Atonement
in theology, the sacri- the bones of his sons, and described the ficial offering made by Christ in expiation of the sins, according to the Calvinists, of the elect only; according to the Arminians, of the whole human race.
The Day of Atonement, or the Great Day of Atonement, was on the of the seventh month. It is still observed as a day of humiliation and supplication by Hebrews all over the world.
ATRATO (at-rä'to), a river of Colombia, interesting because it has repeatedly been made to bear a part in schemes for a ship canal across the Isthmus of Panama. Rising on the Western Cordillera at an altitude of 10,560 feet above sealevel, it runs for about 400 miles northward through low, swampy country, and falls by several mouths, interrupted by bars, into the Gulf of Darien. It is navigable by steamers for fully 250 miles, being 750 to 1,000 feet wide, and 8 to 70 feet deep. A route, surveyed by the United States Government in 1871, proposed to connect the Atrato and the Jurador, flowing into the Pacific, by a canal 48 miles long. At the Paris International Congress (1879) for deciding the best route for the interoceanic canal, that route was with various others reiected in favor of Panama. Gold-dust is found in and about the Atrato.
ATREK (a-trek'), a river of Persia, rising in Khorassan, among the Hazár Masjid Mountains, and thence flowing nearly 350 miles westward to the Caspian Sea, from Shatt downward along the boundary with the Russian Empire.
ATREUS (āt'rös), the son of Pelops and Hippodamia. He and his brother Thyestes murdered their half-brother Chrysippus, from jealousy of the affection entertained for him by their father.
Thereupon, they fled to Eurystheus, with whose daughter Ærope, Atreus united himself, and, after the death of his father-in-law became King of Mycene.
Thyestes seduced the wife of his brother and had two sons by her. Atreus, after the discovery of this injury, banished Thyestes with his sons. Thirsting for revenge, Thyestes conveyed away secretly a son of his brother, and instigated him to murder his own father. This design was discovered, and the youth, whom Atreus thought to be the son of his brother, was put to death. Too late did the unhappy father perceive his mistake.
He pretended to be reconciled to Thyestes, and invited him, with his two sons, to a feast; and after he had caused the latter to be secretly slain, he placed a dish made of their flesh before Thyestes, and, when he had finished eating, brought dreadful revenge which he had taken.