User:Paul August/Thoas (king of Aetolia)

Thoas (king of Aetolia)

Sources

Ancient

Apollodorus

1.8.1

Reigning over Calydon, Oeneus ... married Althaea, daughter of Thestius, and begat Toxeus, ... and a daughter Gorge, whom Andraemon married,

1.8.6

But the sons of Agrius, to wit, Thersites, Onchestus, Prothous, Celeutor, Lycopeus, Melanippus, wrested the kingdom from Oeneus and gave it to their father, and more than that they imprisoned Oeneus in his lifetime and tormented him.1 Nevertheless Diomedes afterwards came secretly with Alcmaeon from Argos and put to death all the sons of Agrius, except Onchestus and Thersites, who had fled betimes to Peloponnese; and as Oeneus was old, Diomedes gave the kingdom to Andraemon who had married the daughter of Oeneus,

3.10.9

Seeing the multitude of them, Tyndareus feared that the preference of one might set the others quarrelling; but Ulysses promised that, if he would help him to win the hand of Penelope, he would suggest a way by which there would be no quarrel. And when Tyndareus promised to help him, Ulysses told him to exact an oath from all the suitors that they would defend the favoured bridegroom against any wrong that might be done him in respect of his marriage. On hearing that, Tyndareus put the suitors on their oath,1 and while he chose Menelaus to be the bridegroom of Helen, he solicited Icarius to bestow Penelope on Ulysses.

E.3.12

Of the Aetolians, Thoas, son of Andraemon and Gorge: he brought forty ships.

E.7.40

And there are some who say that Ulysses, being accused by the kinsfolk of the slain, submitted the case to the judgment of Neoptolemus, king of the islands off Epirus; that Neoptolemus, thinking to get possession of Cephallenia if once Ulysses were put out of the way, condemned him to exile;¹ and that Ulysses went to Aetolia, to Thoas, son of Andraemon, married the daughter of Thoas, and leaving a son Leontophonus, whom he had by her,² died in old age.

¹ Compare Plut. Quaest. Graec. 14. According to Plutarch's account, the kinsmen of the slain suitors rose in revolt against Ulysses; but Neoptolemus, being invited by both parties to act as arbitrator, sentenced Ulysses to banishment for bloodshed, and condemned the friends and relatives of the suitors to pay an annual compensation to Ulysses for the damage they had done to his property. The sentence obliged Ulysses to withdraw not only from Ithaca, but also from Cephallenia and Zacynthus; and he retired to Italy. The compensation exacted from the heirs of the suitors was paid in kind, and consisted of barley groats, wine, honey, olive oil, and animal victims of mature age. This payment Ulysses ordered to be made to his son Telemachus.

² These last recorded doings of Ulysses appear to be mentioned by no other ancient writer.

Catalogue of Women

fr. 154 Most

154 (196 + 197 + 198 + 199 + 200 MW; 104 + 105 + 106 + 108 + 109 H)

...

c 1–11: P.Berol. 9739 col. III; 6–16: P. Oxy. 2491 fr. 1

c 1–11: Berlin papyrus; 6–16: Oxyrhynchus papyrus

...

fr. 154c.9–11 Most [= Hes. fr. 198.18–30 MW]

From the Aetolians wooed [Helen] Thoas, son of [Andraemon, [Line 9/28]

godly son of Aretiades; [he offered countless] wedding gifts,

many silver-white sheep and rolling-footed curving-horned oxen; for he wanted [

(traces of four lines, then about seventeen lines missing)

fr. 155 Most [= Hes. fr. 204 MW]

155 (204 MW; 110 H) P. Berol. 10560; 124: Epim. Hom. α 361 Dyck (cum apparatu); Etymol. Gen. s.v. ἠμύω καὶ ἤμυσεν; 128–31: P. Oxy. 2504

155 Berlin papyrus; 124: Homeric Parsings and the Etymologicum Genuinum; 128–31: Oxyrhynchus papyrus

(about forty lines missing or present only as exiguous traces)

fr. 155.76–85 Most [= Hes. fr. 204.76–85 MW]

] for the sake of the maiden 76 (38)

][

he asked all the suitors for reliable oaths (40)

and he ordered them to swear and [ ] to vow

with a libation, that no one other than himself should make other plans 80

regarding the fair-armed maiden’s marriage; any man

who would seize her by force, and set aside indignation and shame,

he commanded all of them together to set out against him (45)

to exact punishment. They swiftly obeyed,

all hoping to fulfill the marriage themselves; ... 85

Homer

Iliad

2.638–644

And the Aetolians were led by Thoas, Andraemon's son, even they that dwelt in Pleuron and Olenus and Pylene and Chalcis, hard by the sea, and rocky Calydon. For the sons of great-hearted Oeneus were no more, neither did he himself still live, and fair-haired Meleager was dead, to whom had commands been given that he should bear full sway among the Aetolians. And with Thoas there followed forty black ships.

4.527–535

But as the other sprang back Thoas of Aetolia smote him with a cast of his spear in the breast above the nipple, and the bronze was fixed in his lung; and Thoas came close to him, and plucked forth from his chest the mighty spear, [530] and drew his sharp sword and smote him therewith full upon the belly, and took away his life. Howbeit of his armour he stripped him not, for about him his comrades, men of Thrace that wear the hair long at the top, stood with long spears grasped in their hands, and for all that he was great and mighty and lordly, [535] drave him back from them, so that he reeled and gave ground.

7.161–169

So the old man [Nestor] chid them, there stood up nine in all. Upsprang far the first the king of men, Agamemnon, and after him Tydeus' son, mighty Diomedes, and after them the Aiantes, clothed in furious valour, [165] and after them Idomeneus and Idomeneus' comrade Meriones, the peer of Enyalius, slayer of men, and after them Eurypylus, the glorious son of Euaemon; and upsprang Thoas, son of Andraemon, and goodly Odysseus; all these were minded to do battle with goodly Hector. [170]

13.89–98

But the Shaker of Earth, [90] lightly passing among them, aroused their strong battalions. To Teucer first he came and to Leïtus, to bid them on, and to the warrior Peneleos, and Thoas and Deïpyrus, and Meriones and Antilochus, masters of the war-cry; to these he spake, spurring them on with winged words: [95] “Shame, ye Argives, mere striplings! It was in your fighting that I trusted for the saving of our ships; but if ye are to flinch from grievous war, then of a surety hath the day now dawned for us to be vanquished beneath the Trojans.

13.213–235

but Idomeneus had given charge to the leeches, and was going to his hut, for he was still fain to confront the battle; [215] and the lord, the Shaker of Earth, spake to him, likening his voice to that of Andraemon's son Thoas, that in all Pleuron and steep Calydon was lord over the Aetolians, and was honoured of the folk even as a god:“Idomeneus, thou counsellor of the Cretans, where now I pray thee, [220] are the threats gone, wherewith the sons of the Achaeans threatened the Trojans?” And to him Idomeneus, leader of the Cretans, made answer:“O Thoas, there is no man now at fault, so far as I wot thereof; for we are all skilled in war. Neither is any man holden of craven error, [225] nor doth any through dread withdraw him from evil war, but even thus, I ween, must it be the good pleasure of the son of Cronos, supreme in might, that the Achaeans should perish here far from Argos, and have no name. But, Thoas, seeing that aforetime thou wast ever staunch in fight, and dost also urge on another, wheresoever thou seest one shrinking from fight, [230] therefore now cease thou not, but call to every man.” And Poseidon, the Shaker of Earth, answered him: “Idomeneus, never may that man any more return home from Troy-land, but here may he become the sport of dogs, whoso in this day's course of his own will shrinketh from fight. [235] Up then, take thine harness and get thee forth: herein beseems it that we play the man together, in hope there may be help in us, though we be but two. Prowess comes from fellowship even of right sorry folk, but we twain know well how to do battle even with men of valour.”

15.280

then were they seized with fear, and the spirits of all men sank down to their feet.

15.281–300

Then among them spake Thoas, son of Andraemon, far the best of the Aetolians, well-skilled in throwing the javelin, but a good man too in close fight, and in the place of assembly could but few of the Achaeans surpass him, when the young men were striving in debate. [285] He with good intent addressed their gathering, and spake among them: “Now look you, verily a great marvel is this that mine eyes behold, how that now he is risen again and hath avoided the fates, even Hector. In sooth the heart of each man of us hoped that he had died beneath the hands of Aias, son of Telamon. [290] But lo, some one of the gods hath again delivered and saved Hector, who verily hath loosed the knees of many Danaans, as, I deem, will befall even now, since not without the will of loud-thundering Zeus doth he stand forth thus eagerly as a champion. Nay come, even as I shall bid, let us all obey. [295] The multitude let us bid return to the ships, but ourselves, all we that declare us to be the the best in the host, let us take our stand, if so be we first may face him, and thrust him back with our outstretched spears; methinks, for all his eagerness he will fear at heart to enter into the throng of the Danaans.” [300] So spake he, and they readily hearkened and obeyed.

19.238–241

He [Odysseus] spake, and took to him the sons of glorious Nestor, and Meges, son of Phyleus, and Thoas and Meriones and Lycomedes, [240] son of Creon, and Melanippus; and they went their way to the hut of Agamemnon, son of Atreus.

Odyssey

4.242–249

even all the labours of Odysseus of the steadfast heart; but what a thing was this which that mighty man wrought and endured in the land of the Trojans, where you Achaens suffered woes! Marring his own body with cruel blows, [245] and flinging a wretched garment about his shoulders, in the fashion of a slave he entered the broad-wayed city of the foe, and he hid himself under the likeness of another, a beggar, he who was in no wise such an one at the ships of the Achaeans. In this likeness he entered the city of the Trojans, and all of them were but as babes.

14.494–501

“With this he raised his head upon his elbow, and spoke, saying: [495] ‘Hear me, friends; a dream from the gods came to me in my sleep. Lo, we have come very far from the ships, and I would that there were one to bear word to Agamemnon, son of Atreus, shepherd of the host, in the hope that he might bid more men to come from the ships.’ “So he spoke, and Thoas, son of Andraemon, sprang up [500] quickly, and from him flung his purple cloak, and set out to run to the ships.

Hyginus

Fabulae

81

[Grant:] § 81 SUITORS OF HELEN: Antilochus, ... Thoas, ...

97

[12] ... Thoas, the son of Andraemon and Gorgis, <from Pleuron, 20 ships.

[Grant:] § 97 THOSE WHO WENT TO ATTACK TROY, AND THE NUMBER OF THEIR SHIPS: Agamemnon, son of Atreus and Aerope, from Mycenae, with a hundred ships; ... Thoas, son of Andrawmon and gorges, from Tytus, with 15 ships.. . . Podarces, his brother, from the same place, with 10 ships. ...

108

[Grant:] § 108 TROJAN HORSE: Since the Achaeans during ten years were not able to take Troy, Epeus at Minerva's suggestion made a wooden horse of remarkable size, and in it were gathered Menelaus, Ulysses, Diomedes, Thessander, Sthenelus, Acamas, Thoas, Machaon, Neoptolemus. On the horse they wrote: "The Danaan give it as a gift to Minerva", and moved camp to Tenedos. When the Trojans saw this, they thought the enemy had gone away; Priam ordered he horse to be brought to the citadel of Minerva, and gave a proclamation that they celebrate magnificently. When the prophetess Cassandra kept insisting that there were enemies within, they did not believe her. They put it in the citadel, and at night when they slept, overcome by sport and wine, the Achaeans came out of the horse which had been opened by Sinon, killed the guards at the gates, and at a given signal admitted their friends. Thus they gained possession of Troy.

114

[Grant:] § 114 SLAYERS ON THE ACHAEAN SIDE AND HOW MANY THEY SLEW: Achilles to the number of 72; Antilochus, 2; Protesilaus, 4; Peneleus, 2; Eurypylus, 1; Ajax, son of Oileus, 14; Thoas, 2; Leitus, 20; Thrasymedes, 2; Agamemnon, 16; Diomedes, 18; Menelaus, 8; Philoctetes, 3; Meriones, 7; Ulysses, 12; Idomeneus, 13; Leonteus, 5; Telamonian Ajax, 28; Patroclus, 54; Polypoetes, 1; Teucer, 30; Neoptolemus, 6; total, 362.

Little Iliad

fr. 8 West

8 Schol. Lyc. 780

8 Scholiast on Lycophron 780

The writer of the Little Iliad says that Odysseus was wounded by Thoas when they went up to Troy.³⁸

³⁸ That is, he allowed himself to be wounded for the sake of his disguise. On this escapade see Odyssey 4.242–264.

Lycophron

Alexandra

790

For not alien stripes but the liberal seal of Thoas^g shall remain upon his [Odysseus'] sides, engraved with rods: stripes which he, our destroyer, shall consent without a murmur to have engraved upon him, putting the voluntary weal upon his frame, that he may insnare the foemen, with spying wounds and with tears deceiving our king.^h

^g In order to enter Troy as a spy Odysseus got himself beaten and wounded by Thoas by way of disguise (Il. Parv. Kinkel, p. 42). Cf. Homer, Odyssey, iv. 244 ff.

^h Priam.

1011

And him,^d again, who won the second prize for beauty, and the boar leader^e from the streams of Lycormas,^f the mighty son of Gorge,^g on the one hand the Thracian blasts, falling on taut sails, shall carry to the sands of Libya; on the other hand from Libya again the blast of the South wind shall carry them to the Argyrini^h and the glades of Ceraunia,ⁱ shepherding the sea with grievous hurricane.

^d Nireus (Hom. Il. ii. 671 ff.).

^e Thoas.

^f =Evenus in Aetolia (Strabo 451).

^g Daughter of Oeneus.

^h In Epirus (Steph. B.).

ⁱ Mountain in Epirus.

^j i.e. the Auas or Aoüs (Strabo 271, 316).

Pausanias

5.3.6

Cresphontes inferred that this was the man indicated by the oracle, and so the Dorians made him one of themselves. He urged them to descend upon the Peloponnesus in ships, and not to attempt to go across the Isthmus with a land army. Such was his advice, and at the same time he led them on the voyage from Naupactus to Molycrium. In return they agreed to give him at his request the land of Elis. The man was Oxylus, son of Haemon, the son of Thoas. This was the Thoas who helped the sons of Atreus to destroy the empire of Priam, and from Thoas to Aetolus the son of Endymion are six generations.

10.38.5

The city is beautifully constructed, and its most notable objects are the tomb of Amphissa and the tomb of Andraemon. With him was buried, they say, his wife Gorge, daughter of Oeneus. On the citadel of Amphissa is a temple of Athena, with a standing image of bronze, brought, they say, from Troy by Thoas, being part of the spoils of that city. But I cannot accept the story.

Plutarch

Greek Questions

14

...After the slaughter of the suitors the relatives of the dead men rose up against Odysseus; but Neoptolemus was sent for by both parties to act as arbiter.¹ He adjudged that Odysseus should depart from the country and be exiled for homicide from Cephallenia, Zacynthus, and Ithaca ; and that the [p. 193] companions and the relatives of the suitors should recompense Odysseus each year for the injuries which they had done to his estate. Odysseus accordingly departed to Italy; ...

¹ Cf. Apollodorus, Epitome, vii. 40.

Quintus Smyrnaeus

12.314–318

Into that cavernous Horse Achilles' son

First entered, strong Menelaus followed then,

...

Thoas and ...

Strabo

6.1.5

The next city after Laüs belongs to Brettium, and is named Temesa, though the men of today call it Tempsa; it was founded by the Ausones, but later on was settled also by the Aetolians under the leadership of Thoas;

Virgil

Aeneid 2.262

Sinon then,

whom wrathful Heaven defended in that hour,

let the imprisoned band of Greeks go free

from that huge womb of wood; the open horse

restored them to the light; and joyfully

emerging from the darkness, one by one,

princely Thessander, Sthenelus, and dire

Ulysses glided down the swinging cord.

Closely upon them Neoptolemus,

the son of Peleus, came, and Acamas,

King Menelaus, Thoas and Machaon,

Modern

Gantz

p. 334

In the Iliad's Catalogue of Ships we do find that one Thoas, son of Andraimon, commands the Aitolian contingent because no sons are left to Oineus (Il 2.638).

p. 565

In the Ehoiai, at any rate, there was an extremely detailed report of the wooing ... (Hes frr 196-204 MW) ... As to the names of the aspirants, the fragments offer the following: Odysseus; Thoas, son of Andraimon; ...

p. 609

This concludes the list of major figures ... but Homer includes the minor leaders of a number of other contingents whom we should note here: ... from Aitolia, Thos, son of Andraimon, with forty ships (Il 2.638–644);

p. 713

Last there are some variants cited by Apollodorus (ApE 7.38-40) ... He then concludes his Bibliotheke (at least in our epitome) with version in which Odysseus is judged by Neoptolemos for the death of the suitors. Convicted by the latter (who hopes to get Kephallenia) he goes to Thoas, son of Andraimon, in Aitolia and, marrying his daughter begets a son Leontophonos, after which he dies. Plutarch also tells of Neoptolemos' judgement against Odysseus; he does not, however, mention any selfish motives for the exclusion from Ithaka, Kephalenia, and Zakynthos, and Odysseus here retires to Italy (Mor 294c-d). Of the union in Aitolia and a final son this is no other word.

p. cxv

Thoas, son of Andraimon, 334, 565, 609, 642, 713

Grimal

s.v. Thoas 4

In the Catalouge of ships, the Iliad mentions another Thoas, son of Andraemon, as leader of an Aetolian contingent. His mother was Gorge, one of the daughters of Oeneus and Althea, and thus one of the sisters of Meleager (Table 27). He was mentioned as one of Helen's suitors and, at the end of the war, one of the warriors inside the wooden horse. On his return from Troy, he settled in Italy, in the land of the Brutti according to sme sources, or, according to others, in Aetolia. ODYSSEUS took refuge with him when evicted from Ithica by Neoptolemus; he married his daughter, by whom he had a son called Leontophonus or the Lion-Slayer (Table 39). This Thoas did Odysseus the service of mutilating him to make him unrecognizable for one of his espionage operations.

p. 513

(4) Hom. Il. 2.638ff.; 4.527f.; 15.281ff.; Tzetzes on Lyc. Alex 780; Hesychius s.v.; Apollod. Bibl 1.8.6[?]; Hyg. Fab 81; 97; 114; Strabo 6.1.5 p. 255; Virgil, Aen 2.262; Apollod. Epit 7.40; Plutarch, Quaest. GR. 14.294c.

Hard

p. 419

When Oineus grew too old to retain proper control of his kingdom, some nephews of his, sons of Agrios, revolted against him to place their father on the throne; ... however his grandson Diomedes, ... transfered his kingdom to his son-in-law Andraimon ...¹¹¹

¹¹¹ Apollod. 1.8.6

Nothing is recorded of the birth an origin of ANDRAIMON, who succedded to the Calydonian throne, because he was married to Oineus' daughter Gorge. He was associated with Amphissa, the main city of Western Locris; indeed he was suppossed to have been bauried there in a tomb with his wife.¹¹⁵ His son THOAS appears in the Iliad as the leader of the Aetoilan contingent at Troy. Although mentioned occasionally in th epic as a respected chieftain, he does not stand out as a hero of individual character or achievement. In the Little Iliad, a later epic in the Trojan cycle, he inflicted wounds on Odysseus to make him unrecognizable when he made a secret incursion into Troy in the closing stages of the war (see p. 472); and he is listed among the warriors who hid in the Wooden Horse.¹¹⁷ He probably resumed power in Calydon after the war in the early tradition, although he was sometimes said to have settled abroad in Italy.¹¹⁸ According to local tradition [cont.]

¹¹⁵ Paus. 10.38.3

¹¹⁷ Little Iliad fr. 8 Davies; Verg. Aen. 2.262

¹¹⁸ E.g. Lyc. 1013ff.

p. 420

at Amphissa, the bronze temple-statue of Athena in the sanctuary on the Acropolis had been brought back from Troy by Thoas as part of the spoils of war.¹¹⁹ Apollodorus records a curious tale in which Odysseus is said to have taken refuge with Thoas after being exiled from his homeland for killing Penelope's suitors, and to have married an unnamed daughter of the king, who bore him a son called Leontophonos. Haimon, the son and successor of Thoas, was the father of Oxylos, who acted as guide to the Heraklids during their invasion of the Peloponnese (see p. 289). As a reward for his services, Oxylos asked to be granted the thrown of Elis, which had been ruled by his ancestors many generations earlier before the deparcher of Aitolos.

¹¹⁹ Paus. 10.38.3 [10.38.5?]

p. 440

According to a tradition that was already known to Stesichorusm and the author of the Hesiodic Catalogue, Tyndareos ... demanded that [the suitors] should all swear beforehand that they would come to the aid of the chosen suitor if he should be ... robbed of his wife. In one account ... .¹⁶ ...

The following suitors [of Helen] are named in the surviving fragments of the Hesiodic Catalogue: Menelaos, ... Thoas from Aetolia, and Odysseus.

¹⁶ Stes. 190; Hes. fr. 204.78-86, Eur. Iph. Aul. 51-65, Apollod. 3.10.9 (suggested by Odysseus).

p. 501

Many unorthodox acounts of the final years and ultimate fate of Odysseus and Penelope are recorded from later accounts. ... ; or Odysseus was sentenced to exile for having killed the suitors. and sought refuge at the court of Thoas in Aetolia (see pp. 419-20), where he married the king's daughter and fathered a son by her.

p. 741

Thoas, son of Andraimon, king of Calydon 419-20, 440, 501

Parada

s.v. Thoas 2

Leader of the Aetolians against Troy. Odysseus in exile came to him and married his daughter. King of Pleuron and Calydon.

•Andraemon 1 - Gorge 2.

••

••• Thoas 2's daughter +Haemon

1)SUITORS OF HELEN, 2)ACHAEN LEADERS, 3)WOODEN HORSE

G1Hyg.Fab.81. D. Apd.Ep.3.11ff.., Ep.7.40., Hom.Il. 13.216. G2.• •••Apd.Ep.3.11ff., Ep.7.40.

•••+Pau.5.3.6. G3.Hyg.Fab.108., Vir.Aen.2.262., QS.12.314ff.

Smith

s.v. Thoas 1

A son of Andraemon and Gorge, was king of Calydon and Pleuron, in Aetolia, and went with forty ships against Troy. (Hom. Il. 2.638, 4.529, 7.168, 13.216, 15.281; Paus. 5.3.5; Hygin. Fab. 97 ; Tzetz. ad Jycoph. 780, 1011 ; comp. Strab. vi. p.255 ; Paus. 10.38.3.)

Tripp

s.v. Thoas 3

A king of Aetolia. Thoas, son of Andraemon by Gorge, was descended from Oeneus. He led forty shipsloads of Aetolians to the Trojan War, where he proved himself both a good fighter and a good speaker. He was one of the few Greek leaders to return home unscathed. He had a son, Haemon, and an unamed daughter, whom he gave in marriage to Odysseus when the old adventurer came to Aetolia at the end of his life. A son, Leontophonus, was born of this marriage. Haemon's son Oxylus was the shrewd fellow who guided the Heraclids through the Pelponnesus and maneuvered himself onto the throne of Elis. [Homer, Iliad, 2.638-644, 4.527-532, 7.162-169, 13.214-238, 15.281-300; Apollodorus "Epitome" 3.12, 7.40; Pausanias 5.3.6]