Strophius

Strophius was a king of Phocis in Greek mythology, the brother-in-law of Agamemnon and the father of Pylades. He gave refuge to the young Orestes after the murder of Agamemnon and raised him in his house beside his own son, which is how the lifelong friendship of Orestes and Pylades began.

Family

Pausanias, following the poet Asius, traces the family from Phocus: Phocus had sons Panopeus and Crisus, and Strophius was the son of Crisus. His wife Anaxibia was the sister of Agamemnon, and their son was Pylades (Pausanias 2.29.4). Euripides makes the same link: Orestes tells Iphigenia that Pylades’ father is Strophius of Phocis and that Pylades is his cousin through a daughter of Atreus, and adds that Pylades was not yet born when she was sacrificed, because Strophius was for a long time childless (Euripides, Iphigenia among the Taurians 916–921).

Strophius and Orestes

After Agamemnon was murdered by Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, Orestes was spirited out of Argos. The sources disagree about who saved him: Apollodorus says that his sister Electra smuggled him away and gave him to Strophius the Phocian, who brought him up with his own son Pylades (Apollodorus, Epitome 6.24). In Sophocles and Euripides an old servant, the child’s tutor, takes him to Phocis (Sophocles, Electra 11–14; Euripides, Electra 16–18). Pindar says that the young Orestes was brought to the aged Strophius, who lived at the foot of Parnassus (Pindar, Pythian 11.34–37).

Strophius was not only a refuge but an ally of Agamemnon’s house. In Aeschylus’ Agamemnon, Clytemnestra explains Orestes’ absence by saying that he is being brought up by a well-disposed spear-friend, Strophius of Phocis, who had warned her of trouble at home and of the danger to Agamemnon at Troy (Aeschylus, Agamemnon 877–886). In the Libation Bearers, Orestes and Pylades arrive in Argos disguised as strangers from Phocis, and Orestes says that Strophius the Phocian had told him to carry the news of Orestes’ death (Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 674–679). In Sophocles’ Electra the false news of Orestes’ death is likewise said to have been sent through Strophius (Sophocles, Electra 1111).

After the Murders

In Euripides’ Orestes, Pylades says that his father Strophius, in anger, has driven him from his house, calling him impious for helping Orestes kill his mother (Euripides, Orestes 765–767). At the end of the play Apollo declares that Pylades is to marry Electra as promised (Euripides, Orestes 1658–1659). Pausanias says that Orestes did marry Electra to Pylades, and, citing Hellanicus, that their children were Medon and Strophius (Pausanias 2.16.7).

Strophius Sources

The main sources are Pausanias 2.16.7 and 2.29.4; Apollodorus, Epitome 6.24; Pindar, Pythian 11.34–37; Aeschylus, Agamemnon 877–886 and Libation Bearers 674–679; Sophocles, Electra 11–14 and 1111; and Euripides, Electra 16–18, Iphigenia among the Taurians 916–921 and Orestes 765–767 and 1658–1659.

See Also: Agamemnon, Menelaus, Pylades, Orestes, Aegisthus, Clytemnestra, Electra