Strophius- Greek FigureMortal"King of Phocis"

The Protector King

Strophius ruled Phocis, a mountainous kingdom in central Greece that encompassed the sacred site of Delphi. He was the son of Crisus, whose dynasty had long controlled the region around the god's sanctuary. His marriage to Anaxibia, sister of Agamemnon and Menelaus, bound him to the royal house of Mycenae — a connection that would save Agamemnon's son when Mycenae turned against its king.

When Agamemnon was murdered by Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus upon his return from Troy, the young prince Orestes faced immediate danger. The usurpers could not allow the legitimate heir to survive and grow to manhood seeking vengeance. In Pindar's telling, it was the boy's old nurse Arsinoe who snatched him from the killers' hands; in other accounts Electra arranged the escape, smuggling her brother northward to the safety of Strophius's court in Phocis.

Guardian of the Prince

Strophius accepted the dangerous charge of sheltering his nephew, though harboring the prince risked Aegisthus's wrath. He raised the boy alongside his own son Pylades, treating them as brothers. The court lay far enough from Mycenae that Aegisthus could not easily strike, and the proximity to Apollo's sacred precinct at Delphi offered further protection — even a tyrant might hesitate to commit murder so close to the god's shrine.

Under Strophius's care, Orestes grew from a traumatized child into a capable young warrior, trained in arms and horsemanship, prepared for the day he might reclaim his birthright. The bond that formed between Orestes and Pylades in those years would sustain both through matricide and the pursuit of the Furies. When Orestes finally departed Phocis to avenge his father, Pylades went with him — and Strophius let his own son walk into danger.