Amphion and Zethus - wikipedia Amphion and Zethus For the third century neoplatonist, see Zethos the Arab. For the vespid wasp genus, see Zethus ( genus ). Amphion and Zethus Amphion / ˈæmfiən / ( Ancient Greek : Ἀμφίων ) and Zethus / ˈziːθəs / ( Ζῆθος, Zēthos ) were, in ancient Greek mythology, the twin sons of Zeus 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. Contents 1 Mythology 1.1 Childhood 1.2 Rule of Thebes 1.3 Later misfortunes 2 Gallery 2.1 Amphion 2.2 Amphion and Zethus 3 See also 4 Mention in Ancient Sources 5 References 6 Sources Mythology Childhood Dirce 's punishment - Roman wall painting in House of the Vettii, Pompeii. 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. 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. 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. They built the walls around the Cadmea, the citadel of Thebes. While Zethus struggled to carry his stones, Amphion played his lyre and his stones followed after him and gently glided into place. 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. Zethus married Thebe, after whom the city of Thebes was named. 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 ). 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. Zethus had only one son, who died through a mistake of his mother Thebe, causing Zethus to kill himself. In the Odyssey, however, Zethus 's wife is called a daughter of Pandareus in book 19, who killed her son Itylos in a fit of madness and became a nightingale. 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. Gallery Amphion Amphion, son of Zeus and Antiope, and twin brother of Zethus Amphion by NathanJacquin ( November 16, 2015 ) Amphion Mercury and Amphion by Jean Vignaud ( 1819 ) Amphion by Krauss, Johann Ulrich ( ca. 1690 ) Amphion and Zethus The Famese Bull Amphion and Zethus Julius Troschel, Amphion and Zethus ( 1840 - 1850 ), Neue Pinakothek. Dirce being tied to a bull by Amphion as Zethus looks on ; Antiope tries to stop her son 's hand. ( fresco, 1st century AD ) The Farnese Bull depicting the punishment of Dirke by Amphion and Zethos See also Divine twins Mention in Ancient Sources Plato, Gorgias, 485e. References Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amphion and Zethus. ^ Jump up to : Apollodorus, Library, 3.5. 5 ^ Jump up to : Tripp, Edward. Crowell 's Handbook of Classical Mythology. New York : Thomas Crowell Company, 1970, p. 44. Original, less elaborate, account in Pausanias Description of Greece, 6.20. 18 Jump up ^ Tripp, Edward. Crowell 's Handbook of Classical Mythology. New York : Thomas Crowell Company, 1970, p. 43 Jump up ^ Gantz, Timothy. Early Greek Myth. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993, p. 539 Jump up ^ Homer. The Odyssey. Trans. Richmond Lattimore. New York : Harper Collins, 1967, p. 295 Sources This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Chisholm, Hugh, ed. ( 1911 ). `` Amphion and Zethus ''. Encyclopædia Britannica ( 11th ed. ). Cambridge University Press. Regnal titles Preceded by Lycus Mythical Kings of Thebes ( jointly ) Succeeded by Laius Kings of Thebes Kings Calydnus Ogyges Cadmus Pentheus Polydorus Nycteus ( regent for Labdacus ) and Lycus I ( regent for Labdacus ) Labdacus Lycus I ( regent for Laius ) Laius Amphion and Zethus Laius ( second rule ) Creon Oedipus Creon ( second rule ) ( regent for Eteocles and Polynices ) Polynices and Eteocles Creon ( third rule ) ( regent for Laodamas ) Lycus II ( usurper ) Laodamas Thersander Peneleos ( regent for Tisamenus ) Tisamenus Autesion Damasichthon Ptolemy Xanthos In literature Antigone Antigone ( Euripides ) The Bacchae Herakles Iliad Oedipus Oedipus at Colonus Oedipus Rex The Phoenician Women Seven Against Thebes The Thebans Related articles Thebes Necklace of Harmonia Book : Theban Kings Category : Theban kings Portal : Ancient Greece Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amphion_and_Zethus&oldid=822808244 '' Categories : Theban kings Offspring of Zeus Mythological Greek characters Hidden categories : Articles containing Ancient Greek - language text Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Talk Contents About Wikipedia ქართული Magyar Polski Edit links This page was last edited on 28 January 2018, at 16 : 47. 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Question: who builds the walls of thebes with song
Answer: Amphion