- Argea
InGreek mythology , Argea or Argia (or Argeia) was a daughter of KingAdrastus ofArgos , and ofAmphithea , daughter ofPronax . She was married toPolynices , the exiled king of Thebes, and bore him three sons:Thersander ,Adrastus , and Timeas.Polynices, son of
Oedipus , was to ruleThebes with his brotherEteocles on alternating years. Eteocles ruled the first year. When the year was over for Eteocles, Polynices demanded the rule. Eteocles refused to yield it and so Polynices sought out the help from King Adrastus. Polynices begged an army from King Adrastus for recovering his father’s kingdom from his brother Eteocles. King Adrastus not only gave an army but set out himself with six other leaders, since Thebes had seven gates that protected the city. TheSeven Against Thebes set out to battle against the army of Thebes headed by Eteocles. Polynices and Eteocles killed each other in a fight among themselves in the pursuing battle.Argia set out with others to find her beloved husband among the many lying in the battlefield rotting, in spite of capital punishment by King
Creon forbidding such. She searched until she found him. Argia tried to revive him with kisses and tears, however all her efforts were in vain. She then had his bodycremated and placed the ashes in an urn. Her virtuous acts showed her genuine love she had for her husband.ee also
*
Apollodorus 3.6.1
*Phoenician Women
*Hyginus, who in his "Fabulae" (Latin) calls her Argia.
*Robert Graves in his popular "The Greek Myths" (106c) prefers the spelling Aegeia.
*Euripides in "The Phoenician Women" and "Suppliants", who mentions the wedding without giving her name.References
Primary sources
*Statius, "Thebais IV.187-213"
* [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae2.html Hyginus, Fabulae, 69. LXIX]
* [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HyginusFabulae2.html Hyginus, Fabulae, 70. LXX]
* [http://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus1.html#9 Apollodorus, Library 1.9.13]
* [http://www.theoi.com/Text/Apollodorus3.html#6 Apollodorus, Library, 3.6.1]econdary sources
* [http://www.theoi.com/Text/Pausanias2B.html Pausanias, Description of Greece, 2.20.5]
* [http://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodCatalogues.html Hesiod, Catalogue of Women, fragment 99a]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.