Adrastus
Encyclopedia
Adrastus or Adrestus (Ionic
), traditionally translated as "nonparticipant" or "uncooperative", was a legendary king of Argos
during the war of the Seven Against Thebes
.
and Lysimache
. Pausanias
calls his mother Lysianassa
, and Hyginus
calls her Eurynome
. He was one of the three kings at Argos
, along with Iphis and Amphiaraus
, the husband of Adrastus's sister Eriphyle
. He was married either to Amphithea
, daughter of Pronax
, or to Demonassa
. His daughters Argea
and Deipyle
married Polynices
and Tydeus
, respectively. His other children include Aegiale
, Aegialeus
, and Cyanippus.
During a feud between the most powerful houses in Argos
, Talaus was slain by Amphiaraus
, and Adrastus being expelled from his dominions fled to Polybus, then king of Sicyon
. When Polybus died without heirs, Adrastus succeeded him on the throne of Sicyon, and during his reign he is said to have instituted the Nemean Games
.
According to "Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece" by Edward E. Barthell, he states that Adrastus is the son of Talaus and Lysimache (daughter of Abas). He married Amphitheia, daughter of his brother Pronax, and became the father of a son, Aegialeus, and four daughters: Aegialeia, who became the wife of Diomedes (son of Tydeus); Argeia, who became the wife of Polyneices (son of Oedipus); Deipyle, who became the wife of Tydeus (son of Oeneus); and Eurydice, who became the wife of the Trojan king, Ilus (son of Tros).
, gave him his sister Eriphyle
in marriage, and returned to his kingdom of Argos upon the swift immortal horse Arion
, a gift of Heracles
. During the time he reigned there it happened that Tydeus
of Calydon
and Polynices
of Thebes
, both fugitives from their native countries, met at Argos near the palace of Adrastus, and came to words and from words to blows. On hearing the noise, Adrastus hastened to them and separated the combatants, in whom he immediately recognised the two men that had been promised to him by an oracle as the future husbands of two of his daughters, for one bore on his shield the figure of a boar, and the other that of a lion, and the oracle was that one of his daughters was to marry a boar and the other a lion. Adrastus, therefore, gave his daughter Deipyle to Tydeus, and Argeia to Polynices, and at the same time promised to lead each of these princes back to his own country. Adrastus now prepared for war against Thebes, although Amphiaraus foretold that all who should engage in it should perish, with the exception of Adrastus.
Thus arose the celebrated war of the Seven against Thebes
, in which Adrastus was joined by six other heroes, Polynices
, Tydeus
, Amphiaraus
, Capaneus
, Hippomedon
, and Parthenopaeus. Instead of Tydeus and Polynices other legends mention Eteoclos and Mecisteus
. This war ended as unfortunately as Amphiaraus had predicted, and Adrastus alone was saved by the swiftness of his horse Arion.
After the battle, Creon
, king of Thebes, ordered that none of the fallen enemies were to be given funeral rites. Against his order, Antigone
buried Polynices and was put to death, but Adrastus escaped to Athens
to petition Theseus
, the city's king, to attack Thebes and force the return of the bodies of the remaining five. Theseus initially refused but was convinced by his mother, Aethra
, who had been beseeched by the mothers of the fallen, to put the matter to a vote of the citizens. The Athenians marched on Thebes and conquered the city but inflicted no additional damage, taking only what they came for, the five bodies. They were laid upon a funeral pyre and Adrastus eulogized each.
now declared that the gods approved of the undertaking, and promised success. This war is celebrated in ancient story as the War of the Epigoni
. Thebes was taken and razed to the ground, after the greater part of its inhabitants had left the city on the advice of Tiresias
. The only Argive hero that fell in this war was Aegialeus
, the son of Adrastus. After having built a temple of Nemesis
in the neighborhood of Thebes, he set out on his return home. But, weighed down by old age and grief at the death of his son, he died at Megara
and was buried there. After his death he was worshipped in several parts of Greece, as at Megara, at Sicyon where his memory was celebrated in tragic choruses, and in Attica
.
The legends about Adrastus and the two wars against Thebes have furnished ample materials for the epic as well as tragic poets of Greece, and some works of art relating to the stories about Adrastus are mentioned in Pausanias.
From Adrastus the female patronymic "Adrastine" was formed.
Ionic Greek
Ionic Greek was a subdialect of the Attic–Ionic dialect group of Ancient Greek .-History:Ionic dialect appears to have spread originally from the Greek mainland across the Aegean at the time of the Dorian invasions, around the 11th Century B.C.By the end of the Greek Dark Ages in the 5th Century...
), traditionally translated as "nonparticipant" or "uncooperative", was a legendary king of Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
during the war of the Seven Against Thebes
Seven Against Thebes
The Seven against Thebes is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. The trilogy is sometimes referred to as the Oedipodea. It concerns the battle between an Argive army led by Polynices and the army of Thebes led by Eteocles and his supporters. The trilogy won...
.
Mythological tradition
He was a son of TalausTalaus
In Greek mythology, Talaus was the king of Argos and one of the Argonauts. He was the son of Bias and Pero. His wife was Lysimache, daughter of Abas . He was the father of Adrastus, Aristomachus, Astynome, Eriphyle, Mecisteus, Metidice, and Pronax.-Sources:**Barthall, Edward E...
and Lysimache
Lysimache
Lysimache is the name of two characters in Greek mythology:*Lysimache, daughter of Abas and Cyrene. She married king Talaus of Argos and bore him these children: Adrastus, Parthenopaeus, Mecisteus, Hippomedon, Pronax, Aristomachus, and Eriphyle....
. Pausanias
Pausanias (geographer)
Pausanias was a Greek traveler and geographer of the 2nd century AD, who lived in the times of Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. He is famous for his Description of Greece , a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from firsthand observations, and is a crucial link between classical...
calls his mother Lysianassa
Lysianassa
Lysianassa is the name of four characters in Greek mythology:*Lysianassa, one of the Nereids.*Lysianassa, daughter of Epaphus. She bore Poseidon a son, Busiris, king of Egypt. He was killed by Heracles....
, and Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus
Gaius Julius Hyginus was a Latin author, a pupil of the famous Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was by Augustus elected superintendent of the Palatine library according to Suetonius' De Grammaticis, 20...
calls her Eurynome
Eurynome
Eurynomê was the Titan goddess of water-meadows and pasturelands, and one of the elder Oceanides, that is, a daughter of Oceanus and Tethys...
. He was one of the three kings at Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
, along with Iphis and Amphiaraus
Amphiaraus
In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus was the son of Oecles and Hypermnestra, and husband of Eriphyle. Amphiaraus was the King of Argos along with Adrastus— the brother of Amphiaraus' wife, Eriphyle— and Iphis. Amphiaraus was a seer, and greatly honored in his time...
, the husband of Adrastus's sister Eriphyle
Eriphyle
In Greek mythology, Eriphyle , daughter of Talaus, was the mother of Alcmaeon and the wife of Amphiaraus. Eriphyle persuaded Amphiaraus to take part in the raid that initiated the mythic tale of the Seven Against Thebes, though she knew he would die...
. He was married either to Amphithea
Amphithea
Amphithea is the name of four women in Greek mythology:1. Amphithea, wife of Lycurgus, king of Nemea, and mother of Opheltes . Also known as Eurydice....
, daughter of Pronax
Pronax
In Greek mythology, Pronax is the son of Talaus and Lysimache, and brother of Adrastus. The Nemean Games are supposed to have been instituted in his honour....
, or to Demonassa
Demonassa
In Greek mythology, Demonassa was a name attributed to four women.*Demonassa, daughter of Amphiaraus, king of Argos and Eriphyle...
. His daughters Argea
Argea
In Greek mythology, Argea or Argia was a daughter of King Adrastus of Argos, and of Amphithea, daughter of Pronax. She was married to Polynices, the exiled king of Thebes, and bore him three sons: Thersander, Adrastus, and Timeas....
and Deipyle
Deipyle
In Greek mythology, Deipyle was the daughter of Adrastus and Amphithea, wife of Tydeus and mother of Diomedes. Her sister Argea married Polynices.-External links:*...
married Polynices
Polynices
In Greek mythology, Polynices or Polyneices was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta. His wife was Argea. His father, Oedipus, was discovered to have killed his father and married his mother, and was expelled from Thebes, leaving his sons Eteocles and Polynices to rule...
and Tydeus
Tydeus
In Greek mythology, Tydeus was an Aeolian hero of the generation before the Trojan War. He was one of the Seven Against Thebes and was mortally wounded by Melanippus before the walls of the city. The goddess Athena had planned to make him immortal but refused after Tydeus in a rage devoured the...
, respectively. His other children include Aegiale
Aegiale (wife of Diomedes)
Aegiale or Aegialeia was, in Greek mythology, a daughter of Adrastus and Amphithea, or of Aegialeus the son of Adrastus, whence she bears the surname of Adrastine. She was married to Diomedes, who, on his return from Troy, found her living in adultery with Cometes...
, Aegialeus
Aegialeus
In Greek mythology, Aegialeus is a name attributed several individuals.* Aegialeus was the elder son of Adrastus, a king of Argos, and either Amphithea or Demonassa. Aegialeus was identified as one of the Epigoni, who avenged their fathers' disastrous attack on the city of Thebes by retaking the...
, and Cyanippus.
During a feud between the most powerful houses in Argos
Argos
Argos is a city and a former municipality in Argolis, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Argos-Mykines, of which it is a municipal unit. It is 11 kilometres from Nafplion, which was its historic harbour...
, Talaus was slain by Amphiaraus
Amphiaraus
In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus was the son of Oecles and Hypermnestra, and husband of Eriphyle. Amphiaraus was the King of Argos along with Adrastus— the brother of Amphiaraus' wife, Eriphyle— and Iphis. Amphiaraus was a seer, and greatly honored in his time...
, and Adrastus being expelled from his dominions fled to Polybus, then king of Sicyon
Sicyon
Sikyon was an ancient Greek city situated in the northern Peloponnesus between Corinth and Achaea on the territory of the present-day prefecture of Corinthia...
. When Polybus died without heirs, Adrastus succeeded him on the throne of Sicyon, and during his reign he is said to have instituted the Nemean Games
Nemean Games
The Nemean Games were one of the four Panhellenic Games of Ancient Greece, and were held at Nemea every two years ....
.
According to "Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Greece" by Edward E. Barthell, he states that Adrastus is the son of Talaus and Lysimache (daughter of Abas). He married Amphitheia, daughter of his brother Pronax, and became the father of a son, Aegialeus, and four daughters: Aegialeia, who became the wife of Diomedes (son of Tydeus); Argeia, who became the wife of Polyneices (son of Oedipus); Deipyle, who became the wife of Tydeus (son of Oeneus); and Eurydice, who became the wife of the Trojan king, Ilus (son of Tros).
Seven against Thebes
Afterwards, however, Adrastus became reconciled to AmphiarausAmphiaraus
In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus was the son of Oecles and Hypermnestra, and husband of Eriphyle. Amphiaraus was the King of Argos along with Adrastus— the brother of Amphiaraus' wife, Eriphyle— and Iphis. Amphiaraus was a seer, and greatly honored in his time...
, gave him his sister Eriphyle
Eriphyle
In Greek mythology, Eriphyle , daughter of Talaus, was the mother of Alcmaeon and the wife of Amphiaraus. Eriphyle persuaded Amphiaraus to take part in the raid that initiated the mythic tale of the Seven Against Thebes, though she knew he would die...
in marriage, and returned to his kingdom of Argos upon the swift immortal horse Arion
Arion (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Arion or Areion is a divinely-bred, extremely swift immortal horse which, according to the Latin poet Sextus Propertius, was endowed with speech....
, a gift of Heracles
Heracles
Heracles ,born Alcaeus or Alcides , was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, foster son of Amphitryon and great-grandson of Perseus...
. During the time he reigned there it happened that Tydeus
Tydeus
In Greek mythology, Tydeus was an Aeolian hero of the generation before the Trojan War. He was one of the Seven Against Thebes and was mortally wounded by Melanippus before the walls of the city. The goddess Athena had planned to make him immortal but refused after Tydeus in a rage devoured the...
of Calydon
Calydon
Calydon was an ancient Greek city in Aetolia, situated on the west bank of the river Evenus. According to Greek mythology, the city took its name from its founder Calydon, son of Aetolus. Close to the city stood Mount Zygos, the slopes of which provided the setting for the hunt of the Calydonian...
and Polynices
Polynices
In Greek mythology, Polynices or Polyneices was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta. His wife was Argea. His father, Oedipus, was discovered to have killed his father and married his mother, and was expelled from Thebes, leaving his sons Eteocles and Polynices to rule...
of Thebes
Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)
See Thebes, Greece for the modern city built on the ancient ruins.Ancient Thebes was a Boeotian city-state , situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain...
, both fugitives from their native countries, met at Argos near the palace of Adrastus, and came to words and from words to blows. On hearing the noise, Adrastus hastened to them and separated the combatants, in whom he immediately recognised the two men that had been promised to him by an oracle as the future husbands of two of his daughters, for one bore on his shield the figure of a boar, and the other that of a lion, and the oracle was that one of his daughters was to marry a boar and the other a lion. Adrastus, therefore, gave his daughter Deipyle to Tydeus, and Argeia to Polynices, and at the same time promised to lead each of these princes back to his own country. Adrastus now prepared for war against Thebes, although Amphiaraus foretold that all who should engage in it should perish, with the exception of Adrastus.
Thus arose the celebrated war of the Seven against Thebes
Seven Against Thebes
The Seven against Thebes is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. The trilogy is sometimes referred to as the Oedipodea. It concerns the battle between an Argive army led by Polynices and the army of Thebes led by Eteocles and his supporters. The trilogy won...
, in which Adrastus was joined by six other heroes, Polynices
Polynices
In Greek mythology, Polynices or Polyneices was the son of Oedipus and Jocasta. His wife was Argea. His father, Oedipus, was discovered to have killed his father and married his mother, and was expelled from Thebes, leaving his sons Eteocles and Polynices to rule...
, Tydeus
Tydeus
In Greek mythology, Tydeus was an Aeolian hero of the generation before the Trojan War. He was one of the Seven Against Thebes and was mortally wounded by Melanippus before the walls of the city. The goddess Athena had planned to make him immortal but refused after Tydeus in a rage devoured the...
, Amphiaraus
Amphiaraus
In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus was the son of Oecles and Hypermnestra, and husband of Eriphyle. Amphiaraus was the King of Argos along with Adrastus— the brother of Amphiaraus' wife, Eriphyle— and Iphis. Amphiaraus was a seer, and greatly honored in his time...
, Capaneus
Capaneus
In Greek mythology, Capaneus was a son of Hipponous and either Astynome or Laodice , and husband of Evadne, with whom he fathered Sthenelus. Some call his wife Ianeira....
, Hippomedon
Hippomedon
In Greek mythology, Hippomedon was one of the Seven Against Thebes and father of Polydorus.His father was either Talaus, the father of Adrastus, or Aristomachus , or Mnesimachus. If he is the son of Mnesimachus, then his mother is Metidice, daughter of Talaus, which makes him Adrastus's sister's...
, and Parthenopaeus. Instead of Tydeus and Polynices other legends mention Eteoclos and Mecisteus
Mecisteus
In Greek mythology, Mecisteus was the son of Talaus and Lysimache. He participated in the attack on the city of Thebes with the Seven Against Thebes, along with his brother Adrastus. In Aeschylus' tragedy Seven Against Thebes, Mecisteus is not among the seven champions who attack the seven gates...
. This war ended as unfortunately as Amphiaraus had predicted, and Adrastus alone was saved by the swiftness of his horse Arion.
After the battle, Creon
Creon
Creon is a figure in Greek mythology best known as the ruler of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus. He had two children with his wife, Eurydice: Megareus and Haemon...
, king of Thebes, ordered that none of the fallen enemies were to be given funeral rites. Against his order, Antigone
Antigone
In Greek mythology, Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta, Oedipus' mother. The name may be taken to mean "unbending", coming from "anti-" and "-gon / -gony" , but has also been suggested to mean "opposed to motherhood", "in place of a mother", or "anti-generative", based from the root...
buried Polynices and was put to death, but Adrastus escaped to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
to petition Theseus
Theseus
For other uses, see Theseus Theseus was the mythical founder-king of Athens, son of Aethra, and fathered by Aegeus and Poseidon, both of whom Aethra had slept with in one night. Theseus was a founder-hero, like Perseus, Cadmus, or Heracles, all of whom battled and overcame foes that were...
, the city's king, to attack Thebes and force the return of the bodies of the remaining five. Theseus initially refused but was convinced by his mother, Aethra
Aethra
In Greek mythology, Aethra or Aithra was a name applied to four different individuals:-Mother of Theseus:...
, who had been beseeched by the mothers of the fallen, to put the matter to a vote of the citizens. The Athenians marched on Thebes and conquered the city but inflicted no additional damage, taking only what they came for, the five bodies. They were laid upon a funeral pyre and Adrastus eulogized each.
Second war against Thebes
Ten years after this, Adrastus persuaded the seven sons of the heroes who had fallen in the war against Thebes to make a new attack upon that city, and AmphiarausAmphiaraus
In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus was the son of Oecles and Hypermnestra, and husband of Eriphyle. Amphiaraus was the King of Argos along with Adrastus— the brother of Amphiaraus' wife, Eriphyle— and Iphis. Amphiaraus was a seer, and greatly honored in his time...
now declared that the gods approved of the undertaking, and promised success. This war is celebrated in ancient story as the War of the Epigoni
Epigoni
In Greek mythology, Epigoni are the sons of the Argive heroes who had fought and been killed in the first Theban war, the subject of the Greek Thebaid, in which Polynices and six allies attacked Thebes because Polynices' brother, Eteocles, refused to give up the throne as promised...
. Thebes was taken and razed to the ground, after the greater part of its inhabitants had left the city on the advice of Tiresias
Tiresias
In Greek mythology, Tiresias was a blind prophet of Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo; Tiresias participated fully in seven generations at Thebes, beginning as advisor to Cadmus...
. The only Argive hero that fell in this war was Aegialeus
Aegialeus
In Greek mythology, Aegialeus is a name attributed several individuals.* Aegialeus was the elder son of Adrastus, a king of Argos, and either Amphithea or Demonassa. Aegialeus was identified as one of the Epigoni, who avenged their fathers' disastrous attack on the city of Thebes by retaking the...
, the son of Adrastus. After having built a temple of Nemesis
Nemesis (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Nemesis , also called Rhamnousia/Rhamnusia at her sanctuary at Rhamnous, north of Marathon, was the spirit of divine retribution against those who succumb to hubris . The Greeks personified vengeful fate as a remorseless goddess: the goddess of revenge...
in the neighborhood of Thebes, he set out on his return home. But, weighed down by old age and grief at the death of his son, he died at Megara
Megara
Megara is an ancient city in Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, before being taken by Athens. Megara was one of the four districts of Attica, embodied in the four mythic sons of King...
and was buried there. After his death he was worshipped in several parts of Greece, as at Megara, at Sicyon where his memory was celebrated in tragic choruses, and in Attica
Attica
Attica is a historical region of Greece, containing Athens, the current capital of Greece. The historical region is centered on the Attic peninsula, which projects into the Aegean Sea...
.
The legends about Adrastus and the two wars against Thebes have furnished ample materials for the epic as well as tragic poets of Greece, and some works of art relating to the stories about Adrastus are mentioned in Pausanias.
From Adrastus the female patronymic "Adrastine" was formed.