Pleisthenes of Mycenae

In the attested tradition Pleisthenes is named as the son of Atreus and Aerope. According to the cited tradition (attributed to Hesiod in the source summary), Pleisthenes married Cleolla, daughter of Dias, and became the father of Agamemnon, Menelaus, and Anaxibia. Aeschylus is noted to have followed this genealogy when referring to the Atreidai as "the race of Pleisthenes," marking a variant lineage that locates the famous heroic brothers through Pleisthenes rather than directly through Atreus. This account thus serves to organize and explain descent within competing genealogical schemes for the Mycenaean royal house.

No ancient descriptions, iconography, or physical attributes for Pleisthenes are provided in the cited source. He appears only as a name in genealogical lists and literary references; the tradition does not supply a physical portrait or cultic representation.

The source attributes no supernatural powers, deeds, or heroic exploits to Pleisthenes. His role in the surviving account is strictly genealogical: he functions as an ancestor linking Atreus to the next generation (Agamemnon, Menelaus, Anaxibia) in certain poetic and tragic traditions.