Eriphyle
Wife of Amphiaraus who twice accepted bribes to send her male relatives to their deaths in war.
The Legend of Eriphyle
She sent her husband to die for a necklace — then sent her son to die for a dress. Eriphyle accepted the cursed Necklace of Harmonia from Polynices to force Amphiaraus to march against Thebes, knowing he would die. A generation later, she accepted the Robe of Harmonia from Thersander to send her son Alcmaeon with the Epigoni to Thebes again. Alcmaeon survived and, fulfilling his father's dying command, returned home and killed her. The Erinyes punished him with madness anyway — killing your mother is never justified in Greek moral logic, even when your father orders it. Eriphyle's double betrayal makes her one of myth's most consistently destructive figures.
Parents
Talaus
Children
Alcmaeon, Amphilochus
Symbols
Fun Fact
Eriphyle is the only figure in myth who twice sent family members to war in exchange for cursed objects.
Explore Further
Clytemnestra
🗡 heroQueen who murdered Agamemnon
Clytemnestra murdered Agamemnon on his return from Troy, driven by rage over Iphigenia's sacrifice.
Alphesiboea
🗡 heroMarriage, tragedy
First wife of Alcmaeon who received the cursed necklace of Harmonia as a wedding gift
Phaedra
🗡 heroQueen consumed by forbidden love
Phaedra was the wife of Theseus who was cursed by Aphrodite to fall hopelessly in love with her stepson Hippolytus — her suicide and false accusation destroyed him.
Alcmaeon
🗡 herovengeance
Son of Amphiaraus who killed his own mother Eriphyle on his father's orders and was driven mad by the Erinyes.
Megara
🗡 heroNone recorded
First wife of Heracles, given to him as a reward and later killed in his madness
Anteia
🗡 heroDesire, false accusation
Queen of Tiryns who falsely accused Bellerophon of assault, setting in motion his legendary trials
Aerope
🗡 heroAdultery, royalty
Queen of Mycenae whose adultery with Thyestes caused the devastating curse upon the House of Atreus
Medea
🗡 heroSorceress who helped Jason, then destroyed him
A powerful sorceress and princess of Colchis who betrayed her family to help Jason win the Golden Fleece, only to be abandoned by him and take catastrophic revenge.
Electra
🗡 heroAvenger of Agamemnon
Daughter of Agamemnon who plotted with her brother Orestes to avenge their father's murder by killing their mother Clytemnestra.
Hippolytus
🗡 heroSon of Theseus destroyed by Aphrodite
Hippolytus was the chaste son of Theseus who rejected Aphrodite and was destroyed when his stepmother Phaedra fell in love with him.
Procne
🗡 herovengeance
Athenian princess married to Tereus who killed her own son Itys to avenge her sister Philomela's rape.
Polyxena
🗡 herosacrifice
Trojan princess sacrificed on Achilles's tomb after the fall of Troy to appease his ghost.