Alcmaeon
Son of Amphiaraus who killed his own mother Eriphyle on his father's orders and was driven mad by the Erinyes.
The Legend of Alcmaeon
He murdered his own mother — because his dead father told him to. Amphiaraus, swallowed by the earth at Thebes, had commanded his sons to avenge his betrayal. Alcmaeon obeyed, killing Eriphyle. The Erinyes immediately drove him mad, and he wandered Greece seeking purification. He was only cleansed on land that had not existed when the murder occurred — newly deposited alluvial soil at the mouth of the Achelous river. He married Callirrhoe, but she demanded the Necklace of Harmonia. When Alcmaeon tried to recover it by deceit, Callirrhoe's brothers killed him. His story was as famous as Orestes's matricide in antiquity but is far less known today.
Parents
Amphiaraus, Eriphyle
Symbols
Fun Fact
Alcmaeon's story was as famous as Orestes's in antiquity — Aristotle considered it ideal tragic material.
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