The Dukes Atreides | |
---|---|
Name | Reign |
Miklos Atreides | Unknown |
Kean Atreides | Unknown |
Paulus Atreides | ??? - 10,156 A.G. |
Leto I Atreides | 10,140 - 10,191 A.G. |
Emperor Paul Atreides |
10,191 - 10,209 A.G. |
Imperial Regent Alia Atreides |
10,209 - 10,219 A.G. |
Leto II Atreides "The God Emperor" |
10,219 - 13,728 A.G. |
Abolition of Ducal and Imperial thrones |
House Atreides /əˈtreɪdiːz/ is a fictional noble family from the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. One of the Great Houses of the feudal interstellar empire known as the Imperium, its members play a role in every novel in the series. It is suggested within the series that the root of the Atreides line is the mythological Greek House of Atreus. In Homer's Iliad, the brothers Agamemnon and Menelaus are dubbed "the Atreides," or, sons of Atreus.
House Atreides rules the water planet of Caladan, employing noble spirit, just ways and virtue in its endeavors. Also proficient in war, the family has even developed an Atreides battle language (in the 1984 film version, this language is presented as a system of hand signals; the novels also include a spoken language). The colors of House Atreides are green and black, and their symbol is a red hawk.
At the time of the original novel Dune (1965), House Atreides is led by the Duke Leto Atreides. His concubine is the Bene Gesserit Lady Jessica; she had been instructed by her order to bear only female children as part of their breeding program, but out of love for Leto, she bore him a son: Paul Atreides. This seemingly innocuous choice would drastically change the course of humanity forever.