Eriphyle
heroWife of Amphiaraus who twice accepted bribes to send her male relatives to their deaths in war.
The Myth
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
Symbols
Fun Fact
Eriphyle is the only figure in myth who twice sent family members to war in exchange for cursed objects.
Explore Further
Alcmaeon
heroSon of Amphiaraus who killed his own mother Eriphyle on his father's orders and was driven mad by...
Amphiaraus
heroAmphiaraus was a warrior-prophet who foresaw his death in the Seven Against Thebes but marched...
Amphilochus
heroSeer and hero who founded oracle sites across the eastern Mediterranean after the Trojan War.
Polynices
heroPolynices was the son of Oedipus who raised an army of seven champions to take Thebes from his...
Necklace of Harmonia
conceptA cursed golden necklace crafted by Hephaestus as a wedding gift for Harmonia, bringing destruction...
Epigoni
conceptThe sons of the Seven against Thebes who returned a generation later and successfully sacked the...
Erinyes
conceptThree terrifying goddesses who punished those guilty of murder, oath-breaking, and crimes against...
Harmonia
godHarmonia was the goddess of harmony and concord, daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, whose wedding...
Thebes
placeThebes was the great city of Boeotia, founded by Cadmus who sowed dragon teeth, and the setting for...
Thebes (Boeotia)
placeThe city of Cadmus and Oedipus, setting of more Greek tragedies than any other place.
Seven Against Thebes (Detail)
conceptThe doomed military expedition of seven champions against the seven gates of Thebes, organised by...
Absyrtus
heroSon of King Aeetes of Colchis, murdered and dismembered by his sister Medea to slow their father's...