Erginus
King of Orchomenus who exacted tribute from Thebes until defeated by the young Heracles.
The Legend of Erginus
Erginus was the king of Minyan Orchomenus in Boeotia. His father Clymenus had been killed by a Theban named Perieres at a festival, and Erginus made war on Thebes in retribution, imposing a humiliating tribute: one hundred cattle per year for twenty years. The Thebans paid until Heracles — still a young man in Thebes — encountered the tribute-collectors, cut off their ears, noses, and hands, hung the severed parts around their necks, and sent them back to Erginus with the message that this was Thebes's tribute. The outraged Erginus led an army against Thebes, but Heracles armed the Thebans with weapons from temple walls and defeated Orchomenus, killing Erginus and imposing tribute on the victors instead. In a later tradition preserved by Pindar, Erginus survived and fathered the master craftsmen Trophonios and Agamedes in extreme old age, having refused to remarry until his revenge was complete.
Parents
Clymenus (father)
Children
Trophonios, Agamedes (in some traditions)
Symbols
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