Megapenthes: The Two Characters That Bore the Name in Greek Mythology

MegapenthesIn ancient Greek mythology, there were two Megapenthes; a son of King Proetus of Argos and Tiryns and a son of Menelaus, the King of Mycenae. Each Megapenthes was a minor character thus there is little information about them.

However, one played a significant role in ending the life of Perseus, the hero who cut off Medusa’s head. Read on to find out who these characters were and how they contributed to ancient Greek mythology.

Megapenthes, Son of Menelaus

According to Greek mythology, Megapenthes was the son of King Menelaus of Mycenae the husband of Helen. Some versions of the myth say he was an illegitimate son because his mother was a slave known as Pieris or Teiris.

After the Trojan War, Helen died and it caused Menelaus much pain and suffering so much that when his slave Pieris bore him a son, he named the boy Megapenthes which meant “great sorrow“. However, other sources describe his mother as Helen of Troy.

According to the Greek traveler, Pausanias, though Megapenthes was next in line after his father’s death, the throne bypassed him to his brother Orestes. This was because he was born to a slave while Orestes had full royal blood running through his veins.

The Rhodians (people of Rhodes in Greece) version of the myth says that after Orestes had killed his mother to avenge the death of his father, the Furies (deities of vengeance) began pursuing him. Therefore, he wandered about and was unfit to rule Sparta.

Thus, Megapenthes and his brother Nicostratus took advantage and chased Helen out of Sparta who took refuge in Rhodes. He and Nicostratus then usurped the throne and he ruled as the elder of the two.

In Megapenthes Odyssey, he married Echemela the daughter of Alector in Book IV. He was also mentioned in Book XV of the Odyssey joining Menelaus and Helen to offer gifts to Telemachus, the son of Odysseus and Penelope.

The Family of Megapenthes of Sparta

As already mentioned, his father was Menelaus and his mother, according to most narrations, was Pieris the slave. Megapenthes married Echemela and the couple gave birth to Argeus who became king of Argos.

Other sources narrate that he had a son named Anaxagoras while others claim that Anaxagoras was his grandson via his son Argeus. Megapenthes also had a daughter named Iphianeira, the wife of Melampus, the healer from Pylos.

Megapenthes the Son of King Proetus

Megapenthes the son of king proetusThis Megapenthes was born to Proetus and his wife Aglaea of the Kingdom of Argos. Megapenthes father, Proetus, had a twin brother Acrisius with whom he fought over the kingdom.

Due to this, the twin brothers divided the kingdom with Proetus taking Tiryns and Acrisius taking Argos. Later, Proetus gave birth to three daughters with Princess Stheneboea of Lycia – half-sisters of Megapenthes.

Acrisius, on the other hand, struggled to have a son and consulted the Oracle at Delphi who informed him that he would be killed by his own grandson born of his daughter Danae. To prevent the ill-fated prophecy from being fulfilled, Acrisius built a prison with the top open near his palace and kept Danae there.

However, Zeus had an affair with Danae which yielded a son, Perseus but Acrisius found out and threw both mother and son into the sea in a casket. They both survived with the help of Poseidon, the sea god and a fisherman who took care of them.

How Megapenthes Became King of Argos

Megapenthes later became King of Argos and this is how it was chronicled. Perseus fulfilled the prophecy by killing his father, Acrisius, albeit accidentally when he threw a discuss at his head at funeral games.

Perseus was given the throne of Argos after Acrisius’ death but he felt guilty for accidentally killing his grandfather thus he refused the throne. Instead, he opted to exchange his kingdom with Megapenthes who had succeeded his father Proetus at Tiryns.

That was how Megapenthes inherited the Argive kingdom with Perseus getting Tiryns. Other versions of the myth state that Perseus returned from killing Medusa to find that his uncle, Proetus, had driven his father out of Argos.

Enraged, Perseus pursued Proetus until he found him and killed him and later returned the kingdom to his father. In another version by the Roman poet, Ovid, while Proetus was driving Acrisius out of Argos, he saw the Perseus holding the head of Medusa which quickly turned into stone.

When Megapenthes heard that Perseus had murdered his father, he searched for him and killed him to avenge the death of his father.

Megapenthes Pronunciation

The name is pronounced Mi-ga-pen-tis and as already mentioned it means great sorrow.

Conclusion

Myth of megapenthesSo far we’ve looked at the two characters bearing the name Megapenthes and their mythologies.

Here is a summary of all that we’ve discovered:

  • Megapenthes of Argos was born to King Proetus who was vying over the kingdom with his twin brother Acrisius ending with Proetus taking Tiryns and Acrisius taking Argos.
  • Later, Acrisius was accidentally killed by his own grandson, Perseus, and feeling the weight of shame, Perseus did not want to succeed his grandfather but handed the kingdom to Megapenthes.
  • Other versions say Perseus came back from killing Medusa and discovered that his uncle Proteus had taken over the throne therefore he killed Proetus and was later killed by Proetus’ son Megapenthes.
  • Megapenthes of Sparta was the son of Menelaus and a slave according to most legends but other sources indicate that he was the son of Menelaus and Helen.
  • He was bypassed and the throne was given to Orestes but after Orestes murdered his mother and roamed about, Megapenthes drove Helen out of Sparta and usurped the throne.

Both characters had interesting roles in Greek mythologies and contributed immensely to some of the major myths. For example, the myth of Megapenthes of Argos tells us how Perseus died while some versions of Megapenthes of Sparta tell us what happened to Helen of Troy after the Trojan War.

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