Amphiaraus

Amphiaraus is a seer and warrior of Argos, a figure from the generation before the Trojan War whose story is embedded in the Odyssey as part of the lineage of the prophet Theoclymenus and as a cautionary example of a man betrayed by a woman's greed. His fate, recounted by Theoclymenus to Telemachus, serves as a dark parallel to the dangers that lurk within the house of Odysseus, and his name is also invoked in the context of the bow of Iphitus, linking him to the network of heroic friendships and tragic deaths that surround Odysseus's own story.

Lineage and Prophetic Heritage

Amphiaraus was the son of Oicleus, and thus a descendant of the great seer Melampus. Melampus had two sons, Antiphates and Mantius; Antiphates became the father of Oicleus, who in turn fathered Amphiaraus. Amphiaraus himself was "dearly loved both by Jove and by Apollo," a mark of divine favor that underscored his prophetic gifts. His sons were Alcmaeon and Amphilochus. The mantle tradition continued through his brother Mantius's line, which produced Polypheides, who became the greatest seer of his age after Amphiaraus's death, and then Polypheides's son, Theoclymenus, the very man who tells Telemachus this genealogy. This lineage establishes Amphiaraus as a central figure in a hereditary chain of prophecy that stretches from the heroic past into the present of the Odyssey's narrative.

Death and the Cause

Amphiaraus did not live to old age; he was killed in Thebes. The cause of his death is explicitly attributed to "a woman's gifts," a phrase that carries the weight of betrayal and corruption. This is a reference to the story of Eriphyle, who was bribed with a golden necklace to persuade her husband, Amphiaraus, to join the doomed expedition of the Seven Against Thebes, even though he foresaw his own death. The phrase "by reason of a woman's bribes" directly links his destruction to the same kind of treacherous female influence that haunts the house of Atreus and that Odysseus himself is warned against by the ghost of Agamemnon. His death is thus a paradigm of how a hero's foresight can be rendered useless by the corruption of those closest to him.

Connection to Odysseus's Bow

Amphiaraus is also indirectly connected to the great bow of Odysseus. The bow was a gift from Iphitus, son of Eurytus, to Odysseus. Iphitus had met Odysseus in Messene, where both were seeking to recover stolen livestock. Iphitus gave Odysseus the bow that had belonged to his father, Eurytus, who was himself a famed archer. The narrative notes that Iphitus was killed by Hercules, his host, who "feared not heaven's vengeance, nor yet respected his own table." This act of violating xenia, the sacred law of hospitality, is the same crime for which the suitors are destroyed. The bow, therefore, carries with it the memory of a friendship cut short by treachery, and its presence in Odysseus's house is a silent testament to the theme of violated trust that runs throughout the poem. Amphiaraus, as a figure from the same generation of heroes, belongs to the world of these interconnected fates.

Narrative Role and Significance

Amphiaraus functions in the Odyssey as a figure of tragic foresight and inevitable doom. His story, told by Theoclymenus, serves to establish the latter's prophetic credentials and to create an atmosphere of impending judgment. Theoclymenus, as a descendant of this prophetic line, is able to see the omens of the suitors' destruction that are invisible to others. Amphiaraus's fate also reinforces a central theme of the poem: that even the wisest and most favored of men can be brought low by the treachery of others, particularly by the corruption of women and the violation of sacred bonds. His death in Thebes, caused by a bribe, prefigures the destruction of the suitors, who are also undone by their own greed and their violation of the laws of hospitality and marriage.