Amphion (/æmˈfaɪ.ɒn/ (
Ancient Greek: Ἀμφίων,
romanized: Amphīōn)) and Zethus (/ˈziːθəs/; Ζῆθος Zēthos) were, in ancient
Greek mythology, the twin sons of
Zeus (or Theobus)[2] by
Antiope. They are important characters in one of the two
founding myths of the city of
Thebes, because they constructed the city's walls. Zethus or Amphion had a daughter who was called Neis (Νηίς), the Neitian gate at Thebes was believed to have derived its name from her.[3]
Mythology
Childhood
Amphion and Zethus were the sons of
Antiope, who fled in shame to
Sicyon after Zeus raped her, and married King
Epopeus there. However, either
Nycteus or
Lycus attacked Sicyon in order to carry her back to Thebes and punish her. On the way back, she gave birth to the twins and was forced to expose them on
Mount Cithaeron. Lycus gave her to his wife,
Dirce, who treated her very cruelly for many years.[4]
Antiope eventually escaped and found her sons living near Mount Cithaeron. After they were convinced that she was their mother, they killed Dirce by tying her to the horns of a bull, gathered an army, and conquered Thebes, becoming its joint rulers.[4] They also either killed Lycus or forced him to give up his throne.[5]
Rule of Thebes
Amphion became a great singer and musician after his lover
Hermes taught him to play and gave him a golden lyre. Zethus became a hunter and herdsman, with a great interest in cattle breeding. As Zethus was associated with agriculture and the hunt, his attribute was the hunting dog, while Amphion’s - the lyre.[5] Amphion and Zethus built fortifications of Thebes.[5] They built the walls around the
Cadmea, the citadel of Thebes at the command of
Apollo.[6] While Zethus struggled to carry his stones, Amphion played his lyre and his stones followed after him and gently glided into place.[7]
Amphion married
Niobe, the daughter of
Tantalus, the
Lydian king. Because of this, he learned to play his lyre in the Lydian mode and added three strings to it.[8] Zethus married
Thebe, after whom the city of Thebes was named. Otherwise, the kingdom was named in honour of their supposed father Theobus.[9]
Later misfortunes
Amphion's wife Niobe had many children, but had become arrogant and because of this she insulted the goddess
Leto, who had only two children,
Artemis and Apollo. Leto's children killed Niobe's children in retaliation (see
Niobe). It’s Niobe’s overweening pride in her children, offending Apollo and Artemis, brought about her children’s deaths.[5] In
Ovid, Amphion commits
suicide out of grief; according to
Telesilla, Artemis and Apollo murder him along with his children.
Hyginus, however, writes that in his madness he tried to attack the temple of Apollo, and was killed by the god's arrows.[10]
Zethus had only one son, who died through a mistake of his mother Thebe, causing Zethus to kill himself.[7] In the Odyssey, however, Zethus's wife is called
Aëdon, a daughter of
Pandareus in book 19, who killed her son
Itylus in a fit of madness and became a nightingale.[11] Later authors would clarify that Aëdon tried to kill Niobe and Amphion's firstborn
Amaleus out of jealousy that Niobe had borne many children, while she and Zethus only had one.[12][13] However in the dark of the night, Aëdon by mistake killed Itylus, and in her mourning she was transformed into a nightingale by Zeus[14][15] when Zethus began to chase her down in rage for murdering their son.[16] Alternatively, Aëdon was afraid that Zethus (here, mistakenly perhaps, spelled
Zetes) was having an affair with a nymph, and that Itylus was assisting his father in his infidelity, so she killed him.[17][18]
After the deaths of Amphion and Zethus,
Laius returned to Thebes and became king.
Dotted lines indicate extra-marital relationships or adoptions.
Kings of Thebes are numbered with bold names and a light purple background.
Joint rules are indicated by a number and lowercase letter, for example, 5a. Amphion shared the throne with 5b. Zethus.
Regents of Thebes are alphanumbered (format AN) with bold names and a light red background.
The number N refers to the regency preceding the reign of the Nth king. Generally this means the regent served the Nth king but not always, as Creon (A9) was serving as regent to Laodamas (the 10th King) when he was slain by Lycus II (the usurping 9th king).
The letter A refers to the regency sequence. "A" is the first regent, "B" is the second, etc.
^This Antiochus has not been identified. Carvalho Abrantes, Miguel (30 April 2017).
"2.16 Antiochus". Explicit Sources of Tzetzes' Chiliades (2nd ed.). CreateSpace.
ISBN978-1545584620. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
^
abTripp, Edward. Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology. New York: Thomas Crowell Company, 1970, p. 44. Original, less elaborate, account in
Pausanias,
Graeciae Descriptio 6.20.18
^Tripp, Edward. Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology. New York: Thomas Crowell Company, 1970, p. 43
Michels, Johanna Astrid (2023). "Theban Myths: Amphion & Zethus and the Labdacids (III.40–47)". Agenorid Myth in the 'Bibliotheca' of Pseudo-Apollodorus: A Philological Commentary of Bibl. III.1-56 and a Study into the Composition and Organization of the Handbook. Beiträge zur Altertumskunde. Vol. 42. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. pp. 550–642.
doi:
10.1515/9783110610529-012.
ISBN9783110610529.