Trophonius (;

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

: Τροφώνιος ''Trophōnios'') was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

hero or

daimon Daimon or Daemon ( Ancient Greek: , "god", "godlike", "power", "fate") originally referred to a lesser deity or guiding spirit such as the daimons of ancient Greek religion and mythology and of later Hellenistic religion and philosophy. The wor ...

god In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...

—it was never certain which one—with a rich mythological tradition and an oracular cult at Lebadaea (Λιβαδειά; ''Levadia'' or ''Livadeia'') in Boeotia, Greece.

Etymology and parallel cults

The name is derived from τρέφω ''trepho'', "to nourish". Strabo and several inscriptions refer to him as

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

Trephonios. Several other chthonic

es are known from the Greek world, including Zeus Μειλίχιος ''Meilikhios'' ("honeyed" or "kindly" Zeus), and Zeus Χθόνιος ''Chthonios'' ("Zeus beneath-the-earth"), which were other names for Hades. Similar constructions are also found in the Roman world. For example, a shrine at Lavinium in

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

was dedicated to Aeneas under the title ''Iuppiter Indiges'' (

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...

in-the-earth).

Family

Trophonius was a son of Erginus, king of Minyan Orchomenus and brother of Agamedes. But

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

is said to be his actual divine father.

Pausanias Pausanias ( el, Παυσανίας) may refer to: *Pausanias of Athens, lover of the poet Agathon and a character in Plato's ''Symposium'' *Pausanias the Regent, Spartan general and regent of the 5th century BC * Pausanias of Sicily, physician of t ...

, ''Graeciae Descriptio'
9.37.5

Mythology

Temple of Apollo

According to the

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

ic Hymn to

, he built Apollo's temple at the oracle at Delphi with Agamedes. Once finished, the oracle told the brothers to do whatsoever they wished for six days and, on the seventh, their greatest wish would be granted. They did and were found dead on the seventh day. The maxim by Menander, "those whom the gods love die young", comes from this story.

Treasury of King Hyrieus

Alternatively, according to

they built a treasure chamber (with a secret entrance only they knew about) for King

Hyrieus In Greek mythology, Hyrieus (; grc, Ὑριεύς) was the eponym of Hyria in Boeotia, where he dwelt and where Orion (see below) was born; some sources though place him either in Thrace or on Chios. One source calls him father of Crinacus, fath ...

Boeotia Boeotia ( ), sometimes Latinized as Boiotia or Beotia ( el, Βοιωτία; modern: ; ancient: ), formerly known as Cadmeis, is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Central Greece. Its capital is Livadeia, and its ...

. Using the secret entrance, they stole Hyrieus' fortune. The king was aware but did not know who the thief was; he laid a snare. Agamedes was trapped in it; Trophonius cut off his head so that Hyrieus would not know whose body it was. He then fled into the cavern at Lebadaea and disappeared forever. The cave of Trophonius was not discovered again until the Lebadaeans suffered a plague and consulted the Delphic Oracle. The Pythia advised them that an unnamed hero was angry at being neglected, and that they should find his grave and offer him worship forthwith. Several unsuccessful searches followed, and the plague continued unabated until a shepherd boy followed a trail of bees into a hole in the ground. Instead of honey, he found a ''daimon'', and Lebadaea lost its plague while gaining a popular oracle.

Other myths

The childless

Xuthus In Greek mythology, Xuthus (; grc, Ξοῦθος ''Xouthos'') was a Phthian prince who later became a king of Peloponnesus. He was the founder (through his sons) of the Achaean and Ionian nations. Etymology According to the author, Robert ...

in Euripides's ''Ion'' consults Trophonius on his way to Delphi. Apollonius of Tyana, a legendary wise man and seer of

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

, once visited the shrine and found that, when it came to philosophy, Trophonius was a proponent of sound

Pythagorean Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to: Philosophy * Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras * Ne ...

doctrines.

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

's ''De Genio Socratis'' relates an elaborate dream-vision concerning the cosmos and the afterlife that was supposedly received at Trophonius' oracle.

Cult

, in his account of Boeotia
9.39
, relates many details about the cult of Trophonius. Whoever desired to consult the oracle would live in a designated house for a period of days, bathing in the River Herkryna (also ''Erkina''), named after his daughter who was a childhood friend of

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...

's, and living on sacrificial meat. He would then sacrifice, by day, to a series of gods, including Cronus,

the king, Hera the Charioteer, and Demeter- Europa. At night, he would cast a ram into a pit sacred to Agamedes, drink from two rivers called

Lethe In Greek mythology, Lethe (; Ancient Greek: ''Lḗthē''; , ), also referred to as Lemosyne, was one of the five rivers of the underworld of Hades. Also known as the ''Ameles potamos'' (river of unmindfulness), the Lethe flowed around the cav ...

and

Mnemosyne In Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion, Mnemosyne (; grc, Μνημοσύνη, ) is the goddess of memory and the mother of the nine Muses by her nephew Zeus. In the Greek tradition, Mnemosyne is one of the Titans, the twelve divine chil ...

, and then descend into a cave. Here, most consultees were frightened out of their wits, and forgot the experience entirely upon coming up. Afterward, the consultee would be seated upon a chair of Mnemosyne, where the priests of the shrine would record his ravings and compose an oracle out of them.

In the classical tradition

"To descend into the cave of Trophonios" became a proverbial way of saying "to suffer a great fright". This saying is alluded to in

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...

' ''Clouds''. Several ancient philosophers, including Heraclides Ponticus, wrote commentaries on the cult of Trophonios that are now lost. Trophonios has been of interest to classical scholars because the rivers of

and

have close parallels with the

Myth of Er The Myth of Er is a legend that concludes Plato's ''Republic'' (10.614–10.621). The story includes an account of the cosmos and the afterlife that greatly influenced religious, philosophical, and scientific thought for many centuries. The story ...

at the end of

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

's Republic, with a series of Orphic funerary inscriptions on gold leaves, and with several passages about Memory and forgetting in

Hesiod Hesiod (; grc-gre, Ἡσίοδος ''Hēsíodos'') was an ancient Greek poet generally thought to have been active between 750 and 650 BC, around the same time as Homer. He is generally regarded by western authors as 'the first written poet ...

Theogony The ''Theogony'' (, , , i.e. "the genealogy or birth of the gods") is a poem by Hesiod (8th–7th century BC) describing the origins and genealogies of the Greek gods, composed . It is written in the Epic dialect of Ancient Greek and contain ...

The Hellfire Club Hellfire Club was a name for several exclusive clubs for high-society rakes established in Britain and Ireland in the 18th century. The name most commonly refers to Francis Dashwood's Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe. Such clubs, r ...

once constructed a "Cave of Trophonius" with obscene wall-paintings in which to conduct their revels. The philosopher

Soren Kierkegaard Soren may refer to: *Søren, a given name of Scandinavian origin, also spelled ''Sören'' *Suren (disambiguation), a Persian name also rendered as Soren *3864 Søren, main belt asteroid *Sōren, also known as ''Chongryon'' and ''Zai-Nihon Chōsenji ...

references "the cave of Trophonius" when discussing his childhood and later philosophical revelations in his work

Either/Or ''Either/Or'' ( Danish: ''Enten – Eller'') is the first published work of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. Appearing in two volumes in 1843 under the pseudonymous editorship of ''Victor Eremita'' (Latin for "victorious hermit"), it ...

. The philosopher

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

makes a reference to "Trophonius" in the preface to his '' Daybreak'', alluding to his labor in the "underground" of moral prejudices.

Notes

Greek mythological heroes Princes in Greek mythology Children of Apollo

References

, ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918.
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library

External links

{{Authority control Demigods in classical mythology Greek gods Classical oracles Minyan characters in Greek mythology