Phlegyas was the father of Ixion, in some accounts, as well as
Coronis, one of
Apollo's lovers. The girl's mother was called Cleopheme, daughter of Malus and the
MuseErato.[5] According to one tradition, he had no children.[6] Another daughter,
Gyrtone, was also said to have given her name to Gyrton.
Mythology
Phlegyas succeeded
Eteocles, who died without issue, in the government of the district of
Orchomenos, which he named Phlegyantis, after himself.
While pregnant with
Asclepius, Coronis fell in love with
Ischys, son of
Elatus. When a
hooded crow informed Apollo of the affair, he sent his sister
Artemis to kill Coronis, unable to perform the task himself. However, Hermes rescued the baby from Coronis' womb and gave it to the
centaurChiron to raise. Phlegyas, angry at Apollo for killing his daughter, torched the Apollonian temple at
Delphi, causing Apollo to kill him with his arrows and condemn him to severe punishment in the lower world.[7][8][9][10][11] In another version of the myth, Phlegyas had no children and the two brothers Lycus and Nycteus are responsible for his death.
In the Aeneid of
Virgil, Phlegyas is shown tormented in
Tartarus in the
Underworld, warning others not to despise the gods. In the Thebaid of
Statius, Phlegyas is also shown to be in the Underworld entombed in a rock by
Megaera (one of the
Furies) and starved in front of an eternal feast (comparable to the torment of
Tantalus).
Other appearances
In the Divine Comedy poem Inferno, Phlegyas ferries Virgil and
Dante across the river
Styx which is portrayed as a marsh where the wrathful and sullen lie within
Hell's Circle of Wrath. Phlegyas was the mythical ancestor of the Phlegyans.
Phlegyas appears in the video game Dante's Inferno. This version is a giant fiery rock monster:whether he has always been is unknown. Dante unknowingly rides across the Styx on the wrathful demigod's crown. After fighting his way towards Dis and seeing Beatrice become Lucifer's bride, Dante takes control of Phlegyas and uses him to break into the City of Dis. When Dante reaches the circle of Heresy, Phlegyas breaks the ground he's standing on. Dante manages to jump off in time, but Phlegyas breaks through the floor and plummets into the abyss.
In the animated film based on the video game called Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic, the appearance of Phlegyas (whose vocal effects are provided by
Kevin Michael Richardson) is more toned down as he appears in the film as a green-skinned humanoid who willingly took Dante and Virgil through the fifth circle of Hell without incident. He was knocked out by Lucifer when Dante controlled Phlegyas to charge Lucifer.
John Tzetzes, Book of Histories, Book IX-X translated by Jonathan Alexander from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826.
Online version at theio.com
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
Pindar, The Odes of Pindar including the Principal Fragments with an Introduction and an English Translation by Sir John Sandys, Litt.D., FBA. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1937.
Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.