Amphitryon (;

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

: Ἀμφιτρύων, ''gen''.: Ἀμφιτρύωνος; usually interpreted as "harassing either side",

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: Amphitruo), in

Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...

, was a son of Alcaeus, king of

Tiryns Tiryns ( or ; Ancient Greek: Τίρυνς; Modern Greek: Τίρυνθα) is a Mycenaean archaeological site in Argolis in the Peloponnese, and the location from which the mythical hero Heracles was said to have performed his Twelve Labours. It ...

Argolis Argolis or Argolida ( , ; , in ancient Greek and Katharevousa) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the modern regions of Greece, region of Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, situated in the eastern part of the Peloponnese penin ...

. His mother was named either Astydameia, the daughter of

Pelops In Greek mythology, Pelops (; ) was king of Pisa in the Peloponnesus region (, lit. "Pelops' Island"). He was the son of Tantalus and the father of Atreus. He was venerated at Olympia, where his cult developed into the founding myth of the ...

and Hippodamia, or Laonome, daughter of Guneus, or else Hipponome, daughter of Menoeceus. Amphitryon was the brother of Anaxo (wife of Electryon), and Perimede, wife of Licymnius. He was a husband of

Alcmene In Greek mythology, Alcmene ( ; ) or Alcmena ( ; ; ; meaning "strong in wrath") was the wife of Amphitryon, by whom she bore two children, Iphicles and Laonome. She is best known as the mother of Heracles, whose father was the god Zeus. Alcmene ...

, Electryon's daughter, and stepfather of the Greek hero

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

.Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010).

Mythology

Born—according to tradition—in

, in

in the eastern part of the Peloponnese, Amphitryon became King of

Troezen Troezen (; ancient Greek: Τροιζήν, modern Greek: Τροιζήνα ) is a small town and a former municipality in the northeastern Peloponnese, Greece, on the Argolid Peninsula. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the munic ...

and regent of

Mycenae Mycenae ( ; ; or , ''Mykē̂nai'' or ''Mykḗnē'') is an archaeological site near Mykines, Greece, Mykines in Argolis, north-eastern Peloponnese, Greece. It is located about south-west of Athens; north of Argos, Peloponnese, Argos; and sou ...

. He was a friend of Panopeus. Having accidentally killed his prospective father-in-law, Electryon, king of

, Amphitryon was driven out of Mycenae by Electryon's brother,

Sthenelus In Greek mythology, Sthenelus (; Ancient Greek: Σθένελος ''Sthénelos,'' "strong one" or "forcer", derived from "strength, might, force") was a name attributed to several different individuals: * Sthenelus, son of Perseus and Andromeda. ...

. However, there is an earlier tradition that Amphitryon killed Electryon in a fit of anger over some cattle. He fled with Alcmene to Thebes, where he was cleansed from the guilt of blood by Creon, king of Thebes. Alcmene, who was pregnant and had been betrothed to Amphitryon by her father, refused to marry him until he had avenged the deaths of her brothers, all but one of whom had fallen in battle against the Taphians. (It was on his return from this expedition that Electryon had been killed.) Amphitryon accordingly took the field against the Taphians, accompanied by Creon, who had agreed to assist him on condition that he slew the Teumessian fox which had been sent by

Dionysus In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...

to ravage the Theban countryside. The Taphians, however, remained invincible until Comaetho, the king's daughter, out of love for Amphitryon, plucked out the single golden hair of her father, Pterelaos, the possession of which had rendered him immortal. Having defeated the enemy, Amphitryon put Comaetho to death and handed over the kingdom of the Taphians to

Cephalus Cephalus or Kephalos (; ) is the son of Hermes, husband of Eos and a hero-figure in Greek mythology. Cephalus carried as a theophoric name by historical persons. The root of this name is , meaning "head". Mythological * Cephalus, son of Hermes ...

. On his return to Thebes he married Alcmene, who gave birth to twin sons, Iphicles and

. Only Iphicles was the son of Amphitryon - in a case of heteropaternal superfecundation, Heracles was the son of

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

, who had visited Alcmene during Amphitryon's absence. Zeus, disguised as Amphitryon, described the victory over the sons of Pterelaus in such convincing detail that Alcmene accepted him as her betrothed. Amphitryon and Alcmene also had a daughter named Laonome. Amphitryon fell in battle against the

Minyans In Greek mythology, the Minyans or Minyae ( Greek: Μινύες, ''Minyes'') were a group of legendary people who were the inhabitants of the city Orchomenus in Boeotia, and who were also associated with Thessaly. They were named after their ...

, against whom he had undertaken an expedition, accompanied by the youthful Heracles, to deliver Thebes from a disgraceful tribute. In the play ''Heracles'' by

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

, Amphitryon survives to witness the murders of Heracles' children and

wife A wife (: wives) is a woman in a marital relationship. A woman who has separated from her partner continues to be a wife until their marriage is legally dissolved with a divorce judgment; or until death, depending on the kind of marriage. On t ...

Dramatic treatments

* ''Amphitryon'' was the title of a lost tragedy of

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

, but most others who have used this story have rendered comic treatments instead.

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...

, the Roman comedian, used this tale to present ''

Amphitryon Amphitryon (; Ancient Greek: Ἀμφιτρύων, ''gen''.: Ἀμφιτρύωνος; usually interpreted as "harassing either side", Latin: Amphitruo), in Greek mythology, was a son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns in Argolis. His mother was named ...

'', a

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

play. The dramatic treatment by Plautus has enjoyed a sustaining presence on the stage since its premiere. It was the only play by Plautus that was still performed during the Middle Ages, albeit in a modified form. It was staged regularly during the Renaissance, and was the second ancient comedy to be translated into the English language. * Plautus' play inspired several other theatrical works during the 16th century, including three Spanish language plays, two Italian plays, and a comedy in Portuguese by

Luís de Camões Luís Vaz de Camões (; or 1525 – 10 June 1580), sometimes rendered in English as Camoens or Camoëns ( ), is considered Portugal's and the Portuguese language's greatest poet. His mastery of verse has been compared to that of William Shakes ...

. In 1636

Jean Rotrou Jean Rotrou (21 August 1609 – 28 June 1650) was a French poet and tragedian. Life Rotrou was born at Dreux, city of the current department of Eure-et-Loir, in Centre-Val de Loire region. He studied at Dreux and at Paris, and, though three ye ...

translated Plautus' work into a successful French language production, ''Les Deux Sosies''. This work inspired

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

's highly successful ''

'' (1668). From Molière's line "''Le véritable Amphitryon est l'Amphitryon où l'on dîne''," the name Amphitryon has come to be used in the sense of a generous entertainer, a good host; the Spanish word for "host" is in fact "anfitrión" and in Portuguese it is "anfitrião". Several other continental versions inspired by Plautus followed Molière, including a Christianized version by Johannes Burmeister. * The first English language work that was loosely based on Plautus was an interlude in ''Jacke Juggler'' (ca. 1550). John Marston's ''What You Will'' (1607) was also partly based on Plautus. The first large scale work where Plautus was the chief source was

Thomas Heywood Thomas Heywood (early 1570s – 16 August 1641) was an English playwright, actor, and author. His main contributions were to late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre. He is best known for his masterpiece ''A Woman Killed with Kindness'', a ...

's ''The Silver Age'' (1613).

John Dryden John Dryden (; – ) was an English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who in 1668 was appointed England's first Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate. He is seen as dominating the literary life of Restoration (En ...

's 1690 ''

'' is based on

's 1668 version as well as on Plautus. Notable innovations from Dryden's adaptation include music by

Henry Purcell Henry Purcell (, rare: ; September 1659 – 21 November 1695) was an English composer of Baroque music, most remembered for his more than 100 songs; a tragic opera, Dido and Aeneas, ''Dido and Aeneas''; and his incidental music to a version o ...

and the character of

Phaedra Phaedra may refer to: Mythology * Phaedra (mythology), Cretan princess, daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë, wife of Theseus Arts and entertainment * Phaedra (Cabanel), ''Phaedra'' (Cabanel), an 1880 painting by Alexandre Cabanel *House of Phaedra ...

, who flirts with Sosia but is eventually won over by Mercury's promises of wealth. A modern comic adaptation was made by George Maxim Ross in the 1950s under the title ''Too Much Amphitryon.'' * In Germany, Heinrich von Kleist's ''Amphitryon'' (1807), which began as a translation of

's ''Amphitryon'' (1668) but developed into an original adaptation of the myth in its own right, remains the most frequently performed version of the myth, with Kleist using Alkmene's inability to distinguish between Jupiter and her husband to explore metaphysical issues; Giselher Klebe wrote in 1961 his opera '' Alkmene'' based on this play. Other German dramatic treatments include Georg Kaiser's posthumously published ''Double Amphitryon'' (''Zweimal Amphitryon'', 1943) and Peter Hacks's ''Amphitryon'' (1968). * In France,

's ''Amphitryon'' (1668) is the most famous and seminal treatment of the myth. It was also the subject of a play by

Jean Giraudoux Hippolyte Jean Giraudoux (; ; 29 October 1882 – 31 January 1944) was a French novelist, essayist, diplomat and playwright. He is considered among the most important French dramatists of the period between World War I and World War II. His wo ...

, '' Amphitryon 38'' (1929), the number in the title being Giraudoux's whimsical approximation of how many times the story had been told onstage previously. It was adapted into English by

S. N. Behrman Samuel Nathaniel Behrman (; June 9, 1893 – September 9, 1973) was an American playwright, screenwriter, biographer, and longtime writer for ''The New Yorker''. His son is the composer David Behrman. Biography Early years Behrman's parents, Z ...

and enjoyed a successful run on Broadway in 1938. Plautus' version was the basis of

Cole Porter Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became Standard (music), standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway the ...

's 1950 musical '' Out of This World''. In 1991 it was the basis for the

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

film '' Hélas pour moi''. * The classic 1935 Nazi-era but anti-Nazi film version, ''

'', was based on Kleist. * The comic opera Amfitrion by the Croatia composer Boris Papandopulo (composed in 1937) which premiered in 1940. * The musical '' Olympus on My Mind'' is based on Kleist's adaptation of the play. * Irish author

John Banville William John Banville (born 8 December 1945) is an Irish novelist, short story writer, Literary adaptation, adapter of dramas and screenwriter. Though he has been described as "the heir to Marcel Proust, Proust, via Vladimir Nabokov, Nabokov", ...

's play ''God's Gift'' (Gallery Books, 2000) is a version of Kleist's ''Amphitryon''. *The late Mexican writer Ignacio Padilla's novel ''Amphitryon'' (2000), is a loose retelling of the ancient myth set in Nazi Germany and Europe, largely exploring the complex subjects of identity, time, and memory. The English translation is titled ''Shadow Without a Name'' (2003).

Notes

References

* * Pausanias, ''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

DM Christenson - 2000 - Cambridge University Press. Book reviews

*

Pseudo-Apollodorus The ''Bibliotheca'' (Ancient Greek: ), is a compendium of Greek myths and heroic legends, genealogical tables and histories arranged in three books, generally dated to the first or second century AD. The work is commonly described as having been ...

, ''The Library'' with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921
Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.Greek text available from the same website
{{Authority control Perseids (mythology) Princes in Greek mythology Theban mythology Mythology of Heracles Mythology of Argolis French plays Plays by Sophocles German plays 1690 plays Mythological Tirynthians