Parthenopaeus
Young Arcadian hero, one of the Seven Against Thebes, who died at the city walls before seeing his homeland again.
The Legend of Parthenopaeus
Parthenopaeus was an Arcadian hero, generally said to be the son of Atalanta and either Meleager or Melanion. He was one of the Seven Against Thebes who marched under Adrastus to restore Polynices to the Theban throne. He is consistently depicted as the youngest and most beautiful of the Seven — almost boyish — which makes his death particularly pathos-laden. He was killed at the Boeotian or Neitean gate of Thebes by the Theban warrior Asphodicus or Periclymenus, depending on the source. He carried a boar's hide on his shield — presumably inherited from his mother's famous encounter with the Calydonian Boar. His name, meaning "born of a maiden" (παρθένος), reflects the tradition that Atalanta gave birth to him while technically still a dedicated virgin huntress, a status she subsequently lost. His son Promachus later joined the Epigoni and helped take Thebes.
Children
Promachus
Symbols
Fun Fact
Parthenopaeus's name literally means "born of a virgin" — acknowledging in his very name the contradiction of being the son of a huntress who had sworn herself to Artemis.
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