Phineus (Prophet)
heroA blind Thracian king and prophet punished by Zeus for revealing divine secrets, tormented by Harpies until rescued by the Argonauts.
The Myth
Phineus was a king of Salmydessus in Thrace, gifted with prophecy by Apollo but blinded by Zeus — either for revealing the gods' plans to mortals, for choosing long life over sight, or for blinding his own sons at his second wife's instigation. Zeus also sent the Harpies, winged female creatures, to steal or befoul his food. When Jason and the Argonauts arrived, they found Phineus starving and wretched. The Boreads Zetes and Calais, winged sons of the North Wind Boreas, chased the Harpies away permanently. In gratitude, Phineus revealed the route to Colchis and the secret of passing the Symplegades — the Clashing Rocks that crushed ships between them. He told Jason to release a dove first: if it passed through, the Argo could follow. The dove lost only its tail feathers, and the Argo scraped through, after which the rocks became fixed forever.
Parents
Agenor (in some genealogies)
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Symplegades — clashing rocks that Phineus taught Jason to navigate — are identified with real rock formations at the mouth of the Bosphorus. Ancient mariners genuinely found the currents at the Black Sea entrance treacherous, and the myth may encode practical sailing knowledge: send something small through first to test the current before committing your ship. It's an ancient version of "test in staging before deploying to production."
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Phineus the Seer
heroBlind Thracian king and prophet cursed by Zeus to have his food snatched by Harpies until the...
Zetes and Calais
heroWinged sons of Boreas who joined the Argonauts and chased the Harpies away from the blind prophet...
Symplegades
placeThe Clashing Rocks at the entrance to the Black Sea that crushed any ship attempting to pass...
Jason
heroThe hero who assembled the Argonauts and sailed to Colchis in quest of the Golden Fleece. Jason's...
Andromeda
heroAndromeda was an Ethiopian princess chained to a sea cliff as sacrifice to a monster — rescued by...
Andromeda (Myth)
heroEthiopian princess chained to a rock as sacrifice to a sea monster, rescued by Perseus, and placed...
Apollo
godGod of light, music, poetry, and prophecy. Apollo embodied the Greek ideal of youthful masculine...
Apollo (Light)
godApollo was the most complex Olympian — god of light, music, poetry, prophecy, healing, plague, and...
Apollo Loxias
godAn epithet of Apollo meaning "the Oblique One," referring to the deliberately ambiguous nature of...
Argo (Ship)
placeThe Argo was the ship built by Argus for Jason's quest — the first long-voyage ship in Greek myth,...
Argonauts
conceptThe Argonauts were the band of heroes who sailed with Jason on the Argo to retrieve the Golden...
Boreas
godBoreas was the god of the cold north wind, bringer of winter.