Pheres of Pherae

For other uses, see Pheres (mythology).

In Greek mythology, Pheres (Ancient Greek: Φέρης, Phéres, modern pronunciation Féris; Latin: Pheres) was the founder of Pherae in Thessaly.^[1][2]

Family

Pheres was the son of Cretheus, King of Iolcus and Tyro. He was the brother of Aeson and Amythaon. He fled from Iolcus after his half-brother, Pelias, seized the throne. Pheres married Periclymene, daughter of Minyas,^[3] and became the father of Admetus,^[4] Lycurgus,^[5] Eidomene (wife of Amythaon),^[6] Periopis (possible mother of Patroclus)^[7] and Antigona (mother of Asterius).^[3] Of them, Admetus was the husband of the famous Alcestis, who died in his stead and was rescued by Heracles, while Pheres, despite his old age, would not do the same for his son.^[8]

Mythology

In Aeschylus' Eumenides Pheres is mentioned by the Chorus of Erinyes of Clytemnestra. The Erinyes were the avengers for the mother-blood Orestes spilled by ordering of Apollo. The Chorus leader argues with Apollo over the just sentence Athena and her panel of judges are about to speak.

Chorus Leader:	You honor bloody crimes that aren't your business. Your oracles will never now be pure.
Apollo:	So Zeus made a mistake when Ixion, the first to kill, appealed to him for help?
Chorus Leader:	You said it, I didn't. But if I don't get justice, I will come back to crush this land forever.
Apollo:	How so? You have no honor among the gods, young or old. I will win this case.
Chorus Leader:	You did the same thing too, in Pheres' house: you persuaded the Fates to let men hide from death.
Apollo:	Is it unjust to treat someone so kindly, someone so pious, in his time of need?'^[9]

Notes

1. Apollodorus, 1.9.11&14
2. Tzetzes on Lycophron, 175
3. Hyginus, Fabulae 14
4. Apollodorus, 1.8.2; 1.9.14; 1.9.16 & 3.10.4
5. Apollodorus, 1.9.14
6. Apollodorus, 1.9.11
7. Apollodorus, 3.13.8
8. Euripides, Alcestis
9. Aeschylus, Eumenides, 711-731

References

• Aeschylus, translated in two volumes. 2. Eumenides by Herbert Weir Smyth, Ph.D. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press. 1926. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Apollodorus, The Library with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, F.B.A., F.R.S. in 2 Volumes, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1921. ISBN 0-674-99135-4. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Euripides, Alcestis with an English translation by David Kovacs. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1994. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Greek text available from the same website.
• Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae from The Myths of Hyginus translated and edited by Mary Grant. University of Kansas Publications in Humanistic Studies. Online version at the Topos Text Project.