Thoas of Aetolia

🗡 heroΘόας

Leadership, Trojan War, Survival

Aetolian king and capable Greek commander at Troy who led forty black ships and survived the war.‍‍‌‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‍‍

The Legend of Thoas of Aetolia

Thoas was the son of Andraemon and Gorge, and king of the Aetolians in northwest Greece.‍‍‌‌‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‍‍‍‍‍ He led forty ships to Troy and is consistently described in the Iliad as one of the more capable and reliable Greek commanders — a contrast to the contentious and inconsistent leadership of some of the greater heroes. He contributed to the embassy to Achilles and participated in multiple engagements. He appears in several scenes of steady, professional soldiering rather than individual aristeia. He survived the war and returned home to Aetolia, which made him unusual among the Greek commanders: many died on the journey home or shortly after returning (Agamemnon, Palamedes, Ajax the Lesser) while others wandered for years (Odysseus, Menelaus). In some traditions, Thoas was also king of Lemnos for a time — having been spared by the Lemnian women during their massacre of all men on the island because his daughter Hypsipyle hid him or helped him escape.

Parents

Andraemon (father); Gorge (mother)

Symbols

black shipspearAetolian shield

Fun Fact

Thoas led forty black ships to Troy and came straight home — one of the very few major Greek commanders in the entire tradition to fight at Troy and suffer neither death abroad nor disaster on returning.

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Boeotian leadership, endurance

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Meges

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Caligo idomeneus (owl butterfly)