Boxes generally show someone became king, apart from where space was an issue. Whilst colours usually denote families, red shows the Mycenaean succession. Although Thyestes and Aegisthus did rule Mycenae, they're in dark green so the mess of branches in the middle is a bit more distinguishable.
I couldn't include all of Niobe's kids since there's so many of them. Chloris is there because (at least in Apollodorus) she's the mother of Nestor. I think it's a different Chloris in the Odyssey, but decided it'd be interesting to connect another character related to the Trojan war. Palamedes, Odysseus, and Achilles are here for the same reason
I also didn't have space for every single one of Pelops' children. Chrysippus is there because his death at Atreus and Thyestes' hands leads to their exile. Pittheus shows their connection to Theseus, and Nicippe links to Eurystheus (the king of Mycenae before Atreus)
I added Gorgophone's children with Perieres because of how they connect to a myth with the Dioscuri. Essentially, the sons of Aphareus were betrothed to the daughters of Leucippus until Castor and Polydeuces abducted them
There's contradictory sources as to whether Tyndareus and Icarius were also sons of Perieres, or sons of Oebalus. I made them sons of Oebalus to simplify the Spartan succession.
Nicostratus is a bastard here, mainly for the sake of the Spartan succession. Pausanias records how the Spartans accepted Orestes as king over Menelaus' illegitimate sons, because of his marriage to Helen's child Hermione
His mother is not explicitly named, but since his brother Megapenthes was also born of a slave (Pieris/Tereis), I gave them the same parentage. Side note, but Pausanias describes a statue of the two on one horse, so I like to think they were close
The line of Dardanus started out just linking Cassandra and Paris through Priam. I decided to extend their line all the way to Zeus, because a) I love the Trojans, and b) I wanted something to fill that massive gap at the top
Pleisthenes is the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus in a surprising number of accounts. I was thinking of including this on the chart, but decided that section between Thyestes and Atreus was convoluted enough.... Still, he's such an interesting character from what little there is of him – Hesiod records him as being disabled and gender non-conforming – so I think more people should talk about him
I usually interpret Gorgophone as a diva (and why wouldn’t I?) but I also like to think she’s a sweet lover girl and cutie patootie with her husbands. Like she’d bully and tease her brothers like a normal sister would but get all soft and cutesy when it comes to her babygorls.
It’s interesting how it was considered a big deal that Gorgophone married twice, and that before her time it was customary for women to remain unmarried after their husband’s death, it isn’t really explained why this custom exist but in real world cultures it’s either bc it’s disrespectful to the deceased husband and his family or bc men don’t want to marry women who aren’t virgin and have children.
So it’s considered a big deal for Gorgophone to break societal norms, so not only is she a girlboss but her parents Perseus and Andromeda are super supportive.
