Back أدراستوس Arabic Адраст Bulgarian Adrastos BR Adrast (fill de Tàlau) Catalan Adrástos Czech Adrastos Danish Adrastos (Argos) German Άδραστος Greek Adrasto EO Adrasto Spanish
In Greek mythology, Adrastus or Adrestus (Ancient Greek: Ἄδραστος or Ἄδρηστος),[1] (perhaps meaning "the inescapable"),[2] was a king of Argos, and leader of the Seven against Thebes. He was the son of the Argive king Talaus, but was forced out of Argos by his dynastic rival Amphiaraus. He fled to Sicyon, where he became king. Later he reconciled with Amphiaraus and returned to Argos as its king.
Because of an oracle Adrastus married his daughters to the exiles Polynices and Tydeus and promised to restore them to their homelands. He first assembled an army to place Polynices on the throne of Thebes, led by seven champions, famously called the Seven against Thebes. The expedition failed and all the champions died except Adrastus, saved by his divine horse Arion. He went with the Epigoni, the sons of the Seven, in the successful second war against Thebes, and was said to have died on his way home.
Adrastus is mentioned as early as Homer's Iliad, and his story was (presumably) told in the Cyclic Thebaid. He figures prominently in the poetry of Pindar, and is a main character in Euripides' The Suppliants. His story was told by Diodorus Siculus, Hyginus, Statius, and Apollodorus. He was said to be the founder of the Nemean Games, had hero cults at Sicyon, Megara, and Colonus, and was depicted in works of art from as early as the 6th century BC.[3]
- ^ Grimal, s.v. Adrastus 1; Parada, s.v. Adrastus 1. For Ἄδρηστος, see Herodotus, 5.67 .
- ^ Oxford Classical Dictionary, s.v. Adrastus.
- ^ Oxford Classical Dictionary, s.v. Adrastus; Grimal, s.v. Asrastus; Tripp, s.v. Adrastus (1); Brill's New Pauly, s.v. Adrastus; Parada, s.v. Adrastus 1; Smith, s.v. Adrastus 1.