In Greek mythology, Electryon (/ɪˈlɛktriən/;[1]Ancient Greek: Ἠλεκτρύων) was a king of Tiryns and Mycenae or Medea in Argolis.[2]
Electryon | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Spouse | Anaxo or Eurydice |
| Children | Alcmena Stratobates Gorgophonus Phylonomus Celaeneus Amphimachus Lysinomus Chirimachus Anactor Archelaus Licymnius |
| Parents | |
Family
editElectryon was the son of Perseus and Andromeda and thus brother of Perses, Alcaeus, Heleus, Mestor, Sthenelus, Cynurus, Gorgophone and Autochthe. He is most commonly married to Anaxo, daughter of his brother Alcaeus and sister of Amphitryon,[3] but was instead married to Eurydice, daughter of Pelops, in some versions of the myth. His wife bore him a daughter Alcmena and many sons: Stratobates, Gorgophonus, Phylonomus, Celaeneus, Amphimachus, Lysinomus, Chirimachus, Anactor, and Archelaus. Electryon had an illegitimate son Licymnius by Midea, a Phrygian woman.[4]
Mythology
editThe six sons of Pterelaus, King of the Taphians, descended from Electryon's brother Mestor came to Mycenae to claim a share of kingdom. When Electryon spurned their request, they drove off his cattle; Electryon's sons battled against them, and all but Licymnius (on one side) and Everes (on the other) died. Everes sold the cattle to Polyxenus of Elis. Amphitryon, Electryon's nephew and promised in marriage to Alcmene, bought the cattle and returned them to his uncle, but accidentally killed him as he threw his club at one of the cows. However, there is an earlier tradition that Amphitryon killed him in a fit of anger over some cattle.[5] Electryon's brother Sthenelus seized the throne of Mycenae, charged Amphitryon with murder, and sent him into exile.
Notes
edit- ^ Morford, Mark P. O.; Lenardon, Robert J.; Sham, Michael (2015). Classical Mythology (International 10th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. I-24. ISBN 978-0-19-999739-8.
- ^ Pausanias, 2.25.9
- ^ Apollodorus, 2.4.5
- ^ "Apollodorus", Benezit Dictionary of Artists, Oxford University Press, 2011-10-31, doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.b00006221, retrieved 2021-10-14
- ^ Hesiod, The Shield of Heracles, 11f. and 82.
References
edit- Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
- Pausanias, Description of Greece with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. ISBN 0-674-99328-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
- Pausanias, Graeciae Descriptio. 3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903. Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
- Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Ele'ctryon" , Amphi'tryon
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