Peleus
In
Greek mythology,
P"leús (
Greek: Πηλεύς) was the son of
Endeis and
Aeacus, King of
Aegina, and father of
Achilles.
Peleus and
Telamon, his brother, killed their half-brother,
Phocus and fled Aegina to escape punishment. In
Phthia, Peleus was purified by
Eurytion and married
Antigone, Eurytion's daughter. Peleus accidentally killed Eurytion during the hunt for the
Calydonian Boar and fled Phthia.
Peleus was purifed of the murder of Eurytion in
Iolcus by
Acastus. In
Iolcus, Peleus lost a wrestling match in the funeral games of
Pelias, Acastus' father, to
Atalanta.
Astydameia, Acastus' wife, fell in love with Peleus but he scorned her. Bitter, she sent a messenger to Antigone to tell her that Peleus was to marry Acastus' daughter; Antigone hanged herself.
Astydameia then told Acastus that Peleus had tried to rape her. Acastus took Peleus on a hunting trip and hid his sword, then abandoned him right before a group of
centaurs attacked.
Chiron, the wise centaur, returned Peleus' sword and Peleus managed to escape. He pillaged Iolcus and dismembered Astydameia, then marched his army between the pieces.
After Antigone's death, Peleus married the sea-nymph
Thetis and fathered Achilles by her. As a wedding present,
Poseidon gave Peleus two immortal horses:
Balius and Xanthus. Their wedding, however, was also the beginning of the quarrel that led to the
judgement of Paris.
In an early and less popular version of the story, Thetis anointed the boy in
ambrosia and put him on top of a fire to burn away the mortal parts of his body. She was interrupted by Peleus and she abandoned both father and son in a rage, leaving his heel vulnerable (a nearly identical story is told by
Plutarch, in his
On Isis and Osiris, of the goddess
Isis burning away the mortality of Prince Maneros of
Byblos, son of Queen
Astarte, and being likewise interrupted before completing the process). Peleus gave him to
Chiron, on Mt.
Pelion (which took its name from Peleus), to raise.
There are two versions of Peleus' fate:#The sons of Acastus exiled him from
Phthia and he died#He was reunited with Thetis and made immortal.
*
Apollodorus,
Bibliotheke I, ix, 16 and III, ix,2 and xii, 6- xiii,7;
Epitome vi, 13.
*
Apollonius Rhodius,
Argonautica IV,805- 879
*
Ovid,
Metamorphoses VIII, 299-381.
*
Homer,
Iliad XVIII, 78-87;
*
Euripides,
Andromache.
