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"I saw in Hades hateful Eriphyle, who took
precious gold as the price of the life of her own
lord."
[Odysseus.
Homer,
Odyssey
11.325]
"Senseless passions
shipwreck many men, and even more women."
[Pausanias,
Description
of Greece 8.24.8].
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The incredible and entangled story of two
interesting objects: follow below its episodes of
betrayal and other nonsensical behaviour while you
get acquainted with the origin of the city of
Thebes, its unwise
rulers, and the scandals and destruction that their
actions caused.
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Europa
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These events originated when
Zeus fell in love with the
Phoenician princess
Europa, and having taken
the form of a bull, carried her off and took her
across the sea to the island of
Crete.
Nobody has ever reported whether
Europa ever complained
about her fate. In Crete,
Zeus made love to her and
she bore sons who became famous, both in this world
and in the next.
Afterwards, she married Asterius 3, who probably
was a very gentle man, since nothing is told about
him except that he brought up her children with
Zeus, and reigned in
Crete until Minos 1, son
of Europa and the god,
succeeded him on the throne.
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Family distress leads to foundation of famous
city
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But the girl's father, King Agenor 1, being
disturbed by her disappearance, told his sons to
look for her in foreign countries and never return
until they had found her. That is how
Cadmus, one of her
brothers, became an emigrant and came to Thrace,
while the other brothers, after looking in vain for
Europa, settled in
different countries.
Having expended some time in fruitless search,
Cadmus travelled to
Delphi to inquire about
his sister, but the oracle told him not to trouble
about her. Insted, the oracle said, he should let
himself be guided by a cow, and found a city
wherever the animal should fall down for weariness.
He obeyed, and after journeying through several
landscapes the cow resolved to rest in the place
where Cadmus, following
the oracle's instructions, built the city of
Thebes.
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Boeotia in mainland Greece
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Others say that Cadmus
was not just an emigrant striving to reunite with
his beloved sister, but that he led a Phoenician
army that invaded Boeotia. But, either emigrant or
conqueror, Cadmus was a
clever man, and he is remembered for having managed
to combine consonants with vowels, thus teaching
the secrets of a correct speech. He was bold too,
for when he needed water in order to sacrifice the
gentle cow that had shown him the way, he did not
hesitate, when he saw that the spring was guarded
by a Dragon, in destroying the beast, which used to
kill all those who came to the spring for water.
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Teeth turned into armed men
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Having killed the Dragon,
Cadmus received advice
from Athena, who told him
to sow the Dragon's teeth. He did as the goddess
said, and there rose from the ground armed men,
called SPARTI, who cared
for nothing except killing each other. Some say
that they did this because
Cadmus flung stones at
them, and they supposed that they were being pelted
by each other. Not all of the
SPARTI died; at least
five survived, and Cadmus
had to serve Ares for a
whole year for having killed his darling Dragon,
which, some say, was this god's offspring. That was
not little time, since the year was then equivalent
to eight years of our reckoning.
Cadmus did not sow all
the Dragon's teeth; it is known that King
Aeetes of Colchis
received half of the teeth from
Athena, since some time
after he ordered the Argonaut
Jason to yoke two wild
bulls and sow the teeth, as
Cadmus had done in
Thebes. And when
Jason had sown the teeth
there rose once more armed men from the ground, and
he pelted them unseen with stones so that they
fought each other and then, drawing near, he slew
them.
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Kingdom and wife
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After serving Ares
during that long year,
Athena granted
Cadmus the kingdom, and
Zeus gave him to wife
Harmonia 1, daughter of the same
Ares and
Aphrodite. Some affirm
that Harmonia 1 was instead the daughter of
Zeus and Electra 3, but the
others argue that Electra 3 was only her nurse.
Some tell that this Electra 3 is the one among
the PLEIADES who does
not appear because of the death of Dardanus 1, her
son, and the loss of Troy.
But others assert that the one Pleiad who does not
appear is Merope 1, who, repenting for having
married a mortal man
(Sisyphus), hides
herself out of shame.
The kingdom was Cadmea after its founde, and
only later was called
Thebes. So came to an end
the rule of King Ogygus of the Ectenes, who was the
first to occupy the land of
Thebes, and from whom is
derived the epithet Ogygian, often applied to the
city.
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The Wedding present
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Harmonia 1 received from
Cadmus, as a wedding
present, a Robe and a Necklace. The only certain
about the origin of these items is that they came
from the gods. It is said sometimes that
Hephaestus wrought
the Necklace, and that he himself gave it to
Cadmus. Others say that
it came from Europa
(perhaps they knew of each other after all), and
that she had received it from
Zeus. Still others affirm
that Athena provided the
renowned Necklace and Robe, and also a flute. But
there are those who assert that the golden Necklace
was the present that
Aphrodite gave
Harmonia 1.
The golden Necklace has been described
thoroughly, but, briefly stated, it represented an
amphisbaina, which is a two headed serpent, with
open mouths as if hissing. The two mouths on each
side enclosed with their jaws a golden eagle
upright, its wings covered with yellow jasper and
moonstone. The whole clever work was set with
sparkling gems in masterly refinement.
Cadmus and Harmonia 1
ended their days when they turned into serpents;
after that they were sent by
Zeus to dwell among the
happy immortals, either in the Elysian Fields or in
the Islands of the
Blest.
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Incessant trouble in
Thebes
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After Cadmus came King
Pentheus 1, an usurper
who profoundly disliked the god of the vine
Dionysus 2, for
causing the Theban women to abandon their houses
and rave in frenzy.
Pentheus 1 tried to
stop what he believed to be civil disorder, but the
women torn him limb from limb. After his death,
Polydorus 2, son of
Cadmus, became king. When
he died the care of his little son Labdacus 1,
along with the government of
Thebes, was entrusted to
Nycteus 2. However, the latter's daughter Antiope 3
married a man, Epopeus 1, whom Nycteus 2 disliked.
So, when Antiope 3 fled to
Sicyon, where Epopeus 1
ruled, a war broke up between
Thebes and
Sicyon, and Nycteus 2
died, probably in battle, although some say that he
killed himself.
After him, Polydorus 2's son Labdacus 1 became
king, and during his reign he was at war with
Athens for a matter of
boundaries. Some say that he had the same ideas
about the nature of civil disorder as
Pentheus 1, and that,
for this reason, he was also killed by the
MAENADS.
It was then that Lycus 5, brother of Nycteus 2,
usurped the government in
Thebes, reigning for 20
years. He and his brother had previously fled from
Euboea after murdering Phlegyas 1. They first
resided at Hyria, and having thence come to
Thebes, they were
enrolled as citizens through their friendship with
Pentheus 1. When
Nycteus 2 died, he asked his brother to punish
Epopeus 1 and Antiope 3 (the daughter of Nycteus
2). So Lycus 5 marched with an army against
Sicyon, subdued it, slew
Epopeus 1, and led Antiope 3 away captive. While in
custody, she was treated spitefully by Lycus 5 and
his wife Dirce. The girl, however, having been
loved by Zeus, gave birth
to twins: Amphion 1 and
Zethus, and one day she escaped and reunited with
her sons, who, coming to
Thebes, slew both usurper
and first lady.
Having expelled Laius
1, son of Labdacus 1 and legitimate successor
on the throne of Thebes,
Amphion 1 and Zethus
succeeded to the sovereignty of and fortified the
city, the stones following
Amphion 1's lyre in a
miraculous way. Thebes
was named after Zethus' wife Thebe, who, some say,
was also his aunt. The government of
Amphion 1 ended in
tragedy because of what happened with his
offspring, the NIOBIDS,
who were so severely punished by
Apollo and
Artemis. He himself is
still being punished in the
Underworld, for being
among those who made a mockery of
Leto and her children.
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Scandals
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Laius 1 became king of
Thebes after the death of
Amphion 1, but during
the latter's reign and while he still was a young
man, Laius 1 resided in
Peloponnesus, being hospitably received by
Pelops 1. While he was
there, he conceived a passion for Chrysippus 2, an
illegitimate son of Pelops
1, and carried him off. This episode ended with
the death of Chrysippus 2, and
Pelops 1's wife
Hippodamia 3 was blamed for it.
When he was king, an oracle came from
Delphi warning
Laius 1 not to have a son
because that son was fated to kill his own father.
In spite of this oracle Laius
1, flushed with wine,
had intercourse with his wife and she conceived a
son Oedipus.
The child was exposed by his parents when he was
born (since they feared the oracle), and having
been found was adopted by Periboea 4, Queen of
Corinth. Later,
Oedipus, fulfilling the
oracle, unwittingly killed his father, and having
found the solution to the riddle of the Sphinx,
became king of Thebes.
Oedipus married, also
unwittingly, Queen Jocasta, his own mother; but
when the truth came out, he was driven into exile.
After Oedipus had put
out his own eyes, he cursed his sons, who let him
be cast out of the city and yet did not help him.
Jocasta hanged herself and
Oedipus died in exile.
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Inheritance deal fails
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The accursed twin sons of
Oedipus, Polynices and
Eteocles 1, made a deal with each other concerning
the kingdom of Thebes,
resolving that each should rule alternately for a
year at a time. Apparently, Eteocles 1 was the
first to rule, and at the end of the year he
refused to hand over the kingdom to his brother,
whom he banished.
The exile Polynices found appropriate, as he
left for Argos, to take
with him at least a part of the city's treasure,
since it could be used to seize power again. And
that is how the Robe and Necklace of Harmonia 1
left Thebes.
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The Necklace as bribe
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When Polynices came to
Argos, he married a
daughter of Adrastus
1. At that time, the kingdom of
Argos was divided in three
kingdoms, the kings being
Adrastus 1,
Amphiaraus and Iphis
1.
Adrastus 1 promised
his new son in law Polynices that he would restore
him to his native land, and for that purpose, he
made himself ready to attack
Thebes [see
SEVEN AGAINST
THEBES].
On the matter of the approaching war, 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.
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. 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.
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Inheritance divided by the sword
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The SEVEN AGAINST
THEBES perished, as
Amphiaraus knew they
would, and now both Polynices and Eteocles 1 were
dead (they killed each other in single combat). But
Thebes remained untaken
and a regent, Creon 2,
seized power after Eteocles 1.
Creon 2 forbade the
burial of the Argives
after the war, which caused a conflict with King
Theseus of
Athens, and further civil
disorder in the city, as
Oedipus' daughter
Antigone 2, opposing
the dictates of the regent, stole the body of
Polynices and secretly buried him.
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The Robe as bribe
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Ten years after, the sons of the
SEVEN AGAINST
THEBES, known as the
EPIGONI, purposed to
march against Thebes to
avenge the death of their fathers. When they
consulted the oracle, the god predicted victory
under the leadership of Alcmaeon 1, son of
Amphiaraus and
Eriphyle. Alcmaeon 1 joined the expedition, though
he was loath to lead the army until he had punished
his mother (for Eriphyle had received the Necklace
of Harmonia 1, from Polynices, thus causing the
death of Amphiaraus).
Now Eriphyle persuaded also her sons to go to the
war. When after the capture of
Thebes, Alcmaeon 1
learned that his mother Eriphyle had been bribed by
Polynices' son Thersander 1, by means of the Robe
of Harmonia 1, he was more enraged than ever, and
killed his mother upon his return.
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Wedding present again
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It is said that Alcmaeon 1 committed matricide
following an oracle of
Apollo, and that he
either murdered her alone or in conjunction with
his brother Amphilochus 1. For this crime, Alcmaeon
1 was pursued by the
ERINYES of his mother's
murder, and, afflicted with madness, he left his
country. After having been in
Arcadia, he came to
Psophis, where Phegeus 1 purified him and gave him
as wife his daughter Arsinoe 1, who received from
Alcmaeon 1, as a wedding present, the Robe and the
Necklace.
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New marriage
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However, because of his crime, the ground became
barren in Psophis, and an oracle told him to depart
to Achelous and to stand another trial on the river
bank. So he went to the springs of Achelous, and
was purified by him, receiving Achelous' daughter,
Callirrhoe 2 to wife. Alcmaeon 1 settled in the
region about that river and colonised it.
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Robe & Necklace coveted again
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After some time, Callirrhoe 2 told Alcmaeon 1
that she would not live with him if she did not get
the Robe and Necklace of Harmonia 1, which now were
in his first wife's possession. Alcmaeon 1 then
went to Psophis and told Phegeus 1, as a way of
getting back the treasure, that it had been
predicted that he should be rid of his madness when
he had brought the Robe and Necklace to
Delphi and dedicated
them. Phegeus 1 believed him and gave them to him,
but a servant disclosed that Alcmaeon 1 was taking
the Robe and Necklace to Callirrhoe 2. So Phegeus
1's sons Pronous 1 and Agenor 3, following their
father's instructions, waited for him in an ambush
and killed him.
Their sister Arsinoe 1, former wife of Alcmaeon
1, found this solution too drastic; so they, not
feeling happy with her reproaches, put her into a
chest, carried her to Tegea, and gave her as a
slave to Agapenor, falsely accusing her, at the
same time, of Alcmaeon 1's murder.
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Robe & Necklace dedicated at
Delphi (I)
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When Callirrhoe 2 learned with grief that she
was a widow, she requested of
Zeus that the sons she had
by Alcmaeon 1 might be full-grown in order to
avenge their father's murder. And
Zeus, who at the time
courted her, granted her wish.
So when Pronous 1 and Agenor 3, carrying their
sister in a chest, along with the Robe &
Necklace (which they intended to dedicate at
Delphi) arrived at the
house of Agapenor, they met the suddenly grown-up
children of Alcmaeon 1 and Callirrhoe 2, Amphoterus
1 and Acarnan 1, who happened to arrive at the same
time. The sons of Alcmaeon 1 killed on the spot
their father's murderers, and going afterwards to
Psophis, entered the palace and slew both Phegeus 1
and his wife.
At their return, Amphoterus 1 and Acarnan 1 told
their mother what had happened and thence went to
Delphi to dedicate the
Robe and Necklace. After
Delphi they went to
Epirus, and having collected settlers, colonised
Acarnania.
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Robe & Necklace dedicated at
Delphi (II)
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However, it is also told that the Robe &
Necklace were dedicated at
Delphi by the sons of
Phegeus 1, and that they were kings at the time of
the Trojan War,
although they did not participate in that war. It
is said that the reason why they took no part in
the expedition was that they were in bad terms with
the other Argive leaders, who were related by blood
to Alcmaeon 1, and had joined him in the war of the
EPIGONI against
Thebes.
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Epilogue
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About 700 or 800 years after these
events—during one of the wars that are known
in history under the name of Sacred Wars—, the
tyrant Phayllus of Phocis fell in love with the
wife of an Oetan leader, and in order to get her,
he promised her much gold and silver, inviting her
to ask whatever else she wished. This woman asked
for the Necklace of Harmonia 1, that having been
dedicated, either by the sons of Phegeus 1 or by
the sons of Alcmaeon 1, was now hanging at
Delphi in the sanctuary
of Athena Forethought. So when Phayllus seized
Delphi, he took a great
booty of the offerings that had been made over the
years, and among them the Necklace, which he gave
to the aforementioned woman. But after some time,
her youngest son went mad and set fire to the
house: His mother died in the course of the
conflagration, and most of the family's possessions
were lost. After this incident, there has been no
trace either of the Necklace or of the Robe.
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