In
Greek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
,
Tydeus was an
AeolianThe Aeolians were one of the three major ancient Greek tribes, into which the people of ancient Greece were divided. They spoke their own dialect of ancient Greek called Aeolic, while their name comes from Aeolus, the mythical ancestor of the Aeolic branch and son of Hellen, the mythical patriarch...
hero of the generation before the
Trojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
. He was one of the
Seven Against ThebesThe Seven against Thebes is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. 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 the first prize at the City Dionysia...
and was mortally wounded by
MelanippusIn Greek mythology, there were five people named Melanippus :#Son of Agrius, killed by Heracles.#Son of Perigune and Theseus.#Son of Astacus, defended Thebes in Seven Against Thebes. In Aeschylus' play, he defended the Proitid gate against Tydeus...
before the walls of the city. The goddess
AthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, peace, warfare, strategy, handicrafts and reason, shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour...
had planned to make him immortal but refused after Tydeus in a rage devoured the brains of the defeated Melanippus. He was the father of the Greek warrior
DiomedesDiomedes or Diomed is a hero in Greek mythology, mostly known for his participation in the Trojan War. He was born to Tydeus and Deipyle and later became King of Argos, succeeding his maternal grandfather, Adrastus...
, who is frequently known by the
patronymicA patronym or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronym. Each is a means of conveying lineage...
Tydides.
Tydeus was a son of
OeneusIn Greek mythology, Oeneus, or Oineus was a Calydonian king, son of Porthaon, husband of Althaea and father of Deianira, Meleager and Melanippe. He introduced winemaking to Aetolia, which he learned from Dionysus. The sons of his brother Agrius deposed him but Diomedes put Oeneus back on the...
and either
PeriboeaIn Greek mythology, nine people shared the name Periboea .#Periboea was the daughter of either King Cychreus of Salamis or of Alcathous. Her mother was either Pyrgo or Evaechme , daughter of Megareus. She married Telamon and became and mother of Ajax. She also consorted with Theseus.#Periboea,...
, Oeneus's second wife, or Gorge, Oeneus's daughter.
In
Greek mythologyGreek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
,
Tydeus was an
AeolianThe Aeolians were one of the three major ancient Greek tribes, into which the people of ancient Greece were divided. They spoke their own dialect of ancient Greek called Aeolic, while their name comes from Aeolus, the mythical ancestor of the Aeolic branch and son of Hellen, the mythical patriarch...
hero of the generation before the
Trojan WarIn Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans after Paris of Troy stole Helen from her husband Menelaus, the king of Sparta. The war is among the most important events in Greek mythology and was narrated in many works of Greek literature, including the Iliad...
. He was one of the
Seven Against ThebesThe Seven against Thebes is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. 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 the first prize at the City Dionysia...
and was mortally wounded by
MelanippusIn Greek mythology, there were five people named Melanippus :#Son of Agrius, killed by Heracles.#Son of Perigune and Theseus.#Son of Astacus, defended Thebes in Seven Against Thebes. In Aeschylus' play, he defended the Proitid gate against Tydeus...
before the walls of the city. The goddess
AthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, peace, warfare, strategy, handicrafts and reason, shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour...
had planned to make him immortal but refused after Tydeus in a rage devoured the brains of the defeated Melanippus. He was the father of the Greek warrior
DiomedesDiomedes or Diomed is a hero in Greek mythology, mostly known for his participation in the Trojan War. He was born to Tydeus and Deipyle and later became King of Argos, succeeding his maternal grandfather, Adrastus...
, who is frequently known by the
patronymicA patronym or patronymic, is a component of a personal name based on the name of one's father, grandfather or an even earlier male ancestor. A component of a name based on the name of one's mother or a female ancestor is a matronym. Each is a means of conveying lineage...
Tydides.
Exile
Tydeus was a son of
OeneusIn Greek mythology, Oeneus, or Oineus was a Calydonian king, son of Porthaon, husband of Althaea and father of Deianira, Meleager and Melanippe. He introduced winemaking to Aetolia, which he learned from Dionysus. The sons of his brother Agrius deposed him but Diomedes put Oeneus back on the...
and either
PeriboeaIn Greek mythology, nine people shared the name Periboea .#Periboea was the daughter of either King Cychreus of Salamis or of Alcathous. Her mother was either Pyrgo or Evaechme , daughter of Megareus. She married Telamon and became and mother of Ajax. She also consorted with Theseus.#Periboea,...
, Oeneus's second wife, or Gorge, Oeneus's daughter. He was the husband of
DeipyleIn Greek mythology, Deipyle or Dipyle was the daughter of Adrastus and Amphithea, mother of Diomedes and wife of Tydeus....
, the mother of Diomedes.
Tydeus was banished from
CalydonCalydon 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...
by his uncle
AgriusAgrius was in Greek mythology a son of Parthaon, king of Calydon in Aetolia, and Euryte; he was the brother of Oeneus , Alcathous, Melas, Leucopeus, and Sterope. He was father of six sons, including Melanippus and Thersites, who overthrew Oeneus and gave the kingdom to their father...
, because he killed either his brother or a different uncle or six of his cousins. He travelled to
ArgosArgos is a city in Greece in the Peloponnese near Nafplion, which was its historic harbour .-Name:The region of Argos is known as the Argolis, Argolid, or Argeia...
, where he married
DeipyleIn Greek mythology, Deipyle or Dipyle was the daughter of Adrastus and Amphithea, mother of Diomedes and wife of Tydeus....
, daughter of king
AdrastusAdrastus or Adrestus , traditionally translated as "nonparticipant" or "uncooperative", was a legendary king of Argos during the war of the Seven Against Thebes.-Mythological tradition:...
. The king agreed to help Tydeus regain the rule of Calydon, but chose to first help
PolynicesIn 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...
regain kingship of Thebes.
Seven against Thebes
In the
IliadThe Iliad is an epic poem recounting significant events during a portion of the final year of the Trojan War — the Greek siege of the city of Ilion — hence the title...
,
HomerHomer is a legendary ancient Greek epic poet, traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey...
alludes several times to Tydeus's role in the attack on Thebes. Before the fighting began, Tydeus was sent into the city bearing a message for the Cadmeians. He found them feasting in the house of
EteoclesIn Greek mythology, Eteocles was a king of Thebes, the son of Oedipus and either Jocasta or Euryganeia. The name is from earlier *Etewoklewes , meaning "truly glorious". Tawaglawas is thought to be the Hittite rendition of the name. When Oedipus discovered that he had killed his father Laius and...
, and challenged them to contests, all of which he won with the help of
AthenaIn Greek mythology, Athena is the goddess of wisdom, peace, warfare, strategy, handicrafts and reason, shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour...
. Enraged, the leaders sent a force of fifty men to attack Tydeus on his way back to the army, with Maion and
PolyphontesIn Greek mythology, Polyphontes was the son of Autophonus. In the Iliad, when the Argives attack Thebes in an attempt to regain the throne for Polynices that his brother, Eteocles, holds, Tydeus, a leader of the Thebans, enters Thebes as an embassy, and finding all the Theban leaders together...
leading them. Tydeus killed all of them but Maion, whom Athena advised him to spare. In the attack on Thebes, Tydeus was severely wounded by
MelanippusIn Greek mythology, there were five people named Melanippus :#Son of Agrius, killed by Heracles.#Son of Perigune and Theseus.#Son of Astacus, defended Thebes in Seven Against Thebes. In Aeschylus' play, he defended the Proitid gate against Tydeus...
, but killed him and ate his brains. This shocked Athena, who would have made him immortal.
The 7th century poet
MimnermusMimnermus of Colophon was a Greek elegiac poet from Colophon, who flourished about 630-600 BC.-Life and work:Mimnermus lived in the troubled time when the Ionic cities of Asia Minor were struggling to maintain themselves against the rising power of the Lydian kings...
attributes the murder of
IsmeneIsmene is the name of two women of Greek mythology. The more famous is a daughter and half-sister of Oedipus, daughter and granddaughter of Jocasta, and sister of Antigone, Eteocles, and Polynices. She appears in several plays of Sophocles: at the end of Oedipus the King and to a limited extent in...
, the sister of
AntigoneAntigone is the name of two different women in Greek mythology. The name may be taken to mean "unbending", coming from "anti-" and "-gon / -gony" , but has also been suggested to mean "opposed to motherhood" or "in place of a mother" based from the root gonē, "that which generates" Antigone ' onMouseout='HidePop("43156")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Black-figure_pottery">black-figure
The black-figure pottery technique is a style of ancient Greek pottery painting in which the decoration appears as black silhouettes on a red background. Originating in Corinth during the early 7th century BC, it was introduced into Attica about a generation later...
amphoraAn amphora is a type of ceramic vase with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body. The word amphora is Latin, derived from the Greek amphoreus , an abbreviation of amphiphoreus , a compound word combining amphi- plus phoreus , from pherein , referring to...
now housed in the
LouvreThe Musée du Louvre or officially the Grand Louvre — in English, the Louvre Museum or Great Louvre, or simply the Louvre — is the largest national museum of France, the most visited museum in the world, and a historic monument. It is a central landmark of Paris, located on the Right Bank of the...
.