Phoinix (1)Phoenix

A son of Amyntor and Kleobule (Cleobule); mentor of Akhilleus (Achilles).

Phoinix’s father was unfaithful to his wife, Kleobule, and she begged Phoinix to seduce the mistress and turn the young woman’s affections away from the aging Amyntor; when Amyntor detected the plot, he cursed Phoinix and drove him from Kalydon; Zeus and Persephone accomplished Amyntor’s curse and Phoinix was never allowed to have children of his own.

Phoinix considered killing his father but his hand was stayed by the intervention of his devoted kinsmen and cousins; they kept Phoinix under close watch for nine days and his anger transformed into resolution; on the tenth night he fled Kalydon.

Phoinix was given asylum by king Peleus of Phthia; he was treated as an honored guest and Peleus made him the king of Dolopia; he became the advisor and foster-father of Akhilleus (Achilles); during the Trojan War, Phoinix begged Akhilleus to put aside his anger towards Agamemnon and rejoin the fight with the Trojans; he reminded Akhilleus of the story of Meleagros (Meleager) and how one man’s pride had brought doom to his family and his homeland.

• Iliad, book 9, lines 425+