Atréides house

The Maison Atréides is one of the Grandes Houses cycle of fiction of Dune, of Frank Herbert.

Mythological model

They are the descendants of the Greek house of the Atrides, founded by Atrée, whose most known member is Agamemnon, that which carried out and gained the Trojan War.

In the novels

The Atréides House is also called Maison of Pélops . If they say to go back to Pélops and Atrée, the first mentions of the family date from the Jihad Butlérien: a Agamemnon Atréides is assassinated into 175 before the Guilde. They are Siridars-Dukes of Caladan then Siridars-Dukes of Arrakis and finally Empereurs.

They have an erratic talent from generation to generation being transmitted. This talent becomes extensive with the birth of Paul Atréides, and will go until Miles Teg and even afterwards. This talent which consists of a gift of prescience doubled faculties of Mentat, presents also certain disadvantages. Several other foreign people with this family (Dancer-faces, navigators of the Guild,…) have also this talent. Miles Teg, celebrates it Bashar - Mentat, going down from Atréides, revealed an alternative of this gift. Indeed, questioned by a special probe intended to tear off its memory and its secrecies to him, it developed a form of particular celerity, which enabled him to prick with sharp the rows of the Honorées Matriarches. It destroyed a whole general headquarter, of which its occupying, in a few seconds: all the universe seems to him to slow down except its own body, its organization and its spirit functioning on a very accelerated mode, its enemies seeing only one “swirl”.

Atréides house

Mythological model

In the novels

The Atréides House: dukes of Caladan and Arrakis