Amaleus
Artemis and Apollo kill the fleeing Niobids, Roman fresco from Pompeii, 1st c. BC - 1st c. AD
In-universe information
GenderMale
TitlePrince
Relatives
HomelandThebes

In Greek mythology, Amaleus (Ancient Greek: Ἀμαλεύς, romanized: Amaleus) is the name of the oldest of the Niobids, the twelve or fourteen children of Amphion, king of Thebes, by his wife Queen Niobe.[1] Although the Niobids are primarily notable for the myth of Niobe's blasphemous boast against the goddess Leto, Amaleus has a unique appearance of his own in myth, where an attempt on his life was made by his aunt, Aëdon.[2]

Etymology

The ancient Greek Ἀμαλεύς might be connected to Greek ἀμαλός, meaning 'soft'.[3][4] A son of Amphion named Ὁμολωεύς appears as an eponym on a scholium on Euripides.[4]

Mythology

Aëdon

Amaleus had many siblings and only one cousin, Itylus, the son of his uncle Zethus by his wife, Aëdon. All the Niobids but especially Amaleus got along greatly with cousin Itylus; the two boys slept together in the same room and, in some accounts, bed. However Aëdon deeply resented Niobe for having borne so many children while she only had one, so she conceived a plan to kill Amaleus, who was the firstborn child.[5][6] She instructed Itylus to sleep in the back of the room, or in the innermost position of the bed that night, but Itylus forgot about his mother's orders. So that night when Aëdon crept up into the room wielding a dagger and planning to murder Amaleus, she ended up killing her own child Itylus instead.[7][8][9][10][11][12][4][13]

Niobe's boast

Amaleus's mother Niobe was exceedingly proud of the vast progeny she had produced for her husband. In the most known narrative concerning Niobe and her children, she boasted of being a greater mother than the goddess Leto, for she had many children, while Leto only had two. Leto informed her two children, the archer gods Artemis and Apollo, and they took the matter in their own hands; they slew all the Niobids. It was said that the boys, whom Apollo slew, were killed while they were hunting in the woods. Their father, Amphion, committed suicide at the sight of the lifeless bodies of his sons, or was slain by Apollo while storming his temple in protest. Niobe herself would be transformed into rock following the slaying of the daughters.[14][15][16][17][18][19] In a rarer version, Niobe's father, named Asson instead, fell in love with Niobe, but she would not yield to his incestuous embraces, so he invited all her children to a banquet and burnt them all to death in revenge.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ἀμαλεύς". logeion.uchicago.edu. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  2. ↑ Hadjopoulos 2003, p. 40.
  3. ↑ "ἀμαλός". morphologica_el.en-academic.com. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 Thraemer 1894, s.v. Amaleus.
  5. ↑ Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth (2006). "Pandareus". referenceworks.brillonline.com/subjects. Brill's New Pauly. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  6. ↑ Wright, Rosemary M. "A Dictionary of Classical Mythology: Summary of Transformations". mythandreligion.upatras.gr. University of Patras. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2023.
  7. ↑ Eustathius of Thessalonica, On Homer's Odyssey 19.710
  8. ↑ Scholiast on the Odyssey 19.518
  9. ↑ Levaniouk 2011, pp. 328–353.
  10. ↑ Hansen 2002, p. 303.
  11. ↑ Bell 1991, s.v. Aedon 1.
  12. ↑ Stoll 1886, s.v. Amaleus.
  13. ↑ Grimal 1987, p. 15.
  14. ↑ Homer, Iliad 24.603
  15. ↑ Diodorus Siculus, Library of History 4.74.3
  16. ↑ Ovid, Metamorphoses 6.146-6.255
  17. ↑ Apollodorus 3.5.6
  18. ↑ Hyginus, Fabulae 9
  19. ↑ Pausanias 2.21.9
  20. ↑ Parthenius, Suffering in Love 33

Bibliography

  • Media related to Amaleus at Wikimedia Commons
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