Dirce
heroThe queen of Thebes who tormented Antiope and was killed by being tied to a wild bull by Antiope's sons Amphion and Zethus, becoming the sacred spring of Thebes.
The Myth
Dirce was the wife of King Lycus of Thebes, who had imprisoned and tormented Antiope, a beautiful woman whom Zeus had seduced in the form of a satyr. Antiope bore twin sons — Amphion and Zethus — who were exposed on Mount Cithaeron and raised by shepherds. Antiope eventually escaped her imprisonment and was reunited with her sons, now grown. When Dirce attempted to have Antiope torn apart by a bull during a Dionysiac ritual on Mount Cithaeron, Amphion and Zethus recognised their mother and turned the punishment on Dirce herself, tying her to the bull. She was dragged to death, and where her blood soaked the earth, a spring emerged that bore her name. Dionysus, whose rites Dirce had been celebrating, was angered and drove Antiope mad in punishment. Amphion and Zethus went on to build the walls of Thebes, with Amphion's lyre-playing causing the stones to move into place of their own accord.
Parents
Lycus (husband)
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Farnese Bull, the largest single sculpture surviving from antiquity, depicts the punishment of Dirce — Amphion and Zethus tying her to the wild bull. Standing over 3 metres tall and carved from a single block of marble, it was rediscovered in the Baths of Caracalla in Rome in 1546 and is now in the Naples Archaeological Museum. It has been continuously on display for 478 years, making Dirce's death the most publicly viewed punishment scene in art history.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
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