Tydeus
Tydeus(/ˈtaɪdiəs,-djuːs,ˈtɪdiəs/;Ancient Greek:ΤυδεύςTūdeus) was anAetolianhero inGreek mythology,belonging to the generation before theTrojan War.He was one of theSeven against Thebes,and the father ofDiomedes,who is frequently known by thepatronymicTydides.
Life
[edit]Tydeus was a son ofOeneusand eitherPeriboea,Oeneus's second wife, orGorge,Oeneus's daughter. He was the husband ofDeipyle,the mother of Diomedes.
Tydeus was banished fromCalydonby his uncleAgriusbecause he had killed either his brother or a different uncle or six of his cousins. He travelled toArgos,where he married Deipyle, daughter of kingAdrastus.
Seven against Thebes
[edit]Gathering of the Seven
[edit]While housing Tydeus, King Adrastus of Argos also lodgedPolynices,the exiled son ofOedipuswho had shared the rule ofThebeswith his brotherEteoclesbefore he was expelled by the latter. Late one night, the two young exiles got into a fierce dispute over the guest room in Adrastus's palace. Awakened by the clamor, Adrastus rushed to the hall to find the two men locked in a brawl. It was then that Adrastus recalled a prophecy that had instructed him to "yoke his daughters to a boar and a lion".[1]Adrastus recognized Tydeus as the boar and Polynices as the lion (either by the ferocious manner in which they fought, the animals emblazoned on their shields,[1]or the animal skins they wore[2]) and wed his daughters to them, keeping them as his sons-in-law in Argos.
Through marriage into Adrastus's family, Polynices and Tydeus became princes of Argos, had children, and generally lived well. Adrastus promised that he would help restore their kingdoms to them (or in other versions of the myth, Polynices asks Adrastus to help him take back Thebes)[3]and he organized the expedition of theSeven against Thebes,and their army raised from Argolis (the area around Argos), the largest army that had ever appeared in Greece to that time.
Nemean Games
[edit]Shortly after the expedition arrived inNemea,the young son of King Lycourgos was killed by a snake. In turn, Adrastus's men killed the serpent, buried the boy and held the firstNemean Gamesin his honor (other stories citeHeracles' triumph over theNemean Lionas the cause of the first games). Tydeus won the bo xing event at these games.[4]
Envoy to Thebes
[edit]
When the expedition reachedCithaeron,Tydeus was sent ahead to demand that the Thebans reinstate Polynices. Frustrated with being ignored by Eteocles, Tydeus issued one-on-one challenges to multiple men and vanquished each one with power granted to him by Athena.
While Tydeus returned to his allies, the Thebans amassed a force of fifty men, led byMaeonandPolyphontes,and ambushed him. Tydeus killed every man with the exception of Maeon, whom he allowed to live due to signs from the gods.[5]
Cannibalism
[edit]During the war, Tydeus was mortally wounded byMelanippus,the son ofAstacus.The goddessAthenaintended to make Tydeus immortal, but the seerAmphiaraus,knowing this and hating Tydeus, cut off Melanippus' head and gave it to Tydeus, who proceeded to eat the brains of his killer. As was Amphiaraus's intention, Athena was so appalled that she changed her mind and let Tydeus die.
In literature and art
[edit]
The 7th century poetMimnermusattributes the murder ofIsmene,the sister ofAntigone,to Tydeus. No other Classical writer mentions the story, but the scene is represented on a 6th-century Corinthianblack-figureamphoranow housed in theLouvre.[6]
Tydeus also appears inAeschylus's playSeven Against Thebes,as one of the "Seven", and in the same role inEuripides' playThe Phoenician Women.He kills the defenderMelanippus,but is mortally wounded himself. In other versions of the myth, the detail is added that the goddessAthenaplanned to make him immortal but refuses after Tydeus in a hubristic fit devours the brain of the dead Melanippus.
Tydeus is mentioned multiple times in theIliad.One of the most notable mentions is in Book IV whereAgamemnonremindsDiomedesof the deeds of his father Tydeus. Agamemnon recites the events told in the section above.[7]
Notes
[edit]- ^abApollodorus 3.6 (p. 51Anthology of Classical MythTranslated by Stephen M. Trzaskoma)
- ^Hyginus (p. 237Anthology of Classical MythTranslated by Stephen M. Trzaskoma)
- ^Hyginus (p. 237Anthology of Classical MythTranslated by Stephen M. Trzaskoma).
- ^Apollodorus 3.6 (Stephen M. Trzaskoma,Anthology of Classical Myth Translated,pp. 51–52)
- ^Apollodorus, 1.8.5 & 3.6.1-8;Homer,Iliad4.394 ff.
- ^Easterling, P. E.;Knox, B. M. W. (1989).Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Early Greek Poetry.Vol. 1, part 1. Cambridge University Press. p. 95.ISBN0-521-35981-3.
- ^Homer.The Iliad(translated by Richmond Lattimore). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951, p. 123.
References
[edit]
- Aeschylus,Seven Against Thebes377-394
- Homer,Iliad4.396–435, 5.853–861
- Mimnermus,fr. 21
- Pseudo-Apollodorus1.8.5, 3.6.1–8
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