Adrastos (Argos)
Adrastos ( ancient Greek Ἄδραστος Ádrastos ) is the son of Talaos and king of Argos in Greek mythology . The ancient authors name three different possible mothers: Lysianassa , daughter of Polybos ( Pausanias ), Lysimache , daughter of Abas ( library of Apollodorus ) or Eurynome , daughter of Iphitus ( Hyginus Mythographus ). He was the father of Aigialeus , Kyanippos , Deipyle , Argeia and Aigiale .
King of Sicyon and Argos
Because of a feud between the two most powerful Argive royal houses, Talaos was killed by Amphiaraos , and Adrastus fled to Sicyon to his maternal grandfather Polybos , whose daughter Amphithea he married and whose throne he inherited. Reconciled with Amphiaraos, he returned to Argos, took control of the portion of Argos of the Biantides and handed over the government of Sikyon to Ianiskos . He gave his sister Eriphyle to wife to Amphiaraos .
Fulfillment of the Oracle
When Tydeus had to leave his home because of a murder, he fled to Adrastus, who cleaned him from the murder, and Tydeus stayed in Argos. Even the Oedipus -son Polynices , the Theban had left when his brother Eteocles there took over the kingship - for other versions earlier - came to Argos. When Tydeus saw the Polynices, he believed he was an attacker and attacked him. However, Adrastos separated the two. Now he understood the oracle that he should marry his daughters to a boar and a lion. Because they wore the skins of those animals as clothing or, according to another tradition, the animals as shield symbols. So he gave the Deipyle to Tydeus and the Argeia to Polynices to wife and promised the two to restore their rightful rule.
Seven against Thebes
In order to help the Polynices to the royal throne in Thebes, Adrastus arranged for allied princes to march against Thebes, whose number and names vary in different traditions. The drama Seven Against Thebes by Aeschylus is based on the legends about this campaign . Since Amphiaraos initially refused to take part in the war, and also advised against others to go along, Adrastus bribed Eriphyle on the advice of Iphis . She persuaded her husband to take part in the train. All but Adrastos perished there, as Amphiaraos had predicted. Adrastos had to flee on his chariot pulled by his horses Kairos and Areion , but the chariot broke and he was finally saved by his horse Areion, a gift from Heracles .
Epigone
Ten years later he incited the sons of those who remained, the Epigones , to a second campaign against Thebes, which was now conquered and destroyed; but his son Aigialus fell in battle, and his father died of grief at Megara .
He is said to have held the first Nemean Games , in which he himself won the horse riding. In Attica , Megara and Sikyon he was revered as a hero, and the portrayal of his struggles and sufferings gave rich material to the epic, but even more to the tragedy.
literature
- Heinrich Wilhelm Stoll : Adrastos 1) . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, Col. 78-83 ( digitized version ).
- Erich Bethe : Adrastos 1 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 411-416.
swell
- Library of Apollodorus , 1, 76 - 79; 1, 103; 3, 58-68; 3.77; 3.79; 3, 82.
- Herodotus , Histories , 5, 67-68.
- Hyginus Mythographus, Fabulae , 69; 70.
- Pausanias, traveling in Greece , 1, 30, 4; 1, 39, 2; 1, 43, 1; 1, 44, 4; 2, 6, 6; 2, 11, 1-2; 2, 20, 5; 2, 23, 2; 3, 18, 12; 7, 17, 7; 8, 25, 8-10; 9, 4, 2; 9, 5, 12; 9, 9, 2-3; 9, 18, 1; 9, 19, 2; 10, 10, 3; 10, 25, 7.
- Strabon , Geographica , 404, 462.
- Virgil , Aeneid , 6, 480.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Polybos |
King of Sikyon 13th century BC BC (mythical chronology) |
Ianiskos |
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
|
Talaos (Biantide) |
King of Argos 13th century BC BC (mythical chronology) |
Diomedes (Biantide) |