Alcmaeon’s Family Tree

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Family

• Amphiaraus(parent),Eriphyle(parent),Amphilochus(sibling)— Marriage

  Amphiaraus married Eriphyle, sister of King Adrastus, to end a feud over the Argive throne. Their sons Alcmaeon and Amphilochus both fought with the Epigoni, and Alcmaeon later killed Eriphyle to avenge his father's death.

Allied with

• Amphilochus

  Amphilochus and Alcmaeon, sons of Amphiaraus, fought together with the Epigoni against Thebes. After their victory, Alcmaeon killed their mother Eriphyle to avenge their father.

Enemy of

• Erinyes

  The Erinyes pursued Alcmaeon with madness after he killed his mother Eriphyle, driving him to wander Greece in search of purification from the blood guilt of matricide.

Slew

• Eriphyle

  Alcmaeon killed his mother Eriphyle to avenge the death of his father Amphiaraus, who had charged his sons with this duty before departing for Thebes.

Member of

• Epigoni

  Alcmaeon led the Epigoni as commander of the second expedition against Thebes. After the city's fall, he fulfilled his father Amphiaraus's dying command by killing his mother Eriphyle.

Associated with

• Achelous

  Achelous purified Alcmaeon of his matricide and gave him his daughter Callirrhoe in marriage. Alcmaeon settled on newly formed alluvial land at the Achelous's mouth, fulfilling the oracle's condition.

• Apollo

  Apollo's oracle at Delphi directed Alcmaeon to kill his mother Eriphyle and later guided him to seek purification at land that did not exist when the matricide was committed.

• Necklace of Harmonia

  Alcmaeon took the Necklace of Harmonia after killing his mother Eriphyle. His attempts to give it to successive wives led to his own murder, and his sons finally dedicated it at Delphi.

• Phegeus

  Phegeus, king of Psophis, purified Alcmaeon of his mother's blood and gave him his daughter Arsinoe in marriage. Phegeus's sons later killed Alcmaeon when he returned to reclaim the Necklace of Harmonia.