Phineus

Several different versions of Phineus's parentage were presented in ancient texts. According to Apollonius of Rhodes, he was a son of Agenor,Apollonius of Rhodes, [https://topostext.org/work/126 2.236–7] but the Bibliotheca says that other authors named his father as Poseidon (who is the father of Agenor).Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+1.9.21 1.9.21] The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, on the other hand, reported that Phineus was the son of PhoenixPseudo-Scymnos, Circuit de la terre 953 ff. and Cassiopeia.Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 138 ({{harvnb|Merkelbach|West|1967}}); Scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.178Phineus was the grandson of Agenor as the son of Phoenix according to Pherecydes and Antimachus as cited in George W. Mooney, Commentary on Apollonius: Argonautica vs [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0068%3Atext%3Dcomm%3Abook%3D2%3Acommline%3D178 Phineus]

His first wife was Cleopatra, daughter of Boreas and Oreithyia, by whom he had a pair of sons, named Plexippus and Pandion,Apollodorus, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.15.2 3.15.3] or Gerymbas and Aspondus,Scholia on Sophocles, Antigone 977 (ed. Brunck) or Polydector (Polydectus) and Polydorus,Scholia on Ovid, Ibis [https://journals.openedition.org/dictynna/912 273] or Parthenius and Crambis,Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, 2.140; {{harvtxt|Dräger|2007}} or Oryithus (Oarthus) and Crambis{{Citation needed|date=September 2018}}. His second wife, Idaea, daughter of the Scythian king DardanusDiodorus Siculus, [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/4C*.html#43 4.43.3–4]; Apollodorus, [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:3.15.3 3.15.3]; Tripp, s.v. Dardanus (2) p. 190 (less commonly Dia,Scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.178 Eidothea, sister of Cadmus,Scholia on Sophocles, Antigone [https://topostext.org/work/25 989] or EurytiaScholia on Homer, Odyssey [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Hom.+Od.+12.69&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0136 12.69]), deceived him into blinding these sons, a fate Phineus himself would suffer.Scholia on Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.178; Sophocles, Antigone [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0186%3Acard%3D966 966–76]

By his second wife, or by a Scythian concubine,Idaea and the Scythian concubine might be the same. Phineus had two more sons, Mariandynus and Thynus.Scholia on Apollonius Rhodius, 2.140 According to some sources, he also had two daughters, Eraseia and Harpyreia,Tzetzes, Chiliades [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html 1.220]; on Lycophron, Alexandra [http://www.theoi.com/Text/LycophronAlexandra.html 166] while another daughter Olizone was called the wife of Dardanus, who was the son of Zeus and Electra, and became the mother of Erichthonius.Dictys Cretensis, [https://topostext.org/work/152#3.5 3.5 & 4.22]

Apollo was said to have given the gift of prophecy to Phineus,Hyginus, Fabulae [https://topostext.org/work/206#19 19] but the latter's own blinding was variously attributed to the outrage against his sons,Sophocles, fr. 704 Radt his giving Phrixus directions on his journey,Megalai Ehoiai fr. 254 ({{harvnb|Merkelbach|West|1967}}). or because he preferred long life to sight,Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 157 ({{harvnb|Merkelbach|West|1967}}) or, as reported in the Argonautica (thus the best-known version), for revealing the future to mankind.Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.178–86 For this reason he was also tormented by the Harpies, who stole or defiled whatever food he had at hand or, according to the Catalogue of Women, drove Phineus himself to the corners of the world.Phineus' food: Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.187–201; his wandering torment: Hesiod, Ehoiai fr. 157 ({{harvnb|Merkelbach|West|1967}}) According to scholia on the Odyssey, when asked by Zeus if he preferred to die or lose sight as punishment for having his sons killed by their stepmother, Phineus chose the latter saying he would rather never see the sun, and consequently it was the scorned Helios who sent the Harpies against him. In yet another version, he blinded Phineus at the request of his son Aeëtes, who asked him to do so because Phineus offered his assistance to Aeëtes' enemies.Fowler, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=scd8AQAAQBAJ&pg=PA222 222], vol. IIGantz, pp [https://archive.org/details/early-greek-myth-a-guide-timothy-gantz/page/352/mode/2up?view=theater 352–353] Alternatively the agent of punishment was Poseidon. However the Harpies plagued him, deliverance from this curse motivated Phineus's involvement in the voyage of the Argo.{{harvtxt|Dräger|2007}}. Those accounts in which Phineus is stated to have blinded his sons, add that they had their sight restored to them by the sons of Boreas,Orphic Argonautica 674 or by Asclepius.Scholia ad Pindar, Pythian Odes 13.96

When the ship landed by his Thracian home, Phineus described his torment to the crew and told them that his brothers-in-law, the wing-footed Boreads, both Argonauts, were fated to deliver him from the Harpies.Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.234–9 Zetes demurred, fearing the wrath of the gods should they deliver Phineus from divine punishment, but the old seer assured him that he and his brother Calais would face no retribution.Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.244–61 A trap was set: Phineus sat down to a meal with the Boreads standing guard, and as soon as he touched his food the Harpies swept down, devoured the food and flew off.Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.263–72 The Boreads gave chase, pursuing the Harpies as far as the "Floating Islands" before Iris stopped them lest they kill the Harpies against the will of the gods.Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.282–7 She swore an oath by the Styx that the Harpies would no longer harass Phineus, and the Boreads then turned back to return to the Argonauts. It is for this reason, according to Apollonius, that the "Floating Islands" are now called the Strophades, the "Turning Islands".Apollonius of Rhodes, 2.288–97 Phineus then revealed to the Argonauts the path their journey would take and informed them how to pass the Symplegades safely, thus partially filling the same role for Jason that Circe did for Odysseus in the Odyssey.

A now-lost play about Phineus, Phineus, was written by Aeschylus and was the first play in the trilogy that included The Persians, produced in 472 B.C.{{cite book|title=Aeschylus and Athens|author=Thomson, G.|author-link=George Derwent Thomson|page=279|year=1973|publisher=Lawrence & Wishart|edition=4}} Eventually, Helios transformed Phineus into a mole, a blind creature, over some unspecific insult.Pseudo-Oppian, Cynegetica [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Oppian/Cynegetica/2*.html#612 2.615]

The story of Phineus and Cleopatra is briefly mentioned in Sophocles' Antigone.{{Cite book|author=Sophocles|title=The Three Theban Plays|publisher=Penguin Classics|year=1984|location=New York City|pages=109|translator-last=Fagles|translator-first=Robert}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• Apollodorus, 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. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0022 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0021 Greek text available from the same website].

• Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica translated by Robert Cooper Seaton (1853–1915), R. C. Loeb Classical Library Volume 001. London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1912. [https://topostext.org/work/126 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
• Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica. George W. Mooney. London. Longmans, Green. 1912. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0227 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
• {{Citation| last=Bremmer| first=J.N.| chapter=Phineus| title=Oxford Classical Dictionary|editor1=S. Hornblower |editor2=A. Spawforth | edition=3rd rev.| place=Oxford| year=1996| isbn=978-0-19-866172-6| url-access=registration| url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198661726}}.
• Hesiod, Catalogue of Women from Homeric Hymns, Epic Cycle, Homerica translated by Evelyn-White, H G. Loeb Classical Library Volume 57. London: William Heinemann, 1914. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodCatalogues.html Online version at theio.com]
• Dictys Cretensis, from The Trojan War. The Chronicles of Dictys of Crete and Dares the Phrygian translated by Richard McIlwaine Frazer, Jr. (1931–). Indiana University Press. 1966. [https://topostext.org/work/152 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]
• Diodorus Siculus, The Library of History translated by Charles Henry Oldfather. Twelve volumes. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1989. Vol. 3. Books 4.59–8. [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Diodorus_Siculus/home.html Online version at Bill Thayer's Web Site]
• Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica. Vol 1–2. Immanel Bekker. Ludwig Dindorf. Friedrich Vogel. in aedibus B. G. Teubneri. Leipzig. 1888–1890. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0540 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
• {{Citation| last=Dräger| first=P.| chapter=Phineus| title=Brill's New Pauly: Antiquity| volume=11 (Phi–Prok)|editor1=H. Cancik |editor2=H. Schneider | year=2007| isbn=978-90-04-14216-9}}.
• Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, 1993, The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, {{ISBN|0-8018-4410-X}}.
• Gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth: A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996, Two volumes: {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5360-9}} (Vol. 1), {{ISBN|978-0-8018-5362-3}} (Vol. 2).
• Maurus Servius Honoratus, In Vergilii carmina comentarii. Servii Grammatici qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii; recensuerunt Georgius Thilo et Hermannus Hagen. Georgius Thilo. Leipzig. B. G. Teubner. 1881. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0053 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
• {{Citation| last1=Merkelbach| first1=R.| last2=West| first2=M.L.| title=Fragmenta Hesiodea| place=Oxford| year=1967| isbn=0-19-814171-8}}.
• Sophocles, The Antigone of Sophocles edited with introduction and notes by Sir Richard Jebb. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press. 1893. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0186 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
• Sophocles, Sophocles. Vol 1: Oedipus the king. Oedipus at Colonus. Antigone. With an English translation by F. Storr. The Loeb classical library, 20. Francis Storr. London; New York. William Heinemann Ltd.; The Macmillan Company. 1912. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0185 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
• Tripp, Edward, Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology, Thomas Y. Crowell Co; First edition (June 1970). {{ISBN|069022608X}}.
• The Orphic Argonautica, translated by Jason Colavito. 2011. [https://topostext.org/work/549 Online version at the Topos Text Project.]

• {{Citation| last=Dräger| first=P.| title=Argo Pasimelousa. Der Argonautenmythos in der griechischen und römischen Literatur. Teil 1: Theos aitios| place=Stuttgart| year=1993| isbn=978-3-515-05974-9}}.
• {{Citation| last=West| first=M.L.| title=The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women: Its Nature, Structure, and Origins| place=Oxford| year=1985| isbn=0-19-814034-7}}.

• {{Commons category-inline|Phineus}}

{{Argonautica}}

{{Metamorphoses in Greco-Roman mythology}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Mythological Greek seers

Category:Children of Poseidon

Category:Mythological kings of Thrace

Category:Characters in the Argonautica

Category:Phoenician characters in Greek mythology

Category:Deeds of Zeus

Category:Deeds of Apollo

Category:Greek mythology of Thrace

Category:Helios in mythology

Category:Deeds of Poseidon

Category:Metamorphoses into animals in Greek mythology

Category:Mythological blind people