Dictionary.com defines treachery as “violation of faith; betrayal of trust; treason”. Greco-Roman mythology is full of men, women, gods and goddesses, who have committed acts of treachery. The treachery is usually in the form of a betrayal of trust, which includes adultery.

One of the most famous pieces of classical literature is the story of the Trojan War. In this story the goddess Aphrodite rewards the mortal prince, Paris Alexandros, with the most beautiful woman in the world. That woman was Helen of Sparta, more commonly known as Helen of Troy, and she was already married to Menelaus, King of Sparta, when Aphrodite “gave” her to Paris. That did not seem to matter, however, because Helen left her husband and her country willingly to marry Paris and live in Troy.

Helen’s treachery came in the form of a betrayal of the marriage vows as well as a betrayal of the faith and loyalty that her subjects had for her. Helen betrayed her husband, Meneleaus, when she left him in order to marry the Trojan prince, Paris Alexandros. According to myth, this action was a main cause of the Trojan War. By her causing a war between Greece and Troy, as well as leaving Sparta, Helen betrayed her country and her kingdom.

One mythological family that was cursed with tragedy was the Theban Royal family. Members of this family included Oedipus and his daughter Antigone. When Oedipus died, his two sons argued over who would take over the throne. They ended up deciding that they would take turns by alternating years. Unfortunately, Eteocles was not willing to step aside at the end of his first year. Polynices raised an army and tried to take the throne by force. When both brothers died, their uncle Creon became king.

Antigone committed, what could be interpreted as, an act of treason when she refused to follow an order mandated by her uncle Creon, the King of Thebes. Due to the circumstances of the battle that killed Antigone’s brothers, Creon had ordered that Polynices was not to be buried. Antigone felt this was wrong and defied her uncle’s order. She found her brother’s body and gave him a proper burial. She soon found herself in front of the king and was condemned to death for her defiance. Creon was convinced to let her go but by then Antigone had already taken her own life.

A Roman author named Apuleius wrote a story about a marriage between a god and a beautiful mortal woman. Psyche was a beautiful princess whose incredible beauty intimidated men. Her beauty even made people want to worship her. The Roman goddess of love and beauty, Venus, was angered by the attention given to Psyche. She sent her son Cupid to cause Psyche to fall in love with someone undesirable, like a beggar or a criminal. Instead of listening to his mother, Cupid took Psyche as his wife.

When Cupid married Psyche he told her to never ask his identity. He would spend each night with her and leave her in the mornings before she could see who he was. Psyche betrayed her husband’s trust when she broke her promise that she would never look at him. Her sisters had managed to convince her that it was weird for her not to know who her husband was. Rather than honor her husband’s wishes, Psyche listened to her sisters. She got an oil lamp and looked at him while he slept. When Cupid woke up and saw what Psyche had done, he left her. (They did reconcile later.)

One of the more dangerous and treacherous women in Greek myth is Clytemnestra, at least according to the version written by Aeschylus. She was the wife of Agammemnon and the sister of Helen of Troy. Before going to war, Agammemnon had to offer his beautiful daughter, Iphegenia, as a sacrifice to appease the goddess Artemis. Agammemnon had angered Artemis by saying that he was a better hunter than her, which was ridiculous considering that she was the goddess of the hunt. Clytemnestra was very angry with her husband over this and her resentment stayed with her.

When Agammemnon went off to war, Clytemnestra began an affair with his cousin Aegisthus. When Agammemnon returned from the war, he added insult to injury when he brought a concubine with him named Cassandra. When Clytemnestra heard that her husband was returning with another woman, she plotted to kill Agammemnon and Cassandra, with Aegisthus’s help. When the time came Aegisthus killed Agammemnon and Clytemnestra killed Cassandra. While Clytemnestra’s betrayals were in the form of revenge for her husband’s betrayals they were betrayals nonetheless.

Apart from the common theme of treachery, these stories are also about love: the love between husbands and wives, the love for a brother and love for a child. Most were about love that was lost. While most of us would not kill our husbands when they break our hearts, we can relate to the pain that all of these women went through.