Eriphyle

Eriphyle is a shadowy figure from the generation before the Trojan War, whose single, decisive act of treachery earns her a place in Odysseus's catalogue of famous women he encounters during his journey to the underworld. She is not a character who appears in the poem's main action but rather a name invoked to illustrate the destructive power of greed and betrayal, especially when it comes from within a family. Her story functions as a dark counterpoint to the loyalty of Penelope and as a warning about the chaos that follows when the bonds of marriage are broken for material gain.

Identity and Background

Eriphyle is identified in the Odyssey only through her infamous deed. She was the wife of the seer Amphiaraus, a hero of the generation before the Trojan War. Her name is listed among the wives and daughters of heroes whose ghosts gather around the trench of blood that Odysseus has dug in the land of the dead. The poet describes her simply as "hateful Eriphyle, who sold her own husband for gold." This single line encapsulates her entire identity in the epic: she is defined not by her lineage or her own actions in life, but by the single, catastrophic transaction that led to her husband's death. The phrase "sold her own husband" emphasizes the violation of the most sacred familial and marital bonds, reducing a human relationship to a commodity exchanged for wealth.

The Act of Betrayal

The specific crime for which Eriphyle is remembered is her acceptance of a bribe—traditionally a golden necklace—to persuade her husband Amphiaraus to join the expedition of the Seven Against Thebes. Amphiaraus, a prophet, knew that the campaign would be disastrous and that he himself would die in it. He therefore hid himself to avoid conscription. Eriphyle, however, was bribed by Polyneices, the leader of the expedition, to reveal her husband's hiding place. Bound by an oath he had made to her, Amphiaraus was forced to go to war, where he met his prophesied death. The Odyssey does not recount the full story of the Seven Against Thebes, but it alludes to it with the phrase "by reason of a woman's bribes" when describing the death of Eurypylus, son of Telephus, in the Trojan War. This parallel reinforces the theme that a woman's venality can lead to the destruction of great heroes. The act is presented as a complete inversion of proper wifely duty: instead of protecting her husband, Eriphyle actively conspired in his destruction for personal gain.

Narrative Role and Thematic Significance

Within the Odyssey, Eriphyle's story serves a clear moral and thematic purpose. She is one of several negative exemplars of female behavior that Odysseus recounts, forming a stark contrast with the faithful Penelope. The ghost of Agamemnon, in his bitter speech to Odysseus, explicitly warns him against trusting even his own wife, citing Clytemnestra's treachery as proof that "there is nothing in this world so cruel and so shameless as a woman when she has fallen into such guilt." Eriphyle belongs to this same category of treacherous wives. Her story reinforces the poem's deep anxiety about female fidelity and the stability of the household (oikos) during a husband's long absence. While Penelope weaves and unweaves her shroud to delay remarriage, Eriphyle accepts a bribe to send her husband to his death. The contrast could not be more pointed. Eriphyle's name is thus a shorthand for the ultimate betrayal of a wife, a warning that the domestic sphere, which should be a man's refuge, can become the source of his destruction if the woman within it is corrupted by greed. Her inclusion in the catalogue of the dead underscores that such crimes are remembered and judged, even if the punishment is not detailed within the Odyssey itself.