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Mythographia

    Source Verification: Peleus

    Every claim below is either what a named ancient source attests, in its own line or section, or a point where the sources themselves disagree.

    What the Sources Attest

    Who is Peleus in Greek mythology?

    Peleus was a son of Aeacus of Aegina and the father of Achilles. Exiled for the killing of his half-brother Phocus, he was purified by Eurytion at Phthia and later by Acastus at Iolcus. He hunted the Calydonian boar, sailed with the Argonauts, and survived a plot by Acastus on Mount Pelion. The gods then gave him the sea goddess Thetis as a wife. Apollodorus tells most of this. Homer adds the picture of Peleus grown old at home while Achilles fights at Troy.

    Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.13.1-3.13.7

    Why did Peleus and Telamon kill Phocus?

    Apollodorus says it was jealousy: Phocus, their half-brother by the Nereid Psamathe, excelled at athletics. The two brothers plotted against him and drew lots. Telamon killed Phocus with a quoit during a match, and Peleus helped hide the body in a wood. Ovid instead calls Peleus guilty of his brother's blood, and Apollonius blames both brothers. Pindar refuses to tell the story at all, saying silence is often wiser.

    Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.12.6

    How did Peleus win the hand of Thetis in Greek mythology?

    He wrestled her. In Apollodorus, Chiron advised Peleus to seize Thetis and hold her fast. She turned into fire, then water, then a beast, but he did not let go until she returned to her own shape. Ovid has Proteus give the advice and Thetis become a bird, a tree and a tigress. The match was arranged from above: Zeus and Poseidon gave her up after a prophecy that her son would outdo his father.

    Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.13.5

    What gifts did the gods give at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis?

    Apollodorus names two. Chiron gave Peleus an ash spear, and Poseidon gave him the immortal horses Balius and Xanthus. The Iliad says Chiron cut the spear on Pelion and that only Achilles could wield it. Achilles also says the gods gave Peleus a splendid suit of armour on his wedding day. Hector stripped that armour from Patroclus, which is why Thetis goes to Hephaestus for a new set.

    Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.13.5

    Why did Thetis abandon Peleus?

    Because he interrupted her attempt to make their son immortal. Apollodorus says Thetis secretly laid the baby in the fire at night to destroy the mortal part he inherited from his father. Peleus saw the child writhing in the flames and cried out. Thwarted, Thetis left her son and went to the Nereids. Apollonius tells the same story and adds that she left in anger and never came back to his house.

    Source: Apollodorus, Library 3.13.6

    What promise does Thetis make to Peleus in Euripides Andromache?

    At the end of the play, Thetis appears to Peleus as he mourns his grandson Neoptolemus. She tells him to bury the body at Delphi and wait in the cave of the Sepian rock. From there she will come with fifty Nereids to fetch him. She promises to free him from mortal ills and make him a god. He will live with her in the halls of Nereus and see Achilles on the island of Leuce.

    Source: Euripides, Andromache 1231-1272

    Where Accounts Differ

    • who killed Phocus
    • who prophesied about Thetis's son
    • who advised Peleus to seize Thetis
    • whether Thetis consented to the marriage
    • whether Apollo attended the wedding
    • the name of Acastus's wife
    • whether Peleus took Iolcus alone
    • whether Peleus died or became immortal
    • Who killed Phocus differs by source. Apollodorus (Library 3.12.6) has the lot fall to Telamon, with Peleus helping to hide the body. Apollonius (Argonautica 1.90-94) says the two brothers killed him together. Ovid (Metamorphoses 11.266-270) calls Peleus guilty of his brother's blood, and in his account Peleus believes Psamathe sent the wolf that savages his herds (11.352-409). Pindar (Nemean Odes 5.9-18) declines to tell the story.
    • The warning about Thetis's son comes from Themis in Pindar (Isthmian Ode 8.26-47), Apollodorus (Library 3.13.5) and Apollonius (Argonautica 4.790-809), from Prometheus in a variant Apollodorus records, and from Proteus in Ovid (Metamorphoses 11.221-265). Apollodorus also records that Thetis refused Zeus because Hera had raised her, and Hera claims in the Iliad (24.59-63) that she herself gave Thetis to Peleus. Pindar (Nemean Odes 5.22-37) instead makes the marriage Zeus's reward for Peleus's refusal of Acastus's wife.
    • Who advised the capture also varies: Chiron in Apollodorus (Library 3.13.5), Proteus in Ovid (Metamorphoses 11.221-265). Pindar says Chiron arranged the marriage (Nemean Odes 3.55-58) and that Peleus overcame fire and lions to win her (Nemean Odes 4.54-68).
    • Thetis's consent is contested. In the Iliad (18.429-434) she says she endured a mortal's bed against her will. Catullus (64.19-30) says she did not scorn to marry a mortal.
    • Apollo's place at the wedding differs. Hera in the Iliad (24.59-63) says Apollo sat at the feast with his lyre, and Pindar (Nemean Odes 5.22-37) has him lead the Muses' song on Pelion. Catullus (64.278-302) says Apollo and his sister stayed away.
    • Acastus's wife is Astydamia in Apollodorus (Library 3.13.3) and Hippolyte in Pindar (Nemean Odes 4.54-68, 5.22-37). Pindar arms Acastus with the sword of Daedalus for an ambush, where Apollodorus has him hide Peleus's own sword in dung.
    • Apollodorus (Library 3.13.7) has Peleus sack Iolcus with Jason and the Dioscuri. Pindar (Nemean Odes 3.32-36) says he took it alone, without an army.
    • The order of events differs in Ovid, who sends Peleus to be purified by Acastus only after his marriage and his stay with Ceyx at Trachis (Metamorphoses 11.352-409). In Apollodorus the purification at Iolcus comes before the marriage.
    • Peleus's end is disputed. Euripides (Andromache 1231-1272) has Thetis promise to make him immortal and take him to the halls of Nereus. Apollodorus (Epitome 6.13) says he was expelled from Phthia by the sons of Acastus and died.
    • Apollonius of Rhodes is cited from the site's local copy of R. C. Seaton's translation, which carries no line numbers. The book-and-line references were checked against the Greek text on Perseus (Scaife).

    Sources

    Primary sources
    • Apollodorus, Library 1.8.2
    • Apollodorus, Library 1.9.16
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.12.6
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.13.1-3.13.7
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.13.5
    • Apollodorus, Library 3.13.6
    • Apollodorus, Epitome 6.13
    • Homer, Iliad 16.140-144
    • Homer, Iliad 18.84-87
    • Homer, Iliad 18.429-434
    • Homer, Iliad 24.59-63
    • Homer, Iliad 24.534-542
    • Pindar, Nemean Odes 3.32-36
    • Pindar, Nemean Odes 3.55-58
    • Pindar, Nemean Odes 4.54-68
    • Pindar, Nemean Odes 5.9-18
    • Pindar, Nemean Odes 5.22-37
    • Pindar, Isthmian Ode 8.26-47
    • Euripides, Andromache 545-610
    • Euripides, Andromache 1231-1272
    • Catullus, Carmina 64.19-30
    • Catullus, Carmina 64.278-302
    • Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 1.90-94
    • Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.790-809
    • Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 4.851-879
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.217-220
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.221-265
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.266-270
    • Ovid, Metamorphoses 11.352-409