Heroes

by Stephen Fry

  TELAMON King of Salamis. Son of Aeacus and Chiron’s daughter. Brother of Peleus. Comrade of Heracles. One of the Argonauts. Feuds with Calais and Zetes. Hunter of the Calydonian Boar. Slayer of Amazons. Sacker of Troy. Husband of Periboea and Hesione. Father of Ajax (by Periboea) and Teucer (by Hesione).

  THESEUS ‘The founder’. King of Athens. Son of Aethra and Aegeus and Poseidon. Stepson of Medea. Half-brother of Poseidon’s progeny and of Medus. Cousin of the Pallantidae. Kinsman of Atreus and Heracles. Husband of Antiope and Phaedra. Father of Hippolytus (by Antiope) and Acamas and Demophon (by Phaedra). Slayer of Cercyon, Molpadia, the Pallantidae, Periphetes, Procrustes, Sciron and Sinis. Expert and ruthless livestock wrangler: slaughterer (and eater) of the Crommyonian Sow; tamer (and sacrificer) of the Cretan Bull; slayer of the Minotaur; hunter of the Calydonian Boar; bane of centaurs. Smitten by Ariadne; then abandons her at the command of Dionysus. Shameful filial forgetfulness causes death of Aegeus. Bosom friend of Pirithous. Together, succeed in abducting Antiope and Helen; fail in abducting Persephone. Rescued from the underworld by Heracles. Exiled for his role in the deaths of Hippolytus and Phaedra. Killed by Lycomedes in a clifftop quarrel. Inventor of the pankration and bull-leaping; proficient in deep-sea diving. Unifier of Attica, laying the foundations of Athens’s historical greatness.

  THESSALUS Son of Jason and Medea. Brother of Mermerus and Pheres. Tutored by Chiron. Escapes maternal bloodbath that claims his brothers. Becomes ruler of Thessaly, the region named in his honour.

  THESTIADES Eurypylus, Evippus, Plexippus and Toxeus. Sons of Thestios. Brothers of Althaea, Hypermnestra and Leda. Uncles of Deianira and Meleager. Hunters of the Calydonian Boar. Slain by Meleager for their hopelessly regressive sexual politics.

  TIPHYS Son of Hagnias of Thespiae. Kinsman of Augeas. Joins the Argonauts. Helmsman of the Argo (succeeded by Ancaeus). Inventor of the sliding rowing seat. Navigates the Clashing Rocks. Succumbs to fever.

  TIRESIAS Aged seer of Thebes. Father of Historis. Gender temporarily reassigned by Hera, then permanently blinded by her. Bestowed with gift of prophecy by Zeus. Foretells fates of Heracles and Oedipus.

  TROS Founder king of Troy. Son of Dardanus. Grandson of Zeus and the Pleiad Electra. Father of Ganymede and Ilos. Grandfather of Laomedon. Recipient of magical horses from Zeus.

  TYNDAREUS King of Sparta. Brother of Hippocoön. Husband of Leda. Father of the Dioscuros Castor and Clytemnestra. Ousted from his throne by Hippocoön; later restored to it by Heracles.

  WOMEN

  ADMETE Teenage daughter of Eurystheus with a passion for Amazons.

  AETHRA Daughter of Pittheus. Briefly betrothed to Bellerophon. Mother of Theseus (by Aegeus and Poseidon). Carried off the Dioscuri in revenge for Theseus’s abduction of Helen. Freed after long service to Helen by Acamas and Demophon.

  AGAVE Daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. Sister of Autonoë, Ino, Polydorus and Semele. Aunt of Dionysus. Scion of a much-cursed house. Wife of Echion (one of the founding lords of Thebes). Mother of Pentheus. Driven mad by Dionysus; unwittingly helps tear apart Pentheus.

  ALCESTIS Daughter of Pelias. Sister of Acastus and the Peliades. Abets her sisters in mistakenly casseroling their father. Wife of Admetus. Their wedding night spoiled by Artemis’s snakes in their bed. Willingly dies to fulfil Apollo’s scheme to make Admetus immortal. Brought back from death by Heracles.

  ALCIMEDE Also known as Polymede. Granddaughter of Minyas. Cousin of Atalanta. Wife of Aeson. Mother of Jason and Promachus. Imprisoned with Aeson by Pelias. Either murdered by Pelias, or driven to murder-suicide with Aeson and Promachus by Pelias, while Jason absent on the quest for the Golden Fleece.

  ALCMENE Granddaughter of Perseus and Andromeda. Wife of Amphitryon, accidental slayer of her father Electryon. Later wife of Rhadamanthus. Mother of Heracles (by Zeus), and of Iphicles and Laonome (by Amphitryon).

  ALTHAEA Daughter of Thestios. Sister of Hypermnestra, Leda and the Thestiades. Wife of Oeneus. Mother of Meleager (perhaps by Ares) and of Deianira and the other Meleagrids. Attempts to forestall the future foretold for Meleager by the Fates. Ends up fulfilling the prophecy when she kills Meleager in revenge for his slaying the Thestiades, then hangs herself out of grief.

  ANDROMEDA Daughter of Cepheus and Cassiopeia. Offering to Cetus. Rescued and married by Perseus. Mother of Alcaeus, Electryon and Perses. Great-grandmother of Heracles. Catasterized.

  ANTIGONE Daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta. Sister of Eteocles, Ismene and Polynices. Scion of a much-cursed house. Accompanies Oedipus into exile. After his death returns to Thebes. Sentenced to death by Creon for trying to bury Polynices after he is killed fighting Eteocles. Hangs herself, causing her fiancé Haemon (son of Creon) to commit suicide.

  ANTIOPE Amazon princess. Daughter of Ares. Sister of Hippolyta. Abducted by Theseus and Pirithous. Becomes former’s wife and mother of his son Hippolytus. Slain by Amazons for betraying their way of life.

  ARETE Wife (and niece) of Alcinous. Kind-hearted and protective host of Jason, Medea and the Argonauts.

  ARIADNE Daughter of Minos II and Pasiphae. Sister of Androgeus, Deucalion and Phaedra. Half-sister of the Minotaur. Provides Theseus with the key to the labyrinth. Surrendered by him to Dionysus. Married to Dionysus, mother of his children. Restored to life by him and brought to live with her mother-in-law Semele on Olympus. Her wedding diadem catasterized as the Corona Borealis.

  ATLANTA ‘The coequal’. Daughter of Clymene and Schoeneus (or possibly Iasus). Cousin of Alcimede. Possibly niece of Ancaeus and kinsman of Jason. Exposed by an infant. Fostered by a she-bear; later raised by hunters. Votary (and devastating tool) of Artemis. Too much of a girl, in Jason’s view, to be an Argonaut. Too amazing, in Meleager’s view, not to be a Calydonian Boar hunter. Awarded the trophy for slaying the boar, with fatal consequences for the Thestiades and Meleager. Resists Schoeneus’s efforts to marry her off, before being outsmarted by Hippomenes. Mother (by Hippomenes) of Parthenopaeus. With Hippomenes, punished by Aphrodite for ingratitude, then transformed into a lioness by Cybele for involuntarily profaning her temple.

  AUTONOË Daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. Sister of Agave, Ino, Polydorus and Semele. Aunt of Dionysus and Pentheus. Scion of a much-cursed house. Wife of Aristaeus. Mother of Actaeon. Driven mad by Dionysus; helps unwittingly tear apart Pentheus.

  CAENIS Daughter of the Lapith chieftain Elatus. Sister of Polyphemus. Kinswoman of Asclepius. Violated by Poseidon. Transformed by him at her request into Caeneus.

  CASSIOPEIA Wife of Cepheus. Boastful mother of Andromeda. Catasterized.

  CHALCIOPE Daughter of Aeëtes and Idyia. Sister of Absyrtus and Medea. Wife of Phrixus. Mother of the Phrixides.

  CIRCE Enchantress with a penchant for making pets out of passing sailors. Daughter of Helios and the Oceanid Perseis. Sister of Aeëtes and Pasiphae. Curses Medea for murdering Absyrtus. In later traditions, member of a tragically romantic love triangle with the sea god Glaucus and Scylla.

  CLITE Wife of Cyzicus. Hangs herself in grief after Cyzicus is accidentally killed by Jason in night-time battle with the Argonauts.

  CLYMENE Daughter of Minyas. Wife of Schoeneus (or possibly Iasus). Mother of Atalanta, whom she allows her husband to expose as an infant.

  CREUSA Daughter of Creon of Corinth. Attracts the amorous attentions of Jason, who wishes to marry her. Attracts the murderous attentions of Medea, who agonizingly poisons her.

  DANAË Daughter of Acrisius. Mother (by Zeus) of Perseus. Wife of Dictys.

  DEIANIRA Daughter of Oeneus and Althaea. Sister of the other Meleagrids and Meleager. Niece of the Thestiades. Cousin of the Dioscuri. Saved from the attentions of Achelous by Heracles, whom she marries. Mother of five of his Heraclides, including Hyllus. Molested by Nessus. Out of jealousy of Iole, accidentally kills Heracles by making him wear Nessus’s shirt without washing the Lernaean Hydra blood out first. Kills herself with Heracles’s sword.

  ERIBOIA Athenian maiden. One of the tribute sent by Aegeus to the Minotaur. Defe
nded from Minos’s lust by Theseus.

  EUROPA Granddaughter of Poseidon and Libya and of Nilus and Nephele. Sister of Cadmus. Mother (by Zeus) of Minos I and Rhadamanthus.

  EURYDICE Beloved wife of Orpheus. Killed while trying to avoid the attentions of Aristaeus. Orpheus fails in his attempt to bring her back from the dead. Finally reunited with him after his death.

  EURYNOME Daughter of King Nisus of Megara. Favoured by Athena. Fancied by Hesiod. Husband of Glaucus of Corinth. Mother of Bellerophon and Deliades.

  GALANTHIS Friend and attendant of Alcmene. Turned into a weasel by Hera.

  HELEN Daughter of Zeus and Leda. Sister of the Dioscuros Polydeuces. Half-sister of the Dioscuros Castor and Clytemnestra, and of Zeus’s plethora of progeny. Abducted by Pirithous and Theseus. Rescued by the Dioscuri, who carry off Aethra to be her long-serving companion. Grows up to be a real man-killer.

  HELLE Daughter of Athamas and Nephele. Twin sister of Phrixus. Half-sister of Melicertes and Schoeneus. Cousin of Jason. Rescued from her stepmother Ino’s murderous plot by the golden ram. Tumbles from his back and drowns in the strait named the Hellespont after her.

  HESIONE Daughter of Laomedon. Brother of Priam. Offering to the Trojan Sea Monster. Rescued by Heracles. Spared during Heracles’ sack of Troy and given to Telamon. Mother (by Telamon) of Teucer.

  HIPPODAMIA Daughter of Oenomaus and the Pleiad Sterope. First prize in chariot race won by Pelops. Mother of Atreus, Nicippe, Pittheus and Thyestes. Forebear of a much-cursed house.

  HIPPOLYTA Queen of the Amazons. Daughter of Ares. Sister of Antiope. Possessor of marvellous jewelled girdle. Lover of Heracles and slain by him.

  HISTORIS Friend and attendant of Alcmene. Daughter of Tiresias.

  HYPSIPYLE Queen of Lemnos. Thought by some to be granddaughter of Dionysus and Ariadne. Lover of Jason, and mother of his sons Euneus and Thoas. After discovery she had spared her father from the massacre of Lemnian menfolk, fled the island with her sons. Captured by pirates and sold into slavery.

  INO Daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. Sister of Agave, Autonoë, Polydorus and Semele. Scion of a much-cursed house. Suckler of her infant nephew Dionysus. Wife of Athamas. Mother of Learchus and Melicertes. Attempts to murder her stepchildren Phrixus and Helle. Commits suicide. Transformed by Dionysus into the sea goddess Leucothea.

  IO First mortal woman beloved by Zeus. Transformed by him into a cow. Persecuted by the gadfly of Hera. Gives name to the Bosporus (Cow-Crossing).

  IOLE Daughter of Eurytus. Sister of Iphitus. First prize in an archery contest. Forbidden from marrying Heracles. Later enslaved by Heracles, igniting Deianira’s fatal jealousy.

  JOCASTA Granddaughter of Pentheus. Brother of Creon. Scion and forebear of a much-cursed house. Wife of Laius and (unwittingly) Oedipus. Mother (by Laius) of Oedipus, and (by Oedipus) of Antigone, Eteocles, Ismene and Polyneices.

  LEDA Daughter of Thestios. Sister of Althaea, Hypermnestra and the Thestiades. Wife of Tyndareus. Mother (by Tyndareus) of the Dioscuros Castor and Clytemnestra, and (by Zeus) of the Dioscuros Polydeuces and Helen.

  MEDEA Enchantress. Daughter of Aeëtes and Idyia. Granddaughter of Helios. Sister of Absyrtus and Chalciope. Mother (by Jason) of Mermerus, Pheres and Thessalus. Husband of Aegeus; mother (by him) of Medus; stepmother of Theseus. Devotee of Hecate. As punishment for neglecting Aphrodite struck with desire for Jason. Magically aids Jason to tame the Khalkotauroi, defeat the Spartoi, overpower the Colchian Dragon and take the Golden Fleece. Dismembers Absyrtus to delay Aeëtes’ of the Argonauts. Cursed by Circe. Mesmerizes Talos. Tricks the Peliades into killing Pelias. Takes refuge with Jason in Corinth. In jealous rage kills Creon of Corinth, Creusa, Mermerus and Pheres. Escapes retribution in Helios’s chariot. Takes refuge in Athens. Fails to secure the Athenian succession on Medus. Makes her escape in Helios’s chariot again. Believed to have returned to Colchis.

  MEGARA Daughter of Creon of Thebes. Wife of Heracles. Killed, along with her children, by him in fit of delusive rage. His Labours expiation for this crime.

  MELEAGRIDS Deianira, Eurymede, Gorge, Melanippe, Mothone and Perimede. Daughters of Oeneus and Althaea. Sisters of Meleager. Except for Deianira and Gorge, transformed into guinea fowl by Artemis.

  MEROPE Queen of Corinth. Childless wife of Polybus. Together they foster Oedipus and raise him as if their own son. After Polybus’s death, sends Straton to offer Oedipus the throne of Corinth.

  MOLPADIA Amazon. Merciful slayer of Antiope. Mercilessly slain by Theseus.

  NICIPPE Daughter of Pelops and Hippodamia. Sister of Atreus, Pittheus and Thyestes; half-sister of Chrysippus. Scion of a much-cursed house. Wife of Sthenelus. Mother of Eurystheus.

  OMPHALE Queen of Lydia. Widow of the mountain god Tmolus. Served by Heracles in expiation of his murder of Iphitus. Cross-dresser with, and lover of, Heracles.

  PASIPHAE Daughter of Helios and the Oceanid Perseis. Sister of Aeëtes and Circe. Wife of Minos II. Mother by him of Androgeus, Ariadne, Deucalion and Phaedra. Enamoured of the Cretan Bull. Mother by him of the Minotaur.

  PELIADES Alcestis, Alcimede, Antinoë, Asteropeia, Evadne, Hippothoë, Medusa, Pelopia and Pisidice. Gullible but doting daughters of Pelias. Tricked by Medea into casseroling their father.

  PHAEDRA Daughter of Minos II and Pasiphae. Sister of Androgeus, Ariadne and Deucalion. Half-sister of the Minotaur. Wife of Theseus. Mother of Acamas and Demophon. Driven mad (by Aphrodite) with desire for her stepson Hippolytus; then madder with revenge when rejected. Kills herself after actions lead to death of Hippolytus.

  PHILONOË Daughter of Iobates. Sister of Stheneboea. Develops crush on Bellerophon; later his wife.

  PYTHIA Also known as the Sibyl. Priestess and oracle of Apollo at Delphi: riddling but always right in the end. Consulted by Acrisius, Aegeus, Creon, Heracles, Laius, Oedipus, Oenomaus, Perseus. Falsified by Ino and Pelias.

  SEMELE Daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. Sister of Agave, Autonoë and Ino. Mother (by Zeus) of Dionysus. Scion of a much-cursed house. Slain (explosively) by Zeus. Restored to life by Dionysus and brought to live with her daughter-in-law Ariadne on Olympus.

  SIDERO Second wife of Cretheus. Stepmother of Neleus and Pelias and of Aeson and Pheres. Killed by Neleus and Peleus for mistreating their mother Tyro.

  STHENEBOEA Also known as Anteia. Daughter of Iobates. Sister of Philonoë. Wife of Proetus. Seeks revenge on Bellerophon for rejecting her advances. Kills herself out of fear of exposure after plot fails.

  THEOPHANE Daughter of Bisaltes. Granddaughter of Gaia and Helios. Mother (by Poseidon) of the golden ram.

  TYRO Daughter of Salmoneus. Wife of her uncles Cretheus and Sisyphus. Mother of Neleus and Pelias (by Poseidon), and of Aeson and Pheres (by Cretheus).

  Acknowledgements

  I have first to thank Tim Carroll, the Artistic Director of the Shaw Festival Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. We first became friends in 2013 when he directed me in a production of Twelfth Night in London and New York. Aside from being a distinguished and acclaimed theatre director, Tim Carroll is a man who reads Homer in the original Greek for pleasure. He was naturally the first person I thought of as a collaborator when I hit upon the idea of presenting on stage Mythos, the book on Greek myths I had written in 2017. We met and talked and somehow out of our discussions came the notion of not one show, but three. The first would cover the same ground as Mythos (the primordial deities and Titans, the birth of the gods, the creation of mankind and some of the earlier myths in which gods and mortals mingle), the second would be dedicated to the Heroes (the book you have now in your hand, on your screen or in your ears) and the third would follow the story of the Trojan War and its aftermath.

  We presented the Mythos trilogy at the Shaw Theatre in Niagara-on-the-Lake in the early summer of 2018. The heroes who featured in the second show were Perseus, Heracles and Theseus. For this book I have added Bellerophon, Jason, Atalanta, Orpheus and Oedipus.

  I owe Tim a huge amount: his instinctive, intellig
ent and imaginative grasp of story-telling, chronology and point-of-view taught me a great deal about theatrical narrative. Much of what I learnt from him has found its way, one way or another, into the book. Naturally he cannot be held accountable for infelicities, but you may take it on trust that his benign influence has helped the book enormously and for that and for his friendship, wisdom, wit and breathtaking cacolalia, I thank him.

  Other thanks go to all at Michael Joseph, the imprint of Penguin Random House that publishes my books, and most especially Managing Director Louise Moore and editor Jillian Taylor. Without their warmth and passion, enthusiasm and encouragement, diligence and support this book could never have been come into being. Particularly deserving of thanks and acknowledgement is the brilliant and wise Kit Shepherd, copy-editor of this book and its predecessor. His knowledge and fearsome eye for narrative inconsistency have been of immeasurable value. If there are chronological, source or historical errors here, they exist because I have chosen to ignore or override his suggestions for the sake of my own wild preferences.

  A special word of thanks to Roy McMillan, the director, actor, producer and sound engineer who makes the recording of audiobooks so pleasurable. His deep knowledge, patience and surefire instincts are beyond price.

  Anthony Goff of David Higham Associates brings authors and publishers together in amity and mutual respect like no other literary agent and I always benefit from his wisdom and experience.

  Nothing can happen in my life without the wonderful work of Jo Crocker who knows me better than I know myself.

  And of course I owe all things always to my beloved husband and hero of heroes, Elliott.

  THE BEGINNING

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