Editing Amphion and Zethus

{{Short description|Greek mythological figures; considered the founders of Thebes}}
{{for multi|the third century neoplatonist|Zethos the Arab|the vespid wasp genus|Zethus (genus)}}{{Other uses|Amphion}}[[File:The doctrine of morality - or, A view of human life, according to the stoick philosophy - exemplify'd in one hundred and three copper-plates, done by the celebrated Monsieur Daret, engraver to the (14744818991).jpg|thumb|Amphion and Zethus]]

'''Amphion''' ({{IPAc-en|æ|m|ˈ|f|aɪ|.|ɒ|n}} ({{Langx|grc|Ἀμφίων|Amphíōn}})) and '''Zethus''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|z|iː|θ|ə|s}}; Ζῆθος ''Zēthos'') were, in ancient [[Greek mythology]], the twin sons of [[Zeus]] (or Theobus){{refn|According to other writers and to Antiochus {{refn|This Antiochus has not been identified. {{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09d3DwAAQBAJ&q=amphion+antiochus+theobus&pg=SA2-PA16 |title=Explicit Sources of Tzetzes' Chiliades |edition=2nd |first=Miguel |last=Carvalho Abrantes |chapter=2.16 Antiochus |date=30 April 2017 |publisher=CreateSpace |isbn=978-1545584620 |access-date=22 November 2018}}}} as cited in [[John Tzetzes]]. ''[http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html#13 Chiliades, 1.13 line 319]''}} by [[Antiope (mother of Amphion)|Antiope]]. They are important characters in one of the two [[founding myth]]s of the city of [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|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.<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DN%3Aentry+group%3D3%3Aentry%3Dneis-bio-1 A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, Neis]</ref>

== Mythology ==
===Childhood===
[[File:Zetoyanfion.jpg|thumb|Dirce's punishment - Roman wall painting in House of the Vettii, Pompeii.]]Amphion and Zethus were the sons of [[Antiope (mother of Amphion)|Antiope]], who fled in shame to [[Sicyon]] after Zeus raped her, and married King [[Epopeus]] there. However, either [[Nycteus]] or [[Lycus (brother of Nycteus)|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.<ref name="Apollodorus, Library, 3.5.5">[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], 3.5.5</ref>

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.<ref name="Apollodorus, Library, 3.5.5"/> They also either killed Lycus or forced him to give up his throne.<ref name=":0">Roman, L., & Roman, M. (2010). {{Google books|tOgWfjNIxoMC|Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman mythology.|page=58}} </ref>

===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.<ref name=":0" /> Amphion and Zethus built the fortifications of Thebes.<ref name=":0" /> They built the walls around the [[Cadmea]], the [[citadel]] of Thebes, at the command of [[Apollo]].<ref>[[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], ''Fabulae'' 9</ref> While Zethus struggled to carry his stones, Amphion played his lyre and his stones followed after him and gently glided into place.<ref name="Tripp">Tripp, Edward. ''Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology''. New York: Thomas Crowell Company, 1970, p. 44. Original, less elaborate, account in [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0160%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D20%3Asection%3D18 ''Graeciae Descriptio'' 6.20.18]</ref>

Amphion married [[Niobe]], the daughter of [[Tantalus]], the [[Lydia]]n king. Because of this, he learned to play his lyre in the Lydian mode and added three strings to it.<ref>Tripp, Edward. ''Crowell's Handbook of Classical Mythology''.  New York: Thomas Crowell Company, 1970, p. 43</ref>  Zethus married [[Thebe (Greek myth)|Thebe]], after whom the city of Thebes was named.<ref>[[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|Apollodorus]], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Apollod.+3.5.6&fromdoc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0022 3.5.6]</ref> Otherwise, the kingdom was named in honour of their supposed father Theobus.<ref>[[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes]], [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html#13 ''Chiliades'' 1.13 line 322]</ref>[[File:Woodcut illustration of Niobe, Amphion and their dead sons - Penn Provenance Project.jpg|thumb|Woodcut illustration of Niobe, Amphion and their dead sons, printed by Johannes Zainer (ca. 1474)]]

===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]]). Niobe’s overweening pride in her children, offending Apollo and Artemis, brought about her children’s deaths.<ref name=":0" /> In [[Ovid]], Amphion commits [[suicide]] out of grief; according to [[Telesilla]], Artemis and Apollo murder him along with his children. [[Gaius Julius Hyginus|Hyginus]], however, writes that in his madness he tried to attack the temple of Apollo, and was killed by the god's arrows.<ref>Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth.  Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, p. 539</ref>

Zethus had only one son, who died through a mistake of his mother Thebe, causing Zethus to kill himself.<ref name="Tripp"/>  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.<ref>[[Homer]], ''[[Odyssey]]'' Trans. Richmond Lattimore.  New York: Harper Collins, 1967, p. 295</ref> 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.{{sfn|Pimentel|Simoes Rodrigues|2019|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=DeayEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA201 201]}}{{sfn|Fowler|2000|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC&pg=PA341 341]}} However in the dark of the night, Aëdon by mistake killed Itylus, and in her mourning she was transformed into a nightingale by her father-in-law Zeus<ref>[[Eustathius of Thessalonica]], ''On Homer's Odyssey'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZP4NAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA215 19.710]</ref>{{sfn|Hansen|2002|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=ezDlXl7gP9oC&pg=PA303 303]}} when Zethus began to chase her down in rage for murdering their son.<ref>[[Scholia]]st on the ''Odyssey'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=GBlgAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA517 19.518]</ref> Alternatively, Aëdon was afraid that her husband (here, mistakenly perhaps, spelled [[Boreads|Zetes]]) was having an affair with a nymph, and that Itylus was assisting his father in his infidelity, so she killed him.<ref>[[Photios I of Constantinople]], ''[[Myriobiblon]]'' [https://books.google.com/books?id=HKUw3Ry7D0oC&pg=PA1583 Helladius Chrestomathia]</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://mythandreligion.upatras.gr/english/m-r-wright-a-dictionary-of-classical-mythology/ | website = mythandreligion.upatras.gr | publisher = [[University of Patras]] | first = Rosemary M. | last = Wright | access-date = March 15, 2023 | title = A Dictionary of Classical Mythology: Summary of Transformations}}</ref>

After the deaths of Amphion and Zethus, [[Laius]] returned to Thebes and became king.

Compare with [[Castor and Polydeuces]] (the [[Dioscuri]]) of Greece, and with [[Romulus and Remus]] of Rome.

== Family tree ==
{{Family tree of the Theban royal house}}

== Gallery ==

=== Amphion ===
<gallery mode="packed-hover">
File:Amphion.jpg|Amphion, son of Zeus and Antiope, and twin brother of Zethus
File:Amphio.jpeg|Amphion by NathanJacquin (November 16, 2015)
File:Tableaux du temple des muses - tirez du cabinet de feu Mr. Fauereau, conseiller du roy en sa Cour des aydes, and grauez en tailles-douces par les meilleurs maistres de son temps, pour representer les (14773119512).jpg|Amphion
File:Mercure & Amphion J.Vignaud.jpg|Mercury and Amphion by Jean Vignaud (1819)
File:Krauss, Johann Ulrich — Die Verwandlungen des Ovidii — Amphion.jpg|Amphion by Krauss, Johann Ulrich (ca. 1690)
</gallery>

=== Amphion and Zethus ===
<gallery mode="packed-hover">
File:Naples Museum 181 (15395016732).jpg|The Farnese Bull depicting the punishment of Dirke by Amphion and Zethos
File:Wall painting - punishment of Dirke - Pompeii (VII 4 56) - Napoli MAN 9042 - 01.jpg|Dirce being tied to a bull by Amphion as Zethus looks on; Antiope tries to stop her son's hand. (fresco, 1st century AD)
File:A classical dictionary of Greek and Roman biography...revised.. (1894) (14760065506).jpg|The Famese Bull
File:Amfion och Zethos, Nordisk familjebok.png|Amphion and Zethus
File:Julius Troschel Zethus und Amphion 1840-50 Neue Pinakothek-1.jpg|Julius Troschel, Amphion and Zethus (1840-1850), Neue Pinakothek.
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Divine twins]]

== Mention in Ancient Sources ==
* [[Plato]], [[Gorgias (dialogue)|''Gorgias'']], [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0178%3Atext%3DGorg.%3Asection%3D485e 485e].

==Notes==
{{Commons category|Amphion and Zethus}}
{{reflist}}

== References ==

* [[Bibliotheca (Pseudo-Apollodorus)|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].
* {{cite book | title = Early Greek Mythography: Texts | first = Robert Louis | last = Fowler | author-link = Robert Fowler (academic) | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | date = 2000 | location = Oxford, New York | isbn = 0-19-814740-6| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=j0nRE4C2WBgC}}
* {{cite book | title = Ariadne's Thread: A Guide to International Tales Found in Classical Literature | first = William F. | last = Hansen | publisher = [[Cornell University Press]] | date = 2002 | location = UK, USA | isbn = 0-8014-3670-2 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ezDlXl7gP9oC}}
* [[Homer]], [[Odyssey|''The Odyssey'']] with an English Translation by A.T. Murray, PH.D. in two volumes. Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1919. {{ISBN|978-0674995611|}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0136 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0135 Greek text available from the same website].
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|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. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
*Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* {{cite book | title = Violence in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds | first1 = Maria Cristina | last1 = Pimentel | first2 = Nuno | last2 = Simoes Rodrigues | publisher = Peeters, ISD LLC | isbn = 978-90-429-3602-7 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=DeayEAAAQBAJ | location = Bristol, USA | date = March 20, 2019}}
*[[John Tzetzes|Tzetzes, John]], ''Book of Histories,'' Book I translated by Ana Untila from the original Greek of T. Kiessling's edition of 1826. [http://www.theoi.com/Text/TzetzesChiliades1.html Online version at theio.com]
{{EB1911|wstitle=Amphion and Zethus}}
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{{s-bef|before=[[Lycus (brother of Nycteus)|Lycus]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Theban kings in Greek mythology|Mythical Kings of]] [[Ancient Thebes (Boeotia)|Thebes]]|years=(jointly)}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Laius]]}}
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== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |last=Michels |first=Johanna Astrid |chapter=Theban Myths: Amphion & Zethus and the Labdacids (III.40–47) |title=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 |place=Berlin, Boston |publisher=De Gruyter |date=2023 |pages=550–642 |series=Beiträge zur Altertumskunde |volume=42 |doi=10.1515/9783110610529-012|isbn=9783110610529 }}

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