atreidai.
Primary sources provide no physical description or iconography for Cleolla; she is attested only in lists and genealogical narratives (patronymics and marital connections). Because she is preserved in scholia and compendia rather than narrative poems describing deeds or appearance, there is no evidence of a consistent visual or descriptive portrayal.
No supernatural powers or special abilities are attributed to Cleolla in the cited sources. Her role is social and familial: she functions as daughter, wife, mother, or grandmother within variant genealogical schemes. Later mythographers and commentators employ her placement to reconcile or present alternative traditions concerning the descent of prominent epic figures.
Pelops
Pelops is a mythic heroic-royal figure of ancient Greek tradition, an eponymous founder-ancestor of the Peloponnesus, ruler of Pisa/Olympia, and progenitor of dynasties (notably the House of Atreus). He is both a cult hero venerated at Olympia with chthonic libations and a narrative focal point whose deeds generate a long-lasting familial curse.
Atreus
Atreus is a legendary king of Mycenae in Greek myth, progenitor of the House of Atreus and father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. Presented as a mortal dynastic figure, his story in the sources revolves around rivalry with his brother Thyestes, contested kingship, and extreme acts of revenge that form part of a multi‑generational cycle of curse and retribution.
Agamemnon
Agamemnon is the legendary king of Mycenae (or Argos), head of the House of Atreus, and commander of the Achaean forces at Troy in Greek epic and tragedy. His story links dynastic guilt, ritual obligation, and political authority, culminating in the sacrifice-at-Aulis episode and his murder on return from Troy followed by juridical atonement in the Oresteia.
Menelaus
Menelaus is a mytho-historical king of Sparta in the Greek epic tradition, husband of Helen and a leader in the Trojan War cycle. He appears in Homeric epic (Iliad, Odyssey) and many later literary retellings and traditions; he is portrayed as a mortal royal figure whose fortunes are affected by divine intervention.
Anaxibia
Anaxibia (Ancient Greek: Ἀναξίβια) is a personal name used for multiple distinct figures in Classical Greek mythic genealogies — chiefly mortal women who serve as wives and mothers in heroic-age lineages, and in one attestation a naiad associated with a river. The name also appears in modern biological nomenclature as a reused classical label.
Community Record
- [1]Cleolla. Wikipedia article 'Cleolla' (summary citing John Tzetzes, scholia to Euripides Orestes, and classical reference works)wiki
- [2]Cleolia (Wikidata Q3680510). Wikidata entry Q3680510 noting familial relationships (daughter of Dias, wife of Pleisthenes)other
- [3]John Tzetzes (as cited in secondary summaries). John Tzetzes, cited in summaries of Cleolla stating that Tzetzes (citing Hesiod, Aeschylus, and some others) makes Cleolla, by Pleisthenes, mother of Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Anaxibia (as reported in the Wikipedia summary)literary
- [4]Scholia to Euripides, Orestes (line 4) (as cited in secondary summaries). Scholia to Euripides' Orestes (line 4), as reported in summaries, stating Cleolla married Atreus and was mother of Pleisthenes (who fathered Agamemnon and Menelaus and Anaxibia by Eriphyle)literary