Amphitryon (/æmˈfɪtriən/;Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιτρύων,gen.: Ἀμφιτρύωνος; usually interpreted as "harassing either side",Latin: Amphitruo), inGreek mythology, was a son ofAlcaeus, king ofTiryns inArgolis. His mother was named eitherAstydameia, the daughter ofPelops andHippodamia, orLaonome, daughter ofGuneus, or elseHipponome, daughter ofMenoeceus. Amphitryon was the brother ofAnaxo (wife ofElectryon), andPerimede, wife ofLicymnius.^[1][2] He was a husband ofAlcmene,Electryon's daughter, and stepfather of the Greek heroHeracles.^[3]

Amphitryon
Prince ofTiryns
Amphitryon, detail of antique fresco fromHerculaneum.
Abode	Thebes
Genealogy
Born	Tiryns
Parents	Alcaeus andAstydameia
Siblings	Anaxo Perimede
Consort	Alcmene
Children	Laonome Iphicles

Born—according to tradition—inTiryns,^[4]inArgolis in the eastern part of the Peloponnese, Amphitryon became King ofTroezen^[5]and regent ofMycenae.^[6]He was a friend ofPanopeus.

Having accidentally killed his prospective father-in-law, Electryon, king ofMycenae, Amphitryon was driven out of Mycenae by Electryon's brother,Sthenelus.^[7] However, there is an earlier tradition that Amphitryon killed Electryon in a fit of anger over some cattle.^[8] He fled with Alcmene toThebes, where he was cleansed from the guilt of blood byCreon, king of Thebes.

Alcmene, who was pregnant and had been betrothed to Amphitryon by her father, refused to marry him until he had avenged the deaths of her brothers, all but one of whom had fallen in battle against theTaphians. (It was on his return from this expedition that Electryon had been killed.) Amphitryon accordingly took the field against the Taphians, accompanied by Creon, who had agreed to assist him on condition that he slew theTeumessian fox which had been sent byDionysus to ravage the Theban countryside.

The Taphians, however, remained invincible untilComaetho, the king's daughter, out of love for Amphitryon, plucked out the single golden hair of her father,Pterelaos, the possession of which had rendered him immortal. Having defeated the enemy, Amphitryon put Comaetho to death and handed over the kingdom of the Taphians toCephalus. On his return to Thebes he married Alcmene, who gave birth to twin sons,Iphicles andHeracles. Only Iphicles was the son of Amphitryon - in a case of heteropaternalsuperfecundation, Heracles was the son ofZeus, who had visited Alcmene during Amphitryon's absence. Zeus, disguised as Amphitryon, described the victory over the sons of Pterelaus in such convincing detail that Alcmene accepted him as her betrothed.^[3] Amphitryon and Alcmene also had a daughter namedLaonome.

Amphitryon fell in battle against theMinyans, against whom he had undertaken an expedition, accompanied by the youthful Heracles, to deliver Thebes from a disgraceful tribute. In the playHeracles byEuripides, Amphitryon survives to witness the murders of Heracles' children andwife.

• Amphitryon was the title of a lost tragedy ofSophocles, but most others who have used this story have rendered comic treatments instead.Plautus, the Roman comedian, used this tale to presentAmphitryon, aburlesque play. The dramatic treatment by Plautus has enjoyed a sustaining presence on the stage since its premiere. It was the only play by Plautus that was still performed during the Middle Ages, albeit in a modified form. It was staged regularly during the Renaissance, and was the second ancient comedy to be translated into the English language.
• Plautus' play inspired several other theatrical works during the 16th century, including three Spanish language plays, two Italian plays, and a comedy in Portuguese byLuís de Camões. In 1636Jean Rotrou translated Plautus' work into a successful French language production,Les Deux Sosies. This work inspiredMolière's highly successfulAmphitryon (1668). From Molière's line "Le véritable Amphitryon est l'Amphitryon où l'on dîne," the name Amphitryon has come to be used in the sense of a generous entertainer, a good host; the Spanish word for "host" is in fact "anfitrión" and in Portuguese it is "anfitrião". Several other continental versions inspired by Plautus followed Molière, including a Christianized version byJohannes Burmeister.
• The first English language work that was loosely based on Plautus was an interlude inJacke Juggler (ca. 1550).John Marston'sWhat You Will (1607) was also partly based on Plautus. The first large scale work where Plautus was the chief source wasThomas Heywood'sThe Silver Age (1613).John Dryden's 1690Amphitryon is based onMolière's 1668 version as well as on Plautus. Notable innovations from Dryden's adaptation include music byHenry Purcell and the character ofPhaedra, who flirts with Sosia but is eventually won over by Mercury's promises of wealth. A modern comic adaptation was made by George Maxim Ross in the 1950s under the titleToo Much Amphitryon.
• In Germany,Heinrich von Kleist'sAmphitryon (1807), which began as a translation ofMolière'sAmphitryon (1668) but developed into an original adaptation of the myth in its own right, remains the most frequently performed version of the myth, with Kleist using Alkmene's inability to distinguish between Jupiter and her husband to explore metaphysical issues;Giselher Klebe wrote in 1961 his operaAlkmene based on this play. Other German dramatic treatments includeGeorg Kaiser's posthumously publishedDouble Amphitryon (Zweimal Amphitryon, 1943) andPeter Hacks'sAmphitryon (1968).
• In France,Molière'sAmphitryon (1668) is the most famous and seminal treatment of the myth. It was also the subject of a play byJean Giraudoux,Amphitryon 38 (1929), the number in the title being Giraudoux's whimsical approximation of how many times the story had been told onstage previously. It was adapted into English byS. N. Behrman and enjoyed a successful run on Broadway in 1938. Plautus' version was the basis ofCole Porter's 1950 musicalOut of This World.^[9] In 1991 it was the basis for theJean-Luc Godard filmHélas pour moi.
• The classic 1935 Nazi-era but anti-Nazi film version,Amphitryon, was based on Kleist.
• The comic opera Amfitrion by the Croatia composerBoris Papandopulo (composed in 1937) which premiered in 1940.
• The musicalOlympus on My Mind is based on Kleist's adaptation of the play.
• Irish authorJohn Banville's playGod's Gift (Gallery Books, 2000) is a version of Kleist'sAmphitryon.
• The late Mexican writerIgnacio Padilla's novelAmphitryon (2000), is a loose retelling of the ancient myth set in Nazi Germany and Europe, largely exploring the complex subjects of identity, time, and memory. The English translation is titledShadow Without a Name (2003).

• Christenson, David (Feb–Mar 2001). "Grotesque Realism in Plautus' "Amphitruo"".The Classical Journal.96 (3):243–260.JSTOR 3298322.
• 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.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
• Pausanias,Graeciae Descriptio.3 vols. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.
• Plautus' Amphitruo, DM Christenson - 2000 - Cambridge University Press. Book reviews:[1][2]
• Pseudo-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.Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website.