Phineus
Blind Thracian king tormented by Harpies until rescued by the Argonauts
The Legend of Phineus
Phineus was a king of Salmydessus in Thrace who possessed the gift of prophecy, granted by Apollo. He used this gift so freely that Zeus punished him with blindness and a cruel torment: whenever food was set before him, the Harpies — foul winged creatures — would swoop down, snatch most of it away, and befoul the rest so it was inedible. Phineus wasted away in misery until the Argonauts arrived during their quest for the Golden Fleece. Among the crew were Calais and Zetes, the winged sons of Boreas, who chased the Harpies across the sky until Iris intervened and promised the creatures would never return. In gratitude, Phineus told the Argonauts how to navigate the deadly Clashing Rocks.
Parents
Agenor (or Poseidon)
Symbols
Fun Fact
He starved surrounded by feasts — every meal ruined by Harpies before he could take a single bite
Explore Further
Phineus the Seer
🗡 heroprophecy
Blind Thracian king and prophet cursed by Zeus to have his food snatched by Harpies until the Argonauts freed him.
Phineus
🗡 heroprophecy, punishment
A blind Thracian king and prophet punished by Zeus for revealing divine secrets, tormented by Harpies until rescued by the Argonauts.
Busiris
🗡 heroNone recorded
Egyptian king who sacrificed strangers to Zeus until Heracles broke free and killed him
Idomeneus
🗡 heroKing of Crete at Troy
Idomeneus was the king of Crete who led eighty ships to Troy and was among the fiercest fighters — his story continued in a vow that cost him his son.
Antiphates
🗡 heroCannibalism, kingship
King of the Laestrygonians, a race of man-eating giants encountered by Odysseus on his voyage home
Jason
🗡 heroLeader of the Argonauts
The hero who assembled the Argonauts and sailed to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece, aided by Medea's sorcery.
Cocalus
🗡 heroNone recorded
A king of Sicily who sheltered the craftsman Daedalus after his escape from Crete and whose daughters killed King Minos with boiling water
Oedipus
🗡 heroKing who fulfilled the prophecy of killing his father and marrying his mother
The tragic king of Thebes who unknowingly killed his father and married his mother, fulfilling a prophecy he had spent his life trying to avoid.
Bellerophon
🗡 heroThe hero who tamed Pegasus
The Corinthian hero who tamed the winged horse Pegasus and slew the Chimera, but fell from heaven when he tried to reach Olympus.
Perseus
🗡 heroHero who slew Medusa
The son of Zeus and Danae who beheaded Medusa, rescued Andromeda, and founded the Perseid dynasty of Mycenae.
Laius
🗡 heroNone recorded
King of Thebes whose attempt to cheat fate led directly to the Oedipus tragedy
Tantalus
🗡 heroKing punished with eternal hunger and thirst
A king who offended the gods by serving them his own son as a meal. His punishment in Tartarus — standing in water that recedes when he tries to drink, beneath fruit that pulls away when he reaches for it — gave us the word "tantalize."