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"I raise my hand in
welcome to the dead, and pour sad dirges in a flow
of tears, to greet my friends, whose loss I mourn,
alone and desolate. Wealth lost may be retrieved; but this
most dear treasure, once spent, is never found
again: the life of man." [Adrastus 1.
Euripides,
Suppliants
775]
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King Adrastus 1 of
Argos married his
daughters to two exiles: Argia 1 to Theban
Polynices, and Deipyle to Calydonian
Tydeus 2. Having
promised his sons-in-law to restore them both to
their native lands he raised an army in order to
march first against
Thebes. He lost the war,
but of all the SEVEN
AGAINST THEBES he was the only to survive,
saved by his horse.
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Three kingdoms of Argos
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At the time of Adrastus 1's reign,
Argos, or rather the
district of Argolis, was ruled by three kings,
Adrastus 1 himself being one of them.
This peculiar state of affairs originated when
King Proetus 1 of Argos
(Danae's uncle) gave a
third part of his kingdom to the seer Melampus 1
for having healed, by means of drugs, his daughters
of madness. Melampus 1 in turn shared the kingdom
with his brother Bias 1, and in this way three
kingdoms of Argos were
created, the brothers Melampus 1 and Bias 1
reigning over two of them, and the third being
ruled by King Alector 1, a man belonging to Proetus
1's family.
Later the thrones were occupied by their
descendants: Iphis 1 (son of Alector 1),
Amphiaraus
(descendant of Melampus 1), and Adrastus 1
(grandson of Bias 1).
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Origin of his afflictions
|
Adrastus 1's misfortune began when he,
influenced by an obscure oracle of
Apollo, bestowed his
daughters on two exiles, and granted his
sons-in-law wishes that came from their violent
nature. One of them was
Tydeus 2, who had been
forced to leave Calydon
for having murdered a man; and the other was
Oedipus' son Polynices,
who came to Argos after
having been betrayed and banished from
Thebes by his brother
Eteocles 1.
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Arrival of the two exiles
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On their simultaneous arrival by night to the
palace of Adrastus 1, they engaged in a fight,
waking up the king, who parted them. Some say that
Adrastus 1 compared them to wild beasts because
they came to blows about a bed, or because they
fought like savage animals. But others say that
when Adrastus 1, after letting them into his
palace, examined the boar and lion in their shields
(for Polynices adorned it with a lion and
Tydeus 2 with a boar;
although some have said that there was "a lion's skin with shaggy
mane" upon Tydeus
2's shield [Euripides,
Phoenician
Women 1120] ), he remembered the words of a
seer who had told him to yoke his daughters in
marriage to a boar and a lion.
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Misled by a riddle
|
And since Adrastus 1 was a man of omens and
believed, not only that these come from heaven, but
also that they are easy to understand, he,
interpreting the seer's words the best he could,
thought that these two gentlemen were a gift from
the gods, and that they had come to aid his work.
That is why he exclaimed in happiness:
"I have found,
O Fortune, that the gods are gods
indeed." [Adrastus 1. Statius,
Thebaid
1.510]
...and so he married the two exiles to his
daughters.
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Not a complete unknown
|
Some may think that the exiles were unknown
foreigners; and even
Theseus, whom Adrastus 1
met after the war of the
SEVEN, asked him
thus:
"Ah! You
bestowed your Argive girls on foreigners?
[Theseus to Adrastus.
Euripides,
Suppliants
135]
But at least Tydeus 2
could not have been a complete stranger, since his
uncle Capaneus was the son of Adrastus 1's sister
Astynome 1.
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Adrastus 1's fateful promise
|
The exiles showed no intention of leading a
peaceful life in Argos.
Instead they wished to return to their native
countries, which must be done by violence, since
each of them had been declared at home what is now
called "persona non grata". Nevertheless Adrastus
1, certainly an ambitious man himself, promised
that he would restore them both to their native
lands, Polynices first.
Now, said the Seven
Sages (long after Adrastus 1's time): "A pledge, and ruin is
near." And curiously enough (for a man of
omens), when he later was trying to fulfil the
promise that ruined him, he neither consulted seers
nor observed altar flames, and engaged in military
operations, lacking the favour of the gods.
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Argives at variance
|
On the matter of the approaching Argive
intervention in the Theban affairs, the opinions
were almost as divided as
Argos itself. King Iphis 1
agreed, and in time he sent his son Eteoclus to
join the alliance. But King
Amphiaraus, who was a
seer and knew that the expedition would fail,
refused to participate, and warned Adrastus 1.
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Eriphyle bribed
|
Now Amphiaraus was
married to Adrastus 1's sister Eriphyle. And once
before, when a difference arose between the two
men, Amphiaraus had
sworn to let Eriphyle decide any future dispute he
might have with Adrastus 1. Knowing this, King
Iphis 1 told Polynices that
Amphiaraus could be
forced to yield, if Eriphyle were conveniently
bribed by means of the Necklace
of Harmonia 1, a Theban treasury that Polynices
had brought to Argos. And
although Amphiaraus
had forbidden Eriphyle to accept gifts from
Polynices, the latter succeeded in giving her the
Necklace so that she would
persuade her husband to join the coalition.
Accordingly, when war was advocated by Adrastus 1
and opposed by
Amphiaraus, Eriphyle,
having accepted the
Necklace, decided in favour
of Adrastus 1, and
Amphiaraus had to
yield.
But others have said that
Amphiaraus, with the
knowledge of his wife, hid himself to avoid going
to war, and that it was Adrastus 1 himself who
bribed Eriphyle with a necklace of gold and gems of
his own making.
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Bold adventure
|
In any case Adrastus 1, sacrificing judgement,
forced the circumstances so that they would seem
favourable, and engaged in the bold enterprise
remembered as the SEVEN
AGAINST THEBES, a family venture through which
he intended to obtain influence in a foreign city.
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The Nemean games
|
Having mustered the army, Adrastus 1, who was
now a man "verging toward
Old Age from life's mid-course"
[Statius,
Thebaid
1.390], marched against
Thebes. In Nemea, where
the army stopped for water, he inaugurated for the
first time the Nemean games, winning, despite his
age, the horse race, which was rather won by the
marvellous horse he was riding (Arion 1) . The
games were celebrated in honour of the little
prince Opheltes 1, whom a serpent killed when his
nurse Hypsipyle, showing the way to a spring to the
SEVEN, left him
behind.
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Embassy fails
|
After celebrating the Nemean games, the army
came to Cithaeron (the mountain between Boeotia and
Attica) whence Tydeus 2
was sent as ambassador to
Thebes to tell Eteocles 1
to cede the kingdom to Polynices, as he had
previously agreed with his brother; for their
covenant was that each should rule alternately for
one year at a time. As this embassy had no effect,
the army approached the walls of
Thebes, and each
commander was stationed in front of each of the
seven gates, with the whole host behind them.
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The SEVEN dead
|
In this war all Argives leaders were killed
except Adrastus 1, as
Amphiaraus knew
beforehand. But
Amphiaraus himself
was never found; for as they say, the gods seized
him and let him and his chariot be swallowed by the
earth. The main contenders, Eteocles 1 and
Polynices, slew each other, thus fulfilling the
curse that their father
Oedipus had called upon
their heads; for he had said:
This curse I
leave you as my last bequest: Never to win by arms
your native land, nor return to
Argos, but by a kinman's hand to die and
slay." [Oedipus
to Polynices. Sophocles,
Oedipus
at Colonus 1385]
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Adrastus 1 survives
|
Adrastus 1 survived because he, recovering the
prudence he long ago had lost, fled away, leaving
camp, army, and son-in-law behind. Only that now
prudence looked more like something else. But no
one should call a man coward, not even a general,
nor demand of him to sacrifice his life when
everything else is lost. And although there are
those who do just that, Adrastus 1, thinking
perhaps that a good flight is better than a bad
fight, reached security far from the battlefield's
hopeless slaughter, being carried away by the swift
steed of divine lineage. Yet later he was heard
saying:
"I should have
died beside them. How I wish I had!"
[Adrastus 1. Euripides,
Suppliants
769]
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Creon 2 seizes power
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Thus ended the adventure of the
SEVEN, the
defenders being victorious. However, since
Oedipus' sons,
fulfilling their father's curse, had killed each
other, leaving the throne vacant,
Creon 2 seized power in
Thebes, as regent and
protector of the crown prince Laodamas 2, son of
Eteocles 1, since he was not only victorious but
also alive—a most sweet combination of terms.
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The folly of Creon 2
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Now Creon 2 lost his
mind from the first day of his rule. For he, in
violation of all laws, both human and divine,
issued a proclamation forbidding the burial of the
dead enemy soldiers (mainly Argives, but also
Thebans), that were lying on the fields outside the
city. This hateful measure put him soon into
conflict with Antigone
2, who insisted in burying her brother
Polynices, and with his own son Haemon 1.
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Adrastus 1 the suppliant
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What was now happening under the rule of
Creon 2 was too much for
Adrastus 1, who, having lost all his military
power, could not avenge the outrage. Therefore he
came to Athens
accompanied by Argive suppliants and, after taking
refuge at the altar of Mercy where he laid the
suppliant's bough (or as others say, at the altar
of Demeter in
Eleusis), Adrastus 1
begged King Theseus to
intercede, so that the dead Argives could be given
burial.
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Meaningless lecture
|
But Theseus, who was
at the height of his own glory, answered like
prosperous men usually do, that is lecturing on
morals, ethics, and politics. For those who enjoy
prosperity are persuaded that their happy condition
derives from their own wisdom alone.
So making philosophy out of a simple request, he
declared in a speech before the Argives that the
better outweighs the worse in life, and that the
gods make a rich provision for the life of mortals,
wherefore those who show discontent are wanton. He
also enlightened the suppliants on the subject of
human nature, saying that men's pride makes them
seek to outmatch the gods, claiming a wisdom higher
than that of the divinity.
Then he rebuked Adrastus 1, reminding him of his
foolishness, which had enslaved him to a riddle; he
reproached him to have married his daughters to
foreigners, and finally cast into his face his
whole responsibility:
"You led the
entire army of
Argos out to war; you ignored a
prophet's warning, sought no favour of the gods,
and brought defeat and ruin on your state."
[Theseus to Adrastus 1.
Euripides,
Suppliants
229]
Going ahead with his lesson,
Theseus let Adrastus 1
know that his age had afforded him no wisdom, since
he let himself be misled by young men. Then he
passed judgement on youth, exposing its love for
popularity, its propensity to multiply wars, its
lack of scruples, and its capacity for corrupting
citizens, since young men, he said, are out to
obtain a generalship, or to gain office either for
their own pleasure, or for money.
After having thus defined the nature of youth,
Theseus gave a talk on
social science, stating that there are three orders
of citizens, two of which are vicious: the rich,
who are useless, for being steered by
Wealth, and the very
poor, who are dangerous, since they listen to
Envy. The middle order,
said Theseus, is the
city's life and health; and to them he could not
give a sensible reason for making an alliance with
Adrastus 1, he explained. So he ended his discourse
with this exhortation:
"Fight with
your fate yourself, and do not trouble us."
[Theseus to Adrastus 1.
Euripides,
Suppliants
249]
When the meaningless harangue was over, Adrastus
1, making no attempt to justification, answered the
wise man as clearly as he could:
"I did not ask
you to pass judgement on my faults ... nor did I
come to you for punishment, nor for rebuke, of such
mistakes as I have made. I came for help. So, if
you will not give me this I must accept your
answer. What else can I do?" [Adrastus 1 to
Theseus. Euripides,
Suppliants
249]
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The Argive women intervene
|
That said, Adrastus 1 made sign to leave. But
the Argive women, who suffered at the thought of
their unburied husbands and children, renewed the
request, reminding
Theseus that even a
beast can flee for refuge to the rock, or a slave
find sanctuary at an altar, and that in human life
nothing enjoys for ever quiteness and prosperity.
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Aethra 2 advices her son
|
And when they had spoken,
Theseus' own mother
Aethra 2 joined them in their demand, bidding her
son not to err by refusing help to the opressed,
but instead, by the might of arms, force them to
their duty who, undermining laws common to all men,
denied burial to the Argives.
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Theseus attacks
Thebes
|
Taking counsel from his mother,
Theseus saw himself
under a new light and, assuming the role of
defender of the laws of all nations, as well as of
the covenants of heaven, he marched against
Creon 2 with a powerful
host that was persuaded of both the worth and
justice of the enterprise.
This is how Thebes,
which had just gained peace at a high price of
blood, lost it again, and was forced by arms to let
the Argives burn on the funeral pyre. Some have
said that the burial took place near
Eleusis. But the Thebans
have denied that they ever engaged in battle
against Theseus, saying
that they voluntarily gave up the dead for burial.
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Death
|
The Megarians assert that Adrastus 1 died at
Megara of
Old Age and grief at the
death of his son Aegialeus 1, whom Laodamas 2
killed during the war of the
EPIGONI. Others have
said that Adrastus 1 and his son Hipponous 4 threw
themselves into the fire, following (again) an
oracle of Apollo, a god
who, apparently, wished his destruction. And still
others say that Adrastus 1 returned to
Argos after his defeat.
Whatever happened,
Death never fails; and
years after, when Aeneas
descended to Hades,
he saw, among the shades of the dead, the pale
spectre of Adrastus 1.
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Additional
notes
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Adrastus 1 fought against after death
|
Despite the fact that Adrastus 1 committed
serious mistakes, which make of him a member of the
legion of the defeated, he was venerated throughout
Argive territory for many years, and particularly
in Sicyon, since Adrastus
1 had once received the throne of this city from
his maternal grandfather Polybus 9, father of
Lysianassa 3. This is why the Sicyonians paid
honors to Adrastus 1, celebrating his memory with
tragic choruses.
But when 600 years after his death Cleisthenes
came to power in Sicyon
(in times that are recorded as historical) his
position was weakened. For Cleisthenes, who
disliked the Argive influence, put an end to the
minstrels' contests, since these had as theme of
the songs the prowesses of the Argives, and
restored the tragic choruses to
Dionysus 2. Likewise
he wished to cast out Adrastus 1's hero shrine, who
was in the marketplace at
Sicyon. Yet, not daring
to do such a thing without authority, he sought it
in the oracle of Delphi,
which utterly disappointed him by answering:
"Adrastus is
king of
Sicyon, and you but a stone thrower."
[The Oracle to Cleisthenes. Herodotus,
History
5.67.2]
As he could not find satisfaction in such an
answer, he then introduced the cult of Melanippus
1, who had died defending
Thebes against the
SEVEN, after
slaying Tydeus 2 and
Mecisteus 1, brother of Adrastus 1.
In addition Cleisthenes, being eager to remove
the Argive influence, renamed their tribes in a
ridiculous way, calling them Swinites, Assites and
Porkites, and reserving for his own tribe the title
Archelaoi, rulers of the people. This lunacy lasted
for sixty years after Cleisthenes' death.
Afterwards the Sicyonians, recovering their senses,
changed the names into respectable ones, and added
one which they called Aegialeis after Adrastus 1's
son Aegialeus 1.
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The marvellous horse
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Adrastus 1 won the horse race of the first
Nemean games, which he himself instituted, riding
Arion 1, the dark-maned steed that also saved his
life, carrying him away from the battlefield. Arion
1 was first tamed by Oncius, an Arcadian son of
Apollo, and later, when
Heracles 1 waged war
against Elis, he asked the
horse to Oncius, and was carried to battle on its
back when he took Elis.
Afterwards the horse was given by
Heracles 1 to Adrastus
1.
Arion 1 was said to be the offspring either of
Poseidon and
Demeter, or of
Gaia, or of Zephyrus 1 (one
of the WINDS) and Podarge,
one of the HARPIES. It is said that when
Demeter was looking for
her daughter
Persephone, she was
followed by Poseidon,
and in order to avoid him she turned into a mare.
However, Poseidon
changed himself into a stallion and enjoyed
Demeter, who gave birth
to a daughter, whose name is not supposed to be
divulged to the uninitiated, and the horse Arion 1.
This took place in Thelpusian territory in
Arcadia, which belonged
to Oncius.
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Others with identical name
|
- Adrastus 2 was father of Eurydice 6, wife of
Ilus 2, the founder of
Troy.
- Adrastus 3 is one of the
TROJAN LEADERS.
- Adrastus 4 is the grandson of Adrastus 1.
- Adrastus 5 is counted among the
TROJANS.
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Abolengo
Album - High Resolution Genealogical Charts
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Names in this chart:
Abas 2, Achelous, Adrastus 1, Adrastus 4,
Aegialeus 1, Aegialia, Aegyptus 1,
Aeolus 1, Aetolus 2,
Agenor 6, Aglaia 2, Alcidice, Alcmaeon 1, Alector
1, Aleus, Amphiaraus,
Amphilochus 1, Amphilochus 2,
Amphion 1, Amphithea 1,
Amythaon 1, Anaxagoras, Anchinoe, Antiope 3,
Aphidas 1, Arcas 1, Argia 1, Asopus,
Atlas, Belus 1, Biantes 1,
Bias 1, Callisto,
Calydon, Capaneus, Chloris 1, Cometes 2, Cretheus
1, Cyanippus, Danaus 1, Deimachus 1, Deipyle,
Demonassa, Deucalion
1, Diomedes 2, Dione 3, Enarete,
Endymion, Epaphus 1,
EPIGONI, Epicasta 1,
Eriphyle, Eteoclus, Euryalus 1, Euryte 2, Evadne 2,
Hellen 1, Himas, Hippodamas 1, Hippodamas 3,
Hippomedon 1, Hipponous 1, Hipponous 4,
Hypermnestra 1, Hypermnestra 2, Idomene,
Io, Iphis 1, Jocasta, Libya,
Lynceus 2, Mantineus 1, Manto 1, Mecisteus 1,
Megapenthes 2, Memphis 2, Menoeceus 1,
Neleus, Nilus, Niobe 2,
Oedipus, Oeneus 2,
Oicles, Orseis, Parthenopaeus, Periboea 5, Perimede
1, Pero 2, Pheres 1, Phorbus, Pleuron, Pluto 3,
Polydorus 1, Polynices, Porthaon,
Poseidon, Proetus 1,
Promachus 1, Pronax, Pronoe 2, Pyrrha 1, Salmoneus,
SEVEN AGAINST
THEBES, Sthenelus 2, Talaus,
Tantalus 1, Thersander
1, Thestius 1, Timeas,
Tiresias, Tisamenus 1,
Tlesimenes, Tydeus 2,
Tyro, Zeus.
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