Editing Agamedes

{{short description|Ancient Greek mythological figure}}
In [[Greek mythology]], '''Agamedes''' {{IPAc-en|ˌ|æ|ɡ|ə|ˈ|m|iː|d|iː|z}} ({{langx|grc|Ἀγαμήδης}}, ''Agamēdēs'') was a son of [[Erginus]] (or, according to some traditions, the son of [[Stymphalus (son of Elatus)|Stymphalus]] and grandson of [[Arcas]]).<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Graeciae Descriptio'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:8.4.5 8.4.5], [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:8.5.3 8.5.3].</ref>

== Family ==
Agamedes was father of [[Cercyon]] by [[Epicaste]], who also brought to him a stepson, [[Trophonius]], who was by some believed to be a son of [[Apollo]].  According to others, Agamedes was a son of Apollo and [[Epicaste]], or of [[Zeus]] and [[Iocaste]], and father of Trophonius.  In the most common accounts, Trophonius was his brother.<ref name="DGRBM">Smith, [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DA%3Aentry+group%3D8%3Aentry%3Dagamedes-bio-1 s.v. Agamedes].</ref>

== Mythology ==
The two brothers are said to have distinguished themselves as architects, especially in building temples and palaces.  They built [[Apollo]]'s temple housing the oracle of [[Delphi]].<ref>Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:9.37.3 9.37.3]; [[Strabo]], ''[[Geographica]]'' 9, p. 421.</ref> A tradition mentioned by Pindar states that Agamedes and Trophonius, after having built this temple, prayed to the god to grant them in reward for their labor what was best for men. The oracle told the brothers that they would get their reward after seven days and should do whatsoever they wished for until then. They did and were found dead in their beds on the seventh night.<ref>[[Pindar]] according to [[Plutarch]] ''Consolation to Apollonius'' 14.</ref> Cicero mentions the same story, only shortening the number of days to three.<ref>[[Cicero]], ''[[Tusculanae Quaestiones]]'' 1.47</ref>  This may connect to the saying of [[Menander]] that “those whom the gods love die young.”<ref>Robert Graves, ''The Greek Myths,'' Volume 1, by Robert Graves, Penguin, Dec 1, 1990, 84b. [https://books.google.com/books?id=PuXnAe6STUYC&dq=%22those+whom+the+gods+love+die+young%22+%22trophonius%22&pg=PT450 Google Books link]</ref>

They also built a treasury of [[Hyrieus]], king of Hyria in [[Boeotia]]. The [[scholiast]] on [[Aristophanes]] gives a somewhat different account from Charax of Pergamum,<ref>[[Aristophanes]], ''Nubes'' 508</ref> and makes them build the treasury for King [[Augeas]].  The story about this treasury in [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]] bears a great resemblance to that which [[Herodotus]] relates of the treasury of the Egyptian king [[Rhampsinit]].<ref>[[Herodotus]], ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]'' 2.121</ref>  In the construction of the treasury of Hyrieus, Agamedes and Trophonius contrived to place one stone in such a manner that it could be taken away outside, and thus formed an entrance to the treasury, without anybody perceiving it. Agamedes and Trophonius constantly robbed the treasury; and the king, seeing that locks and seals were uninjured while his treasures were constantly decreasing, set traps to catch the thief. Agamedes was caught in one of these snares, and with profound grief, Trophonius cut off his head to keep Agamedes's identity secret.<ref name="DGRBM"/>

After this, Trophonius was immediately swallowed up by the earth and turned into an immortal subterranean god.  On this spot there was afterwards, in the grove of Lebadeia, the so-called cave of Agamedes, with a column by the side of it. Here also was the oracle of Trophonius, and those who consulted it first offered a ram to Agamedes and invoked the deified man.<ref>Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio'' [http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0525.tlg001.perseus-eng1:9.39.4 9.39.4].</ref>

The question as to whether the story about the Egyptian treasury is derived from Greece, or whether the Greek story was an importation from Egypt, has been answered by modern scholars in both ways; but Müller has rendered it very probable that the tradition took its rise among the [[Minyans]], was transferred from them to [[Augeas]], and was known in Greece long before the reign of [[Psammetichus I]], during which the intercourse between the two countries was opened.<ref name="DGRBM"/>

==In popular culture==
*In [[The Dark Prophecy]], Agamedes is shown to be an orange-colored ghost with the name of Agamethus. He lives in the Waystation and helps [[Apollo]] throughout the book. At the end of the book, he leaves Waystation to find his half-brother, [[Trophonius]].

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

== References ==
{{EB1911 poster|Agamedes}}

* [[Herodotus]], ''The Histories'' with an English translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge. Harvard University Press. 1920. {{ISBN|0-674-99133-8}}. [https://topostext.org/work/22 Online version at the Topos Text Project.] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0125 Greek text available at Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'' with an English Translation by W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., and H.A. Ormerod, M.A., in 4 Volumes. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1918. {{ISBN|0-674-99328-4}}. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0160 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library]
* Pausanias, ''Graeciae Descriptio.'' ''3 vols''. Leipzig, Teubner. 1903.  [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0159 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]], ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', London (1873). [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3atext%3a1999.04.0104 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library].
* [[Strabo]], ''The Geography of Strabo.'' Edition by H.L. Jones. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0198%3Abook%3D6%3Achapter%3D1%3Asection%3D1 Online version at the Perseus Digital Library.]
* Strabo, ''Geographica'' edited by A. Meineke. Leipzig: Teubner. 1877. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0197 Greek text available at the Perseus Digital Library.]

{{SmithDGRBM|title= Agamedes}}

[[Category:Children of Apollo]]
[[Category:Children of Zeus]]
[[Category:Minyans]]
[[Category:Arcadian mythology]]