Eetion
Eetion ( ancient Greek Ἠετίων ) is king of the Kilikes in Greek mythology with residence in Thebe in Mysia .
In Homer's Iliad he is the father of Andromache , the wife of Hector , and of seven sons. Eetion and his sons are killed by Achilles when he conquers Thebe, his wife is kidnapped and released for a ransom, but she is killed by an arrow from Artemis . Achilles respected Eetion highly enough to burn him and his weapons and bury the ashes on a mountain. On the grave he erected a monument in honor of Eetion, on which the Oreaden planted elms .
The story is told by Andromache in a farewell scene, at the time of the action in the Iliad the event is already in the past. Of further significance in the Iliad are some of Eetion's possessions that Achilles acquired when he stormed Thebe:
- an iron throwing disc , which Achilles praises as a prize at the funeral games of Patroclus and which Polypoites wins.
- the horse Pedasus, who, with Achilles, keeps the immortal horses Xanthos and Balios clamped in the same harness with them.
- a phorminx with silver bars, with which Achilles accompanies his chants.
literature
- August Schultz : Eetion 1 . In: Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher (Hrsg.): Detailed lexicon of Greek and Roman mythology . Volume 1,1, Leipzig 1886, Col. 1215 f. ( Digitized version ).
- Otto Rossbach : Eetion 1. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume V, 2, Stuttgart 1905, column 1976 f.