In Greek mythology

Greek mythology

Greek 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...

, Alcmaeon, or Alkmáon (Ἀλκμαίων), was the son of 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 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...

. As one 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...

, he was a leader of the Argives who attacked Thebes, taking the city in retaliation for the deaths of their fathers, 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...

, who died while attempting the same thing.

Pindar

Pindar

Pindar , was an Ancient Greek lyric poet. Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, his work is the best preserved. Quintilian described him as "by far the greatest of the nine lyric poets, in virtue of his inspired magnificence, the beauty of his thoughts and figures, the rich...

's eighth Pythian ode relates a prophecy by Amphiarus that 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...

 will conquer Thebes, and that Alcmaeon will be the first through the gates. Apollodorus

Apollodorus

Apollodorus of Athens son of Asclepiades, was a Greek scholar and grammarian. He was a pupil of Diogenes of Babylon, Panaetius the Stoic, and the grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace...

 also states that the other Epigoni received an oracle instructing them to make Alcmaeon their leader, and therefore convinced him to go with them, although he was unwilling. In Diodorus, Eriphyle persuades her son to join the attackers because she is bribed by Thersander

Thersander

In Homer's Iliad, Thersander was one of the Epigoni, who attacked the city of Thebes in retaliation for the deaths of their fathers, the Seven Against Thebes, who had attempted the same thing. He was the son of Polynices and Argea....

 to do so in exchange for the robe of Harmonia

Harmonia (mythology)

In Greek mythology, Harmonia is the immortal goddess of harmony and concord. Her Roman counterpart is Concordia, and her Greek opposite is Eris, whose Roman counterpart is Discordia.-Origins:...

, just as she was bribed by 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...

 with the necklace of Harmonia to send her husband into battle. However, in Asklepiades, Amphiarus orders Alcmeon to avenge him on Eriphyle as soon as he is old enough, making it clear that at least two traditions are present. In most versions, he kills Laodamas

Laodamas

In Greek mythology, Laódamas referred to five different people.-Laódamas, son of Eteocles:Laodamas, son of Eteocles, inherited Thebes from his father...

, the son of Eteocles

Eteocles

In 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. Oedipus killed his father Laius and married his mother without...

, in the battle.

Although sources differ concerning whether Alcmaeon knew about his mother's treachery before he attacked Thebes, all agree that once he returned he killed his mother, possibly with the help of his younger brother Amphhilochus. He was pursued by the Erinyes

Erinyes

In Greek mythology the Erinyes from Greek ἐρίνειν " pursue, persecute"--sometimes referred to as "infernal goddesses" -- were female chthonic deities of vengeance. A formulaic oath in the Iliad invokes them as "those who beneath the earth punish whosoever has sworn a false oath"...

 and driven mad, fleeing first to Arcadia

Arcadia

Arcadia is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is situated in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological character Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan...

, where his grandfather Oicles

Oicles

In Greek mythology, Oecles was an Argive king, father of Amphiaraus, son of Mantius or Antiphates and grandson of Melampus....

 ruled, and then to King Phegeus

Phegeus

Phegeus was a Greek mythological king who offered succor and his daughter, Arsinoe , to Alcmaeon, who was fleeing from the Erinyes. Alcmaeon left his mother's, Eriphyle's, jewelry and clothing with him and then returned for it later in order to please the river god Achelous and have his daughter,...

 in Psophis

Psophis

Psophis was an ancient Greek city in the northwest end of Arcadia, bounded on the north by Arcadia, and on the west by Elis.-City name and mythology:...

, who purified him and gave him his daughter, Arsinoe in Apollodorus and Alphesiboea

Alphesiboea

Alphesiboea was the name of several characters in Greek mythology:*Alphesiboea, the mother of Adonis with Phoenix .*Alphesiboea, a daughter of Phegeus, who married Alcmaeon. In some versions of this myth, she is called Arsinoe....

 in Pausanias, in marriage. Alcmaeon gave her the necklace and robe of Harmonia. According to Apollodorus, Alcmaeon's presence caused the land to be infertile, so he went to Delphi for assistance. In 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...

, it is his own madness which drove him to do so.

From there the two accounts generally agree with each other and with Thucydides

Thucydides

Thucydides was a Greek historian and author from Alimos. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC...

. Alcmaeon is instructed by the oracle to find a land which did not exist at the time when he was polluted by killing his mother. Accordingly, he goes to a delta of the Achelous

Achelous

In Greek mythology, Achelous was the patron deity of the "silver-swirling" Achelous River, which is the largest river of Greece, and thus the chief of all river deities, every river having its own river spirit. His name is pre-Greek, its meaning unknown...

 river, which was newly formed. There he marries Callirrhoe, the daughter of the river's god. She had heard of the famous necklace and robe of Harmonia, and asks Alcmaeon to get them for her. He complies, returning to Psophis and telling king Phegeus that he required the necklace and robe in order to be purified. Either Phegeus or his sons (Agenor

Agenor, son of Phegeus

Agenor was a son of Phegeus, king of Psophis, in Arcadia. He was brother of Pronous and Arsinoe, who was married to, and later abandoned by, the Argive Alcmaeon...

 and Pronous) discovers the truth from a servant, and they ambush and kill Alcmaeon. In Apollodorus, Arsinoe, the daughter of Phegeus

Phegeus

Phegeus was a Greek mythological king who offered succor and his daughter, Arsinoe , to Alcmaeon, who was fleeing from the Erinyes. Alcmaeon left his mother's, Eriphyle's, jewelry and clothing with him and then returned for it later in order to please the river god Achelous and have his daughter,...

, chastises her brothers, who put her into a chest and sell her as a slave. Meanwhile, Callirrhoe prays to Zeus

Zeus

In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...

 that her sons will grow up instantaneously so that they might take revenge on her husband's murderers. Zeus grants this, and Amphoterus

Amphoterus

Amphoterus or Amphoteros may refer to:*Amphoterus son of Alcmaeon by Callirrhoe, and brother of Acarnan*Amphoterus a Trojan of this name occurs Homer Il. xvi. 415.*Amphoterus of Alexander the Great...

 and Acarnan

Acarnan

In Greek mythology, Acarnan , one of the Epigones, was a son of Alcmaeon and Callirrhoe, and brother of Amphoterus. Their father was murdered by Phegeus , when they were yet very young, and Calirrhoe prayed to Zeus to make her sons grow quickly, that they might be able to avenge the death of their...

 meet the sons of Phegeus at Agapenor

Agapenor

Agapenor was in Greek mythology a leader of the Arcadians in the Trojan war. He was a son of Ancaeus, and grandson of Lycurgus. As king of the Arcadians he received sixty ships from Agamemnon, in which he led his Arcadians to Troy. He also occurs among the suitors of Helen...

's house, when they are on their way to Delphi

Delphi

Delphi is both an archaeological site and a modern town in Greece on the south-western spur of Mount Parnassus in the valley of Phocis.In Greek mythology, Delphi was the site of the Delphic oracle, the most important oracle in the classical Greek world, and a major site for the worship of the god...

 to dedicate Harmonia's robe and necklace there. After killing them, Amphoterus and Acarnan continue to Psophis and killed king Phegeus and his queen, after which they are forced to flee to Tegea

Tegea

Tegea was a settlement in ancient Greece, and it is also a former municipality in Arcadia, Peloponnese, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Tripoli, of which it is a municipal unit. Its seat was the village Stadio....

.

Apollodorus relates a different myth about this same Alcmaeon, attributing it to Euripides

Euripides

Euripides was one of the three great tragedians of classical Athens, the other two being Aeschylus and Sophocles. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to him but according to the Suda it was ninety-two at most...

. During his madness, he had two children with Manto

Manto (mythology)

There are several distinct figures in Greek mythology named Manto, the most prominent being the daughter of Tiresias. The name Manto derives from Ancient Greek Mantis, "seer, prophet" .-Daughter of Tiresias:...

, the daughter of Teiresias. These were Amphilochus

Amphilochus (son of Alcmaeon)

In Greek mythology, in a myth assigned to Euripides by Apollodorus, Amphilochus is the son of Alcmaeon, one of the Epigoni, and Manto, the daughter of the Theban seer Teiresias....

 and Tisiphone

Tisiphone

Tisiphone is the name of two figures in Greek mythology.-Erinyes:Tisiphone was one of the Erinyes or Furies, and sister of Alecto and Megaera. She was the one who punished crimes of murder: parricide, fratricide and homicide...

. Alcmaeon entrusted them to Creon

Creon (disambiguation)

-Greek mythology and history:* Creon, King of Thebes in the legend of Oedipus.* Creon, King of Thebes and father of Megara* Creon, King of Corinth and father of Creusa* Creon, son of Heracles* Creon, the third Archon of Athens-Geography:...

, the king of Corinth, who raised them. Creon's wife, however, feared that he might marry Tisiphone because of her great beauty, and sold the girl as a slave. Through a great coincidence, it was Alcmaeon who purchased her and kept her as his handmaid, not knowing who she was. When he returned to Corinth to fetch his children, her identity was somehow revealed, and Amphilocus went on to colonize Amphilochian Argos

Amphilochian Argos

Amphilochian Argos was the most important city in Amphilochia in Ancient Greece, situated on the Ambracian Gulf.-Foundation legend:It was, according to Greek mythology, founded by Amphilochus after the Trojan War...

. This story was probably the subject of Euripides lost "Alcaemaon in Corinth," which was produced posthumously. Whether the story was invented for this play is unclear. The epic poem "Alcmaeonis," as well as the "Alcmaeon" of Sophocles

Sophocles

Sophocles is one of three ancient Greek tragedians whose plays have survived. His first plays were written later than those of Aeschylus, and earlier than or contemporary with those of Euripides...

, and those of Agathon

Agathon

Agathon was an Athenian tragic poet whose works, up to the present moment, have been lost. He is best known for his appearance in Plato's Symposium, which describes the banquet given to celebrate his obtaining a prize for his first tragedy at the Lenaia in . He is also a prominent character in...

 and Achaeus

Achaeus of Eretria

Achaeus of Eretria was a Greek playwright author of tragedies and satyr plays, variously said to have written 24, 30, or 44 plays, of which 19 titles are known, some of which include Adrastus, Alcmeon, Cycnus, Hephaestus, Iris, Linus, Eumenides, Œdipus, Omphale, Philoctetes, Phrixus, Pirithous,...

, have all been lost.