Chryseis- Greek FigureMortal
Also known as: Chrysēis, Astynomē, Χρυσηΐς, and Ἀστυνόμη
Description
Her father walked the shore in silence, clutching Apollo's golden staff, and prayed after Agamemnon spurned his ransom. The god answered with nine days of plague arrows — and so a priest's captured daughter became the catalyst of the Iliad.
Mythology & Lore
The Cause of the Plague
Chryseis, also called Astynome in later traditions, was the daughter of Chryses, a priest of Apollo who served at the god's temple in the town of Chryse near Troy. During the Greek raids on cities along the Trojan coast, she was captured and allotted to Agamemnon as his prize of honor.
Her father came to the Greek camp in supplication, wearing Apollo's sacred garlands and bearing the god's golden staff and a boundless ransom. He begged the assembled Greeks for his daughter's return. The army was willing, but Agamemnon refused harshly, threatening the old priest with violence if he ever came back. Chryses walked along the shore in silence and prayed to Apollo. The god heard and descended from Olympus in fury, his silver bow ringing as he shot plague-arrows into the camp. For nine days the pestilence raged, and funeral pyres burned day and night.
The Quarrel
On the tenth day, Achilles called an assembly. The seer Calchas, after securing Achilles' protection, revealed that Apollo's wrath would continue until Chryseis was returned without ransom. Agamemnon, furious at losing his prize, agreed — but declared he would take Briseis, Achilles's captive, in compensation. Achilles reached for his sword and might have killed the king on the spot, but Athena caught him by the hair and stayed his hand. He sheathed his blade and swore instead to fight no more for Agamemnon.
Return to Chryse
Odysseus was chosen to sail Chryseis back to her father at Chryse, taking twenty oarsmen and a hecatomb of cattle for Apollo. When the ship reached shore, Chryses came down to meet them and received his daughter with joy. The Greeks arranged the hecatomb around Apollo's altar, and the old priest raised his hands to the sky, praying the god to lift the plague as readily as he had sent it. Apollo heard, the pestilence ceased, and the pyres went cold. The company feasted and sang a paean to the Far-Shooter until sunset, then slept by the stern cables of their ship and sailed for the Greek camp at dawn.
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