EETION (king of Thebe)
Figure of myth · king of Thebe and father of Andromache
- Children
- Andromache, Podes
- Haunts and cult places
- Thebe
- In the sources
- 21 ancient passages
Eetion, the magnanimous king of the Cilicians, ruled the city of Thebe, which lay beneath the wooded mountain of Placus.1,2,3,4,5 His realm included the city of Chrysa, home to a temple of Apollo, and his dynasty was distinct from that headed by Mynes.6,7 In his earlier days, Eetion used a massive iron quoit for throwing, and his possessions included a golden cup that later passed to Menelaus.8,9
He raised his daughter Andromache from childhood, and she later married Hector, who had given many gifts to her father.1,3 The Greeks ravaged Thebe and carried away its spoils, including a harp given to Achilles and Chryseis, who was taken as booty for the Atrides.6,10,4
Paris shot an arrow that pierced Eetion's jaw, a wound from which the king died.11 Achilles killed Eetion during the sack of Thebe, plundered his possessions, and destroyed the city.8,9,1 Achilles burned the body in its armor and raised a barrow over the ashes, while mountain nymphs planted a grove of elms around the tomb.1 Andromache described her father as an ill-starred man who had fathered an ill-starred daughter.3
The codex facts behind this entry
Eetion is identified as the king of the Cilicians and the father of Andromache. Iliad 6 ¶30 +4
In the myths
Achilles killed Eetion, plundered his possessions, and destroyed the city of Thebe. Iliad 23 ¶61 +3 The Bacchiadae resolved to kill Eetion's newborn child after understanding an oracle that Eetion had received. Herodotus 5.92B.3 +1
