In Greek mythology, Phoenix (Ancient Greek: Φοῖνιξ Phoinix, gen. Φοίνικος Phoinikos) was the son of king Amyntor. Because of a dispute with his father, Phoenix fled to Phthia, where he became king of the Dolopians, and tutor of the young Achilles, whom he accompanied to the Trojan War. After Achilles had in anger withdrawn from the war, Phoenix tried to persuade Achilles to return.Brill's New Pauly, s.v. Phoenix 2; Tripp, s.v. Phoenix 2; Grimal, s.v. Phoenix 3; Oxford Classical Dictionary, s.v. Phoenix 1; Smith s.v. Phoenix 2; Parada, s.v. Phoenix 2.
Phoenix appears as a character in the Iliad, where Homer has him tell his story. He is also mentioned several times in the Epic Cycle. There were several lost 5th-century BC tragedies titled Phoenix, which presumably told his story, and he appeared as a character in several others. Mentions of Phoenix occur in Pindar, the Palatine Anthology, Lycophron, Ovid and Hyginus, and a brief account of his story is given by the mythographer Apollodorus. Phoenix also appears in many works of ancient art from as early as the 6th century BC.For discussions of the ancient sources which mention Phoenix, see Gantz, pp. 581, 582, 609, 613, 618, 640, 658, 688.
Mythology Phoenix was the son of Amyntor.Parada, s.v. Phoenix 2; Homer, Iliad 9.448; Apollodorus, 3.13.8. A dispute with his father, concerning his father's concubine, resulted in Phoenix fleeing his homeland for Phthia, where he became a vassal of Achilles' father Peleus, the king.Hard, p. 458; Tripp, p. 477. See Hyginus, Fabulae 257, which includes Peleus and Phoenix in a list of close friends. As told in the Iliad,Homer, Iliad 9.451–457. on the urgings of his jealous mother (variously named as Cleobule, Hippodameia, or Alcimede), Phoenix had had sex with his father's concubine.Gantz, p. 618; Grimal, s.v. Phoenix 3; Smith s.v. Phoenix 2. For Cleobule, see Tzetzes on Lycophron 421; Tzetzes, Allegories of the Iliad Prologomena 432, 524, pp. 33, 41. For Hippodamia, see the A scholia to Iliad 9.448 (cited by Gantz). For Alcimede see Palatine Anthology 3.3 (Paton, pp. 152–153). Amyntor, discovering this, called upon the Erinyes to curse Phoenix with childlessness. In later accounts of the story, Phoenix was falsely accused by Amyntor's concubine, and blinded by his father, but Chiron restored his sight.Apollodorus, 3.13.8, probably drawing on Euripides' Phoenix, see Gantz, p. 618; Frazer's note 3 to Apollodorus, 3.13.8. In either case, Phoenix fled to Phthia, where Peleus made Phoenix a king of the Dolopians, and gave him his young son Achilles to raise.Hard, p. 458; Homer, Iliad 9.479–491.
Phoenix participated in the Calydonian boar hunt,Tripp, p. 478; Parada, s.v. Phoenix 2; Smith, s.v. Phoenix 2; Hyginus, Fabulae 173; Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.307. and was said to have given Achilles's son the name Neoptolemus.Gantz, p. 581; Pausanias, 10.26.4 = Cypria fr. 19 West, pp. 98–99. As an old man, he went with Odysseus and Nestor to find and recruit Achilles for the Trojan War,Gantz, pp. 581–582; Tripp, p. 478; Scholia (D) Iliad 19.326 = Cypria fr. 19 West, pp. 96–99. Compare with Hyginus, Fabulae 96; Apollodorus, 3.13.8. and was Achilles's companion at Troy.Homer, Iliad, 9.165–169, 9.220–224, 9.427–622, 16.194, 17.555–561, 19.309–313, 23.359–361; Ovid, Heroides 3.27–29, 3.127–130; Apollodorus, 3.13.8. After Achilles, in his anger at Agamemnon, had withdrawn from the fighting, Phoenix was part of the unsuccessful embassy sent by Agamemnon to persuade Achilles to return to the battle.Hard, pp. 463–464; Gantz, p. 613; Homer, Iliad 9.165–169; Ovid, Heroides, 3.27–29, 3.127–130; Apollodorus, E.4.3. After Achilles died, Phoenix was one of those sent to fetch Neoptolemus from Scyros.Gantz, p. 640; Sophocles, Philoctetes 343–344, 557–567; Apollodorus, E.5.10–11; Philostratus the Younger, Imagines 394 K 6. Neoptolemus, with Phoenix and Odysseus, are depicted leaving Skyros on a 5th-century BC vase (Ferrara 44701), see Gantz, p. 640; Beazley Archive 206070; LIMC 6591. On his way home from Troy, Phoenix died and was buried by Neoptolemus.Tripp, p. 478; Grimal, p. 370; Apollodorus, E.6.12. His tomb was said to be either in Eion, Macedonia, or in Trachis, Thessaly, nearby the "Phoenix River" which was said to have been named after the hero.Smith, s.v. Phoenix 2 (citing Tzetzes on Lycophron 417 and Strabo ix p. 428); Strabo, 9.4.14 (tomb near Phoenix River).
Sources The Iliad
Phoenix plays an important role in Book 9 of the Iliad of Homer. Achilles, the Greeks' greatest warrior, has withdrawn from the war because of his great anger at his ill treatment by the Greek commander Agamemnon. Phoenix, who had been in charge of Achilles's upbringing, now an old man, has accompanied Achilles to the Trojan War. Phoenix is sent by Agamemnon to Achilles's tent, as part of an embassy with Ajax and Odysseus, to persuade Achilles to return to the battle.Hard, pp. 463–464; Gantz, p. 613; Homer, Iliad 9.165–169. Odysseus speaks first, presenting Agamemnon's offer of reconciliation,Homer, Iliad 9.225–306. an appeal which Achilles rejects utterly, saying that he will leave with his ships the next morning.Homer, Iliad 9.307–429. Next Phoenix—who as his tutor, as he reminds Achilles, has taught him "to be both a speaker of words and a doer of deeds"—begins himself a long speech covering 172 lines.Homer, Iliad 9.434–605. For a detailed discussion of Phoenix's speech, see Rosner, pp. 314–327. Several scholars have questioned the authenticity of this section of the Iliad see Rosner, p. 314; Scodel, p. 129 with n. 4. Phoenix, "bursting into tears",Homer, Iliad 9.432–433. pleads passionately with Achilles to put down his anger and return to the war. Phoenix's speech presents an "exposition of heroic, traditional ethics".Scodel, p. 129.
Phoenix begins his appeal, in personal terms, by reminding Achilles how he came to be a second father to Achilles.Hard, 464; Homer, Iliad 9.434–495. For a detailed discussion of the autobiographical part of Phoenix's speech see Rosner, pp. 315–318; Scodel, pp. 128–136. Rosner, p. 315, describes the theme of this section of the speech as one of "paternal love and duty". Scodel, p. 128 n. 3, notes that the scholarly consensus sees this part of Phoenix's speech "as serving to stress the emotional ties between Phoenix and Achilles". Phoenix's father was Amyntor, the son of Ormenus, and a king in Hellas.For the "hopeless confusion" in Homer's statements concerning the location of Amyntor's kingdom see Leaf's note to Iliad 9.447, p. 403. When Amyntor forsook his wife, Phoenix's mother, for a concubine, at the urging of his jealous mother, Phoenix had sex with Amyntor's concubine. To punish this crime Amyntor called upon the Erinyes to curse Phoenix with childlessness. Outraged Phoenix intended to kill Amyntor, but was finally dissuaded. Instead he decided to leave his father's kingdom. For nine days some of his friends and family kept watch over him to prevent his leaving, but finally on the tenth day he managed to escape, and fleeing through Hellas, Phoenix came to Phthia, where king Peleus, the father of Achilles, took in Phoenix, and treated him like a son. Peleus made Phoenix a king of the Dolopians. And Phoenix was given charge of the young Achilles, whom Phoenix reared as a son.Compare with Hyginus, Fabulae 257. Having reminded Achilles of all this, Phoenix asks Achilles to "master thy proud spirit; it beseemeth thee not to have a pitiless heart. Nay, even the very gods can bend".Homer, Iliad 9.496–497.
Phoenix next relates two stories meant to persuade Achilles to relent. The first story concerns the Litai ("Prayers"), daughters of Zeus, who follow along after Ate ("Sin").Rosner, pp. 318–322; Homer, Iliad 9.502–514. This story is meant to show Achilles the dangers inherent in refusing prayers of supplication. After telling the story, Phoenix again asks Achilles to "cast aside thine anger" and heed the supplication of his comrads in arms and return to the battle.Homer, Iliad 9.517. Phoenix reminds Achilles that heroes of old, in their wrath, might be won over by gifts and pleadings.Homer, Iliad 9.524–526. He then recounts the story of the hero Meleager, with its many parallels to Achilles's situation.Rosner, pp. 322–324; Swain, pp. 271–276; Homer, Iliad 9.529–599. Like Achilles, Meleager has withdrawn from battle in anger. Offering gifts, his friends and family beg Meleager to return to the battle, but he refuses them. But when his own household is threatened, finally heeding the pleas of his wife, he returns to the battle, but received no gifts and honors, for doing so. Finally Phoenix urges Achilles not to be like Meleager, but to accept the gifts and honors Agammenon has offered, before it is too late.Homer, Iliad 9.600–605.
But Achilles, responding to Phoenix, says he has no need of such gifts and has honor enough already. Further he admonishes Phoenix "not to confound my spirit by weeping and sorrowing," on Agamemnon's behalf. Nevertheless, Achilles invites Phoenix to stay the night "and at break of day we will take counsel whether to return to our own or to tarry here."Homer, Iliad 9.606–619.
Brief mentions of Phoenix also appear in Books 16, 17, 19, and 23.Gantz, p. 609. In Book 16 Phoenix leads a company of Myrmidons into battle.Homer, Iliad 16.194. In Book 17, Athena takes Phoenix's form, as she urges on Menelaus in the heat of battle.Homer, Iliad 17.555–561. In Book 19, Phoenix is among those comforting Achilles in his tent after the death of Patroclus.Homer, Iliad 19.309–313. In Book 23, Phoenix is an umpire in Patroclus's funeral games.Homer, Iliad 23.359–361.
Epic Cycle Besides the Iliad a few other mentions of Phoenix, from the epic tradition, are found in the Epic Cycle, a collection of epic poems about the Trojan War. According to scholia to Iliad 19, citing the Epic Cycle, prior to the Trojan War, Phoenix was sent with Odysseus and Nestor to seek out Achilles (who, as it turns out, is hiding on Skyros disguised as a girl) to recruit him for the war.Gantz, pp. 581–582; Scholia (D) Iliad 19.326 = Cypria fr. 19 West, pp. 96–99. Compare with Hyginus, Fabulae 96; Apollodorus, 3.13.8. According to the Cypria, (one of the poems in the Epic Cycle) Achilles's son Neoptolemus, originally named Pyrrhus, was given the name Neoptolemus ("young soldier") by Phoenix, because Achilles was a young man when he went to war.Gantz, p. 581; Pausanias, 10.26.4 = Cypria fr. 19 West, pp. 98–99. According to Proclus' summary of the Nostoi, Phoenix, while traveling home from the Trojan War with Neoptolemus, died and was buried by Neoptolemus.Gantz, p. 688; Proclus, Summary of the Nostoi = Returns argument 4 West pp. 156, 157.
Later sources The late sixth-century early fifth-century BC poet Pindar mentioned Phoenix, saying that he "held a throng of Dolopians, bold in the use of the sling and bringing aid to the missiles of the Danaans, tamers of horses."Strabo 9.5.5 = Pindar fr. 183 Race pp. 408, 409. Phoenix appeared as a character in tragedian Aeschylus' lost play Myrmidons (–480), which included an embassy scene, and presumably Phoenix's attempt to persuade Achilles to put aside his anger and return to the battlefield.Sommerstein, p. 134; Shapiro 1994, p. 19; Aeschylus fr. 132b Sommerstein, pp. 138, 139.