Tydeus in the ancient sources

Ancient Sources / Figures / Tydeus

38 passages from 7 ancient authors that tell of Tydeus, in the original with English translation, author by author in the order the Greeks read them. Tydeus was a mortal in Greek mythology, who participated in the clash that is narrated in the story of the Seven Against Thebes. He was the son of Oe... For the story in one place, read our article on Tydeus.

Homer (20)

Homer, Iliad 5.166–296Pandarus and Aeneas against DiomedesPandarus complains that his arrow has not killed Diomedes and fears that a god stands beside him, and Aeneas persuades him to mount his car and face the Achaean. Sthenelus warns Diomedes, who refuses to flee and bids him seize Aeneas' horses, which are of the breed that Zeus gave to Tros. Pandarus' spear pierces Diomedes' shield, but Diomedes' spear passes through Pandarus' face and kills him.
Homer, Iliad 4.327–421Agamemnon rebukes Odysseus and DiomedesAgamemnon chides Menestheus and Odysseus for standing back, and Odysseus answers sharply, so that Agamemnon takes back his words. He then finds Diomedes by his horses and tells him that his father Tydeus was a better fighter. Diomedes is silent, but Sthenelus answers that they are better men than their fathers because they took Thebes.
Homer, Iliad 5.297–430Diomedes wounds AphroditeAeneas stands over the body of Pandarus, and Diomedes hurls a stone that crushes his hip, but Aphrodite wraps him in her robe and Diomedes pierces her hand. She drops her son, and Apollo covers Aeneas with a cloud while Iris leads the wounded goddess to Ares, who lends her his chariot to Olympus. Dione comforts her daughter, Athena mocks her, and Zeus tells Aphrodite that war is not her business.
Homer, Iliad 5.793–909Diomedes wounds AresAthena finds Diomedes cooling the wound the arrow made, rebukes him, and takes Sthenelus' place in his car, putting on the helm of Hades. They go against Ares, who is stripping the body of Periphas, and Diomedes drives his spear into the god's belly. Ares bellows like nine thousand men and goes up to Olympus, where Zeus tells him that he is hateful to him, but has Paeon heal him.
Homer, Iliad 8.78–171Diomedes rescues Nestor; Zeus' thunderboltOnly Nestor stays when the Achaeans take fright, since an arrow of Paris has struck one of his horses. Hector bears down on him, and Diomedes rescues Nestor and takes him into his own car, while Odysseus runs past. Diomedes kills Hector's charioteer, but Zeus' thunderbolt falls before his horses, and he turns back on Nestor's advice while Hector taunts him as a woman.
Homer, Iliad 10.469–579The slaying of RhesusOdysseus and Diomedes go on through the arms and blood and find the Thracians sleeping. Diomedes kills twelve men and then Rhesus, while Odysseus drags the bodies aside and leads off the king's white horses. Athena tells Diomedes to flee and Apollo wakes the Trojans, but the pair reach the ships with the horses, bathe and eat.
Homer, Iliad 5.1–94Athena empowers DiomedesAthena fills Diomedes with strength and sets a flame burning from his helmet and shield, and he drives into the Trojans, killing Phegeus while Hephaestus saves Phegeus' brother Idaeus. Athena takes Ares out of the fighting, and the Achaeans turn the Trojans, each leader killing a man. Diomedes rages across the plain like a river in flood, and the Trojan ranks cannot stand before him.
Homer, Iliad 11.284–400Hector's advance; Diomedes is woundedHector takes up the fight and kills many Danaans, until Odysseus and Diomedes stand against him. Diomedes' spear strikes Hector's helmet and Hector falls to his knees, but Paris, standing behind a pillar, shoots Diomedes through the foot with an arrow. Diomedes goes off to the ships and Odysseus is left alone.
Homer, Iliad 23.362–533Funeral games: the chariot raceApollo strikes the whip from Diomedes' hand, but Athena gives it back to him and breaks the yoke of Eumelus' chariot, so that he is thrown out. Antilochus, driving in a narrow place, forces Menelaus to give way and passes him. Diomedes comes in first, Antilochus second, and Menelaus is third by a small margin.
Homer, Iliad 5.95–165Pandarus wounds Diomedes; Athena's giftPandarus, son of Lycaon, wounds Diomedes in the right shoulder with an arrow, and Sthenelus draws it out. Diomedes prays to Athena, who gives him strength and lifts the mist from his eyes so that he can tell gods from men, telling him to fight no god except Aphrodite. He kills Astynous, Hypeiron, Abas, Polyidus, Xanthus and Thoon, and Echemmon and Chromius, falling on the Trojans like a lion among sheep.
Homer, Iliad 6.119–236Diomedes and Glaucus exchange armourDiomedes and Glaucus meet between the armies, and Diomedes asks who he is, saying that he will not fight a god. Glaucus answers that the generations of men are like leaves, and tells how his forefather Bellerophon was sent to Lycia, where he overcame the Chimaera, the Solymi and the Amazons. Diomedes, learning that their grandfathers were guest-friends, plants his spear and they exchange armour, Zeus taking the wits of Glaucus so that he gives gold for bronze.
Homer, Iliad 10.131–253The council by the ditch; Diomedes and Odysseus volunteerNestor wakes Odysseus and Diomedes, and the chiefs gather at the ditch beyond the camp, where the sentries are keeping watch. Nestor asks who will spy on the Trojans and bring back news, and Diomedes offers to go if he has a companion. Many volunteer, but Diomedes chooses Odysseus, since Athena loves him.

8 more passages of Homer that name Tydeus

Apollodorus (2)

Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 3.6.1–8The Seven against ThebesEteocles and Polynices quarrel over the throne of Thebes, and Polynices gathers an Argive army under Adrastus. Amphiaraus foresees disaster but is compelled to join by Eriphyle, who has accepted the necklace of Harmonia. At Nemea the infant Opheltes is killed by a serpent and the Nemean games are founded; at Thebes Menoeceus sacrifices himself on Tiresias's word, Capaneus is struck by lightning, and Eteocles and Polynices kill each other. Tydeus loses Athena's gift by eating Melanippus's brain, Amphiaraus is swallowed by the earth, and only Adrastus escapes.
Apollodorus, The Library (Bibliotheca), with the Epitome 1.8.1–6Oeneus, Meleager and the Calydonian boarOeneus of Calydon is the first to receive a vine from Dionysus, and the Fates declare that his son Meleager will die when the brand on the hearth is burnt out, so Althaea hides it. When Oeneus forgets Artemis in his sacrifices she sends a boar, and a company of heroes is gathered; Atalanta wounds it first and Meleager kills it and gives her the hide. He kills his mother's brothers, the sons of Thestius, who took it from her, and Althaea burns the brand; a second version has him fall in a war against the Curetes. The section ends with Oeneus's later marriage, Tydeus (father of Diomedes) and the revenge of Diomedes on the sons of Agrius.

Aeschylus (2)

Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 369–456Second episode: Tydeus and Capaneus at the first two gatesThe Scout comes back and reports where the seven chieftains stand. Tydeus is storming the Proetid gates and rages at the seer for holding him back. Eteocles sets Melanippus against him, and then, after the Chorus prays, he answers the Scout's report of Capaneus, a giant who has boasted that even Zeus cannot keep him out of the city, by posting Polyphontes against him and trusting in the thunderbolt of Zeus.
Aeschylus, Seven against Thebes 563–652Second episode: Amphiaraus and Polyneices at the last two gatesThe Scout names the sixth champion, the seer Amphiaraus, who rebukes Tydeus and Polyneices for leading the attack and carries no sign on his shield. Eteocles pities the just man who is joined with the impious, and sets Lasthenes against him. The Scout then names the seventh champion at the seventh gate, Eteocles' own brother Polyneices, who prays that he may kill Eteocles or die with him.

Euripides (4)

Euripides, Suppliants 87–161First episode: Theseus questions Adrastus about the expedition against ThebesTheseus hears the lamentation from the shrine and asks what it means. Aethra tells him that the mothers of the seven chiefs who fell at Thebes keep her prisoner with suppliant boughs. Theseus asks Adrastus, who is muffled in his cloak, to unveil his head and speak, and Adrastus tells how he led the expedition against Thebes, and Theseus says that he showed a preference for courage over discretion.
Euripides, Phoenician Women 1067–1201Fifth episode: a Messenger describes the seven gates and the Argive assaultA Messenger tells Jocasta that both sons are still alive and that the city is safe. He tells how Menoeceus died on the turret and how Eteocles posted seven companies at the gates. He describes the Argive leaders, the shield devices and the first assault, and how Capaneus was struck by a thunderbolt as he climbed the wall.
Euripides, Suppliants 837–917Fourth episode: Adrastus praises the seven fallen chiefsTheseus says that he had meant to ask Adrastus about the battle, but that he can leave it, and asks him to tell him the character of each of the fallen. Adrastus describes them one by one, among them Capaneus struck by Zeus' bolt, Eteocles, Parthenopaeus, the son of Atalanta, and Tydeus, and says that they should be a model for the young.
Euripides, Phoenician Women 88–144Prologue: Antigone and the old servant watch the Argive army from the roofThe old servant brings Antigone to the roof of the palace, so that she may see the Argive army camped by the Ismenus. He names the leaders Hippomedon and Tydeus as they march past, and Antigone comments on their armor.

Diodorus Siculus (2)

Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.64.1–4.66.6Oedipus, the Seven against Thebes and the EpigoniLaïus is killed by his unknown son Oedipus, who solves the riddle of the Sphinx and, unknowingly marrying his mother, has two sons and two daughters; the sons quarrel over the throne. Polyneices gathers an army against Thebes and Eriphyle, bribed with the necklace of Harmonia, sends Amphiaraüs to his death; the Seven fail, and the Athenians force the Thebans to give up the dead. At the seer Teiresias' advice the Thebans leave the city for Tilphossaeum, and the Epigoni take and sack it, dedicating Teiresias' daughter Daphne to Delphi, where she is also called Sibylla.
Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, Books 4 to 6 (the Greek myths) 4.34.1–4.35.4Deianeira, Meleager and the Calydonian boarHeracles settles at Calydon and marries Deïaneira, daughter of Oeneus. The chapters tell of Meleager and the Calydonian boar: his love for Atalanta, his killing of Althaea's brothers, and his mother's curse, with Oeneus's remarriage to Periboea and the birth of Tydeus.

Pausanias (1)

Pausanias, Description of Greece 9.18.1–6Thebes: the road to Chalcis, the tombs of Melanippus, Tydeus, Oedipus' children, Tiresias and HectorPausanias follows the road from Thebes to Chalcis by the Proetidian gate, noting the grave of Melanippus and three unwrought stones said to mark Tydeus. He describes the tombs of the children of Oedipus, where the flame and smoke of the sacrifices are said to divide, and the cenotaph of Tiresias. At Thebes he also notes the grave of Hector, whose bones were brought from Ilium by an oracle, the fountain of Oedipus and the grave of Asphodicus.

Quintus Smyrnaeus (7)

Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 4.1–117Glaucus carried to Lycia; Thetis sets the gamesThe Trojans lay Glaucus on his pyre, but Apollo snatches him away to Lycia, where the Nymphs make a spring that bears his name. The Argives go on mourning Achilles, and in heaven Hera reproaches Zeus for favouring Troy while he sits silent. At dawn Diomedes urges an attack, but Aias says they must wait for Thetis, who now comes out of the sea to set out the prizes for the funeral games.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 4.215–322Funeral games: wrestlingDiomedes and the great Aias wrestle, and Diomedes at last throws his huge rival. They stop, embrace and receive prizes from Thetis. Idomeneus offers himself for the boxing and Thetis sets out the prize, but at first no one will fight him until Nestor shames the Argives.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 1.227–352Penthesileia's onslaughtPenthesileia kills Molion, Persinous, Eilissus, Antitheus and many more, and rides others down beneath her horse. Slaughter, Doom and the Fates move through the fight beside her. She breaks through the Argive ranks like a tigress, striking with her halberd and her javelin.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 1.766–830Diomedes and Thersites; the Amazons buriedDiomedes, a kinsman of Thersites, is the only Argive angry at his death, and the two heroes are on the point of fighting before their comrades reconcile them. The Atreidae give Penthesileia's body and arms back to Priam, who buries her with her horse beside Laomedon's tomb and buries her Amazons beside her. The Argives raise a mound for Podarces, throw Thersites into a pit, and feast with Achilles.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 6.1–115Calchas sends for NeoptolemusAt an assembly Menelaus laments the slain and proposes that the Argives sail home. Calchas answers that victory is at hand and that Tydeus' son and Odysseus must fetch Achilles' son from Scyros. Menelaus asks Odysseus to go, and the assembly breaks up for its meal.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 7.292–430Neoptolemus leaves ScyrosLycomedes blesses his grandson and Deidameia is left alone in her grief, as a swallow over her empty nest. Neoptolemus strides to the ship, and the ship runs before a fair wind across the sea to the Trojan shore.
Quintus Smyrnaeus, The Fall of Troy (Posthomerica) 13.168–296The deaths of Priam and AstyanaxDiomedes kills Coroebus, who had hoped to marry Cassandra, and the aged Ilioneus, who begs for mercy in vain. Neoptolemus kills Pammon, Polites, Antiphonus and Agenor, and then beheads Priam at the altar of Zeus after Priam asks to die. The Argives throw Astyanax from a tower and drag Andromache into slavery, and only the house of Antenor is spared.