In Greek mythology, Eurypylus ("Broadgate")Stewart, p. 110. ('; ) was the son of Telephus, king of Mysia. He was a great warrior, who led a Mysian contingent that fought alongside the Trojans against the Greeks in the Trojan War. He killed Machaon, and was himself killed by Achilles' son Neoptolemus.Hard, p. 472; Gantz, pp. 640–641; Tripp, s.v. Eurypylus (2) p. 242; Grimal, s.v. Eurypylus (4) p. 159.
Mythology Eurypylus' father was Telephus,Parada, s.v. Eurypylus 6 p. 78; Homer, Odyssey 11.519–521. See also Little Iliad fr. 7 West (West, pp. 130, 131) = Pausanias 3.26.9; Proclus, Summary of the Little Iliad; Apollodorus, E.5.12. who was the son of Heracles, and was the king of Mysia in Asia Minor.For discussions of Telephus see: Hard, pp. 543–544; Gantz, 428–431. Telephus' mother was Auge, the daughter of Aleus, the king of Tegea, a city in Arcadia, in the Peloponnese of mainland Greece. Auge ended up at the court of the Mysian king Teuthras, as his wife, and Telephus became Teuthras' adopted son and succeeded Teuthras as king. According to one account, Telephus' wife was Laodice, the daughter of Priam, king of nearby Troy,Hyginus, Fabulae 101. while according to another, Telephus married Agriope a daughter of Teuthras.Diodorus Siculus, 4.33.12. However, accounts that mention Eurypylus' mother, say that she was Astyoche, who was (usually) Priam's sister.Acusilaus, fr. 40 Fowler = FGrH 2F40 = Scholia on Odyssey 11.520 (see Dowden, p. 58; Fowler 2013, p. 542; Gantz, p. 640; Fowler 2000, pp. 25–26); Sophocles' Eurypylus (see Lloyd-Jones, pp. 82–95), fr. 211.1–6 LLoyd-Jones has Astyoche call Priam her brother; Servius, On Virgil's Eclogues 6.72; Quintus Smyrnaeus, 6.136. Apollodorus, 3.12.3 has Astyoche as Priam's sister, but Apollodorus never names Eurypylus' mother, while Dictys Cretensis 2.5 (Frazer, p. 40) has Astyoche as Eurypylus' mother, but says that she was Priam's daughter.
In a prelude to the Trojan War, the Greeks attacked Mysia, mistaking it for Troy.Hard, pp. 446–447; Gantz, pp. 576–580. Eurypylus' father Telephus was wounded by Achilles and later, when his wound continued to fester, was also healed by Achilles. Because of this (according to some accounts), Telephus promised that neither he nor his family would aid the Trojans in the coming war.Fowler 2013, pp. 542–543, citing the scholia to Juvenal 6.655; Dowden, p. 58; Lloyd-Jones, p. 84. See also Gantz, p. 579, citing the A scholia on Iliad 1.59. Nevertheless, during the final stages of the war, between the death of Achilles, and the ruse of the Trojan Horse, Eurypylus led a large Mysian force to fight on the side of Troy.Apollodorus, E.5.12; Quintus Smyrnaeus, 6.120. Eurypylus was a great warrior, and killed many opponents, including Machaon,Little Iliad fr. 7 West (West, pp. 130, 131) = Pausanias 3.26.9; Hyginus, Fabulae 113; Quintus Smyrnaeus, 6.407–428. Compare with Apollodorus, E.5.1, which has Penthesilea kill Machaon. Nireus,Hyginus, Fabulae 113; Dictys Cretensis, 4.17 (Frazer p. 97); Quintus Smyrnaeus, 6.368–389. and Peneleus.Pausanias, 9.5.15; Dictys Cretensis, 4.17 (Frazer p. 97); Quintus Smyrnaeus, 7.104. But Neoptolemus finally killed Eurypylus,Homer, Odyssey 11.519–521; Archilochus, fr. 304; Hyginus, Fabulae 112; Strabo, 13.1.7; Apollodorus, E.5.12; Quintus Smyrnaeus, 8.195–216. using the same spear that his father Achilles had used to both wound and heal Eurypylus' father Telephus.Fowler 2013, p. 543; Gantz, p. 641; Sophocles, Eurypylus fr. 210.1–25 Lloyd-Jones (with Lloyd-Jones' note a). According to Proclus, Summary of the Little Iliad, Eurypylus received his father's spear from Odysseus upon his arrival at Troy.
Homer has Odysseus say that Eurypylus was, next to Memnon, the most beautiful (κάλλιστον) man he had ever seen.Gantz, p, 640; Homer, Odyssey 11.522. By some accounts Priam obtained Eurypylus' aid in the war by giving his mother Astyoche a golden vine, or by promising Eurypylus one of his daughters as wife.Hard, p. 472; Dowden, p. 58; Fowler 2013, p. 542; Gantz, p. 640; Acusilaus fr. 40 Fowler = FGrH 2F40 = Scholia on Odyssey 11.520; Scholia on Odyssey 11.521. According to Dictys Cretensis 4.14 (Frazer, p. 95), Priam "had enticed [Eurypylus] with many beautiful gifts, and had finally won his support by offering Cassandra in marriage." According to Servius, Eurypylus had a son, Grynus, who became king in Mysia and was known as the eponym of Gryneion and the founder of Pergamon.Dignas, p. 120; Grimal, s.v. Grynus, p. 176; Servius on Virgil's Eclogues 6.72.
Early sources
The earliest mention of Eurypylus occurs in Homer's Odyssey.Homer, Odyssey 11.519–521. In the underworld, Odysseus meets Achilles' ghost who asks Odysseus to tell him about his son Neoptolemus. Odysseus tells how, during the fighting at Troy, Achilles' son killed a great warrior, the magnificent and beautiful Eurypylus, son of Telephus. And that Eurypylus, and many others with him, had died because of "womanly gifts".Gantz, p. 640; Fowler 2013, p. 542; Dowden, p. 58.
Homer says nothing more about these "gifts".What these gifts were was a "puzzle" for the Strabo, 13.1.69. But, if Telephus's promise not to aid the Trojans was a tradition known to Homer, then Eurypylus' appearance at Troy might have required some explanation, to which the "gifts" might refer. Later commentators on Homer offered two explanations of these "gifts". A scholion to this Odyssey passage says that, according to the 6th century BC mythographer Acusilaus, Eurypylus' mother was Astyoche, and that Priam, the king of Troy, asked Eurypylus, who had inherited his father Telephus' kingdom of Mysia, for aid in Troy's war with the Greeks. But Eurypylus refused Priam's request because of his mother. So Priam gave Astyoche a golden vine, and she sent her son to Troy.Dowden, p. 58; Fowler 2013, p. 542; Hard, p. 472; Gantz, pp. 640–641; Acusilaus fr. 40 Fowler = FGrH 2F40 = Scholia on Odyssey 11.520. From other scholia on the same Odyssey passage, and a scholiast on Euripides, we learn that Astyoche was Priam's sister, and that the golden vine was a family heirloom, made by Hephaestus, and given by Zeus to an earlier king of Troy (either Tros or Laomedon) in compensation for Zeus' abduction of his son Ganymede.Hard, p. 472; Gantz, pp. 640–641; Scholia on Odyssey 11.521; Scholiast on Euripides, Trojan Women 822 = Little Iliad fr. 6 West (West, pp. 128, 129). According to the Euripides scholiast, the author of the Little Iliad said that a golden vine was made by Hephaestus for Zeus, and that Zeus gave it to Laomedon in compensation for Ganymede. These other Odyssey scholia also give an alternate explanation of Homer's "gifts", saying that Priam had offered to give Eurypylus one of his daughters to be his wife.Hard, p. 472; Gantz, p. 640. Compare with Dictys Cretensis 4.14 (Frazer, p. 95), which has Priam offer Eurypylus his daughter Cassandra.
Eurypylus's exploits at Troy apparently formed part of the Little Iliad (c. 7th century BC?), one of the poems of the Epic Cycle. According to the 2nd century AD geographer Pausanias, the Little Iliad told of Eurypylus killing Machaon.Pausanias, 3.26.9. Proculus, in his summary of the Little Iliad, says that Eurypylus came to the aid of the Trojans and was slain by Neoptolemus.Proclus, Summary of the Little Iliad. Eurypylus's confrontation with Neoptolemus was likely one of the poem's set-piece battles.Fowler 2013, p. 542. For other references to Eurypylus's inclusion in the Little Iliad, see also Aristotle, Poetics 1459b.1–6 and IG 14 1284.III (West, pp. 118, 119).
According to Plutarch, the duel between Eurypylus and Neoptolemus also featured in some work of Sophocles, and the play Eurypylus mentioned by Aristotle, was probably that work.LLoyd-Jones, pp. 82–83; Gantz, p. 641; Plutarch, On the Control of Anger 10, 458D; Aristotle, Poetics 1459b.6. The Sophoclean play had a messenger, reporting on Eurypylus's death to his mother Astyoche, tell of Priam lying upon Eurypylus's mangled corpse saying "Ah, my son, I betrayed you, though I had in you the last and greatest hope of salvation for the Phrygians. Though you were not our guest for long, you will leave the memory of many sorrows ... neither Memnon nor Sarpedon caused so many sorrows, though they were foremost among spearmen."Sophocles, Eurypylus fr. 210.75–81 LLoyd-Jones. The play also had Astyoche reproach herself and Priam, saying: "the lord of Ida, my brother Priam, who in all foolishness persuaded me, wretch, to do an accursed act."Sophocles, Eurypylus fr. 211.1–6 LLoyd-Jones. The irony of Achilles' son, killing Telephus' son, using the same spear that Achilles had used to heal Telephus, apparently also figured in the tragedy.Fowler 2013, p. 543; Gantz, p. 641; Sophocles, Eurypylus frs. 210.1–31 Lloyd-Jones (with Lloyd-Jones' note a), 211.10–13 Lloyd-Jones.
Late sources Dictys Cretensis Dictys Cretensis, in his 4th century AD retelling of the Trojan War, adds several details to Eurypylus' story. Priam, in addition to giving Eurypylus a golden staff, and many other beautiful gifts, finally won Eurypylus' support, by offering him his daughter Cassandra in marriage.Dictys Cretensis, 4.14 (Frazer, pp. 95–96). In the decisive battle Eurypylus was the leader of the combined Mysian and Trojan forces, and when he was finally killed by Neoptolemus, the Trojans, having placed all their hopes on Eurypylus, fled the battle and were routed.Dictys Cretensis, 4.17 (Frazer, pp. 97–98). Neoptolemus ordered Eurypylus's body removed from the battle and carried to the ships,Dictys Cretensis, 4.17 (Frazer, pp. 97–98). and after the battle the Greeks "cremated Eurypylus and sent his bones, in an urn, back to his father, for we remembered his father's kindness and friendship".Dictys Cretensis, 4.18 (Frazer, p. 98).
Quintus Smyrnaeus The most detailed account of Eurypylus' role in the Trojan War is given in Quintus Smyrnaeus's 4th century AD epic poem the Posthomerica, which told the story of the final stages of the War. The poem covered the events between Hector's funeral, and the fall of Troy. Eurypylus appears as a principal character, in books six through eight of the poem. In book nine, Eurypylus is buried, by the Trojans, at Troy, in front of the Dardanian Gate.Quintus Smyrnaeus, 9.41–45.
Book six Book six of the poem, describes Eurypylus coming to Troy, his first night there, and his victorious first day of battle. Eurypylus "the seed of mighty Hercules" arrives in Troy with a "great host",Quintus Smyrnaeus, 6.119–123. while:
Round them rejoicing thronged the sons of Troy: As when tame geese within a pen gaze up On him who casts them corn, and round his feet Throng hissing uncouth love, and his heart warms As he looks down on them; so thronged the sons Of Troy, as on fierce-heart Eurypylus They gazed;Quintus Smyrnaeus, 6.124–129.
As Eurypylus arms himself, nearly one hundred lines of the poem are devoted to an ekphrastic passage describing Eurypylus' shield, adorned with a depiction of the twelve labors of Hercules.Quintus Smyrnaeus, 6.198–293. Dressed for battle, Eurypylus "seemed the War-god",Quintus Smyrnaeus, 6.294. and seeing him Paris addressed him, saying: Glad am I for thy coming, for mine heart Trusts that the Argives all shall wretchedly Be with their ships destroyed; for such a man Mid Greeks or Trojans never have I seen. Now by the strength and fury of Hercules— To whom in stature, might, and goodlihead Most like thou art—I pray thee, have in mind Him, and resolve to match his deeds with thine.Quintus Smyrnaeus, 6.298–305.