Historiae Romanorum

Phineus

A seer and the blind king of a city in Thrace.

The most common version of his tale is that he was a great seer, who had revealed too much of the future to his fellow humans.  As punishment, Zeus caused him to go blind and sent the Harpies against him.  Every time food was brought to Phineus, the Harpies would soon befoul it, so that Phineus was slowly starving to death.

When the Argonauts visited him, they defeated the Harpies and freed him from his curse.  In fact, they would have killed the Harpies, had not Zeus sent down Iris with instructions not to do so.  In exchange for their kindness, Phineus gave the Argonauts advice on how to complete their voyage to Colchis.

Source(s):

1. Apollonius Rhodius.  Argonautica.

2. Apollodorus.  Bibliotece.

This page was last updated on July 21, 2004.