Phineus

From LSJ

ἄμεινον γὰρ ἑαυτῷ φυλάττειν τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τοῦ ἑτέρων ἀφαιρεῖσθαι → for it is better to guard one's own freedom than to deprive another of his

Source

English > Greek (Woodhouse)

Φινεύς, -έως, ὁ.

Latin > English (Lewis & Short)

Phīneus: ĕi and ĕos (Gr.
I acc. plur. Phineas, Mart. 9, 26, 10), m., = Φινεύς.
I King of Salmydessus, in Thrace. He possessed the gift of prophecy, but was struck with blindness for having deprived his sons of sight, upon a false accusation made against them by Idœa, their step-mother, Ov. M. 7, 3; Val. Fl. 4, 425; Hyg. Fab. 19; Serv. Verg. A. 3, 209; Ov. A. A. 1, 339; id. R. Am. 355.—
   2    Transf., a blind man, Mart. 9, 26, 10.—Hence,
   B Phīnēï-us and Phīnēus, a, um, adj., of or belonging to Phineus, Phinean: Phineïa domus, Verg. A. 3, 212: guttur, Ov. F. 6, 131: Phineum venenum, Petr. 136: aves, the Harpies, Sen. Thyest. 154.—
   2    Phīnī-des, ae, m., a male descendant of Phineus, Ov. Ib. 273.—
II Brother of Cepheus, who fought with Perseus about Andromeda, and was changed by him into a stone, Ov. M. 5, 8.

Latin > French (Gaffiot 2016)

Phīneūs,¹³ ĕī ou ĕos, m. (Φινεύς), Phinée
1 roi d’Arcadie ou de Thrace, que les dieux rendirent aveugle : Ov. M. 7, 3 || par ext. au pl.] des aveugles : Mart. 9, 25, 10
2 frère de Céphée, qui fut pétrifié par Persée : Ov. M. 5, 8 || -nēĭus et -nēus a, um, de Phinée : Virg. En. 3, 212 ; Ov. M. 5, 109.

Latin > German (Georges)

Phīneus, eī u. eos, m. (Φινεύς), I) König zu Salmydessos in Thrazien, mit der Gabe der Weissagung versehen. Weil er seine beiden Söhne auf die Verleumdung ihrer Stiefmutter Idäa hin blenden ließ, wurde er von den Göttern mit Blindheit gestraft und von den Harpyien geplagt, die, sooft er sich zum Essen setzte, herbeieilten, den größten Teil der Speisen raubten und den Tisch, sowie den Rest der Speisen mit ihrem Kote besudelten. Nachdem Ph. die Argonauten gastfreundlich aufgenommen hatte, ließ Jason durch Calaïs und Zethus jene Raubvögel verjagen, Ov. met. 7, 3 sqq. Ov. art. am. 1, 339 (Vok. Phineu). – Plur. Phinei appell., Leute wie Phineus = Blinde, Mart. 9, 25, 10 (wo griech. Akk. Plur. Phineas). – Dav.: A) Phīnēius u. Phīnēus, a, um, phinëisch, des Phineus, Phinëia domus, Verg.: Phinëiae dapes, Apul.: Phineā manu, Ov. – B) Phīnīdēs, ae, m. (Φινείδης), der Phinide (männliche Nachkomme des Phineus), Ov. Ib. 269. – II) Bruder des Cepheus, der als Freier der Andromeda mit Perseus in Streit geriet, Ov. met. 5, 8 sqq.

Wikipedia EN

In Greek mythology, Phineus (Ancient Greek: Φινεύς) was a king of Salmydessus in Thrace and seer who appears in accounts of the Argonauts' voyage. Some accounts make him a king in Paphlagonia or in Arcadia.

Several different versions of Phineus's parentage were presented in ancient texts. According to Apollonius of Rhodes, he was a son of Agenor, but the Bibliotheca says that other authors named his father as Poseidon (who is the father of Agenor). The Hesiodic Catalogue of Women, on the other hand, reported that Phineus was the son of Phoenix and Cassiopeia.

His first wife was Cleopatra, daughter of Boreas and Oreithyia, by whom he had a pair of sons, named Plexippus and Pandion, or Gerymbas and Aspondus, or Polydector (Polydectus) and Polydorus, or Parthenius and Crambis, or Oryithus (Oarthus) and Crambis. His second wife, Idaea, daughter of the Scythian king Dardanus (less commonly Dia, Eidothea, sister of Cadmus, or Eurytia), deceived him into blinding these sons, a fate Phineus himself would suffer.

By his second wife, or by a Scythian concubine, Phineus had two more sons, Mariandynus and Thynus. According to some sources, he also had two daughters, Eraseia and Harpyreia while another daughter Olizone was called the wife of Dardanus, who was the son of Zeus and Electra, and became the mother of Erichthonius.

Phineus's own blinding was variously attributed to the outrage against his sons, his giving Phrixus directions on his journey, or because he preferred long life to sight, or, as reported in the Argonautica (thus the best-known version), for revealing the future to mankind. For this reason he was also tormented by the Harpies, who stole or defiled whatever food he had at hand or, according to the Catalogue of Women, drove Phineus himself to the corners of the world. According to scholia on the Odyssey, when asked by Zeus if he preferred to die or lose sight as punishment for having his sons killed by their stepmother, Phineus chose the latter saying he would rather never see the sun, and consequently it was the scorned Helios who sent the Harpies against him. However the Harpies plagued him, deliverance from this curse motivated Phineus's involvement in the voyage of the Argo. Those accounts in which Phineus is stated to have blinded his sons, add that they had their sight restored to them by the sons of Boreas, or by Asclepius.

When the ship landed by his Thracian home, Phineus described his torment to the crew and told them that his brothers-in-law, the wing-footed Boreads, both Argonauts, were fated to deliver him from the Harpies. Zetes demurred, fearing the wrath of the gods should they deliver Phineus from divine punishment, but the old seer assured him that he and his brother Calais would face no retribution. A trap was set: Phineus sat down to a meal with the Boreads standing guard, and as soon as he touched his food the Harpies swept down, devoured the food and flew off. The Boreads gave chase, pursuing the Harpies as far as the "Floating Islands" before Iris stopped them lest they kill the Harpies against the will of the gods. She swore an oath by the Styx that the Harpies would no longer harass Phineus, and the Boreads then turned back to return to the Argonauts. It is for this reason, according to Apollonius, that the "Floating Islands" are now called the Strophades, the "Turning Islands". Phineus then revealed to the Argonauts the path their journey would take and informed them how to pass the Symplegades safely, thus partially filling the same role for Jason that Circe did for Odysseus in the Odyssey.

A now lost play about Phineus, Phineus, was written by Aeschylus and was the first play in the trilogy that included The Persians, produced in 472 B.C.

Translations

bg: Финей; br: Fineüs; ca: Fineu; cs: Fíneus; de: Phineus; el: Φινέας; en: Phineus; eo: Fineo; es: Fineo; eu: Fineo; fa: فینئوس; fi: Fineus; fr: Phinée; it: Fineo; ja: ピーネウス; la: Phineus; nl: Phineus; pl: Fineus; pt: Fineu; ru: Финей; sh: Finej; sk: Fineus; sr: Финеј; sv: Phineus; uk: Фіней