| Eriphyle | |
|---|---|
| Member of theArgive royal family | |
 Polynices offers Eriphyle the Necklace of Harmonia. Red-figureoenochoe by the Mannheim Painter, ca. 450–440 BC,Louvre Museum. | |
| Abode | Argos |
| Genealogy | |
| Parents | |
| Siblings | Adrastus,Parthenopaeus,Pronax,Mecisteus,Aristomachus |
| Spouse | Amphiaraus |
| Offspring | Alcmaeon,Amphilochus,Alcmene,Eurydice, andDemonassa |
Eriphyle (/ɛrɪˈfaɪliː/;Ancient Greek:Ἐριφύλη,romanized: Eriphúlē) was a figure inGreek mythology who, in exchange for theNecklace of Harmonia (also called the Necklace of Eriphyle) given to her byPolynices, persuaded her husbandAmphiaraus to join the doomed expedition of theSeven against Thebes. She was then slain by her sonAlcmaeon.
Eriphyle was the daughter of KingTalaus ofArgos andLysimache, a granddaughter ofMelampus. She had five brothers:Adrastus,Parthenopaeus,Pronax,Mecisteus, andAristomachus.[1] During a feud in Argos, Talaus was slain by the heroAmphiaraus, greatly angering Eriphyle's brother Adrastus. When Adrastus and Amphiaraus eventually reconciled, Adrastus gave him Eriphyle's hand in marriage. Together, Eriphyle and Amphiaraus had two sons,Alcmaeon andAmphilochus.[2] They may have also had three daughters:Alcmene,[3]Eurydice, andDemonassa.[4]
Eriphyle's mythology is intertwined with that of the legendarySeven against Thebes, and the war they waged to restoreOedipus' sonPolynices to theTheban throne. When assembling an army, Amphiaraus was chosen as one of the seven champions to lead the war effort. Amphiaraus was aseer and refused to join, as he foretold that the plan was doomed to fail.[5] However, Polynices was adamant that he join, and offered the Necklace of Harmonia to Eriphyle in exchange for her persuading her husband to fight. Eriphyle was able to persuade him, because, when she had been offered to Amphiaraus by Adrastus to reconcile their relationship, her brother made Amphiaraus swear to let Eriphyle decide any future dispute between the pair. When Adrastus voted to go to war and Amphiaraus didn't, Eriphyle used the oath to force her husband to take part in the expedition.[5] Aware that Eriphyle had taken a bribe, Amphiaraus instructed his sons Alcmaeon and Amphilochus to avenge him by killing their mother if he did not survive.[6]
In addition to receiving the Necklace of Harmonia to persuade her husband to join the war, she was also bribed with thepeplos of Harmonia to persuade her sons to join.[7] She was successful in this endeavor as well, and her sons joined the fight.[8] She kept both items until her death, and they were inherited by Alcmaeon.[9]
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Amphiaraus died during the battle. When Alcmaeon learned of his father's death and the bribes his mother had received, he killed Eriphyle.[9] However, for committingmatricide, Alcmaeon was haunted and driven mad by the furious ghost of his mother.[10] Alternatively, he was followed by theErinyes, not a ghost.[11] Alcmaeon was instructed by anoracle ofApollo that he would only be free of his Eriphyle's ghost when he reached land that had not existed at the time when he had slain his mother. Eventually, he reached a new island created byAchelous, who purified him and released him from his mother's ghost.[12][9]
Eriphyle is seen in Hades inVergil'sAeneid, still bearing wounds inflicted by her son. InHomer'sOdyssey, Odysseus sees Eriphyle in Hades alongside other misfortunate or malicious women, includingPhaedra,Procris,Ariadne,Maera, andClymene.[13] She also plays a role inStatius'sThebaid, in which her desire to attain the Necklace of Harmonia is one of the catalysts for the war between Argos and Thebes. In this version of the myth, however,Argia,Polynices's wife, persuades her husband to give the necklace to Eriphyle so that Amphiaraus will join the war effort.[14]
TheNecklace of Harmonia was a gift toCadmus when
A relic was being shown inAmathus in Cyprus, in the time ofPausanias (2nd century CE):
The necklace that Pausanias was shown was of green stones with gold, which made him skeptical of its being the one mentioned byHomer (Odyssey xi.327), for he noted other occasions in theOdyssey where necklaces made of gold and stones mention the stones.