Peleus in Greek mythology

Peleus is not as well known a character in Greek mythology as, say, Heracles or Theseus, but he is of interest in that he provides a link between two of the major stories, namely those of the Golden Fleece and the Trojan War. However, it is important not to confuse Peleus with Pelias, who was the king who sent Jason off on his quest for the Golden Fleece.

Peleus is mentioned in several ancient sources of Greek myths, including writings by Homer, Hesiod, Apollodorus, Diodorus, Pausanias and Ovid, so it is not surprising that there are variations between the different accounts. There are also confusions caused by writers who, in attempting to tell a good story, and to link certain heroes to wider events, get things mixed up, thus making it impossible to give a biographical account of a particular character that is consistent with other stories. It is therefore only possible to relate a series of stories that are associated with a character, as these may be correctly ordered according to one writer but not another.

Peleus is mentioned as being the son of Aeacus and Endeis, Aeacus being the king of Aegina (a rocky island) and a son of Zeus. Peleus had a full brother named Telamon and a half-brother named Phocus. Out of jealousy at Phocus’s superiority at military games, the brothers murdered him and hid his body. However, they were found out and expelled from Aegina.

Peleus fled to Phthia in Thessaly where he was purified from his crime by King Eurytion and married his daughter Antigone, her dowry being a third of Eurytion’s kingdom.

One story relates that Peleus, being on his own during his exile from Aegina, prayed to Zeus for an army and Zeus changed a swarm of ants into men, these being known as Myrmidons. However, this story is also told about how Peleus’s father, Aeacus, had gained an army in his own youth, so there could be some confusion here.

An Argonaut, and the Calydonian Boar

If one is to make sense of the narrative timing, it must have been at this point in Peleus’s life that he was chosen by Jason as one of the fifty Argonauts to set off on the quest for the Golden Fleece. Given that the list included Heracles and Theseus (according to some accounts) it seems strange that Peleus and his brother should have been regarded as heroes by Jason, especially as they had committed a cowardly murder, been found out and exiled, apparently having no other claims to fame.

Be that as it may, Peleus set sail in the Argo and underwent many adventures as part of Jason’s quest. He is mentioned in the story of the death of Idmon, who was gored by a huge white-tusked boar, after which Peleus threw his spear at the boar.

However, it is possible that this story has become confused with that of Peleus’s later adventure as a member of the group of heroes who went on the quest to kill the Calydonian Boar. This was a monstrous animal that had been sent by Artemis to ravage the countryside of Calydon because King Oeneus had neglected to offer a sacrifice to her.

Meleager, the son of Oeneus, had been one of the Argonauts, and on his return he gathered together a group of warriors, including a number of fellow Argonauts, to hunt the boar. Peleus was one of them as was Eurytion of Phthia. During the fight with the boar, Eurytion was accidentally killed by a spear thrown by Peleus. One can see why the stories involving boars, spears, accidental deaths and Peleus might have become intermingled.

According to some accounts, Peleus was now the undisputed king of Phthia. However, it is also related that he was forced to flee from Phthia and sought refuge at Iolcus, where he was purified by King Acastus. However, Acastus’s wife, Astydamia, took a fancy to him and tried to seduce him. Peleus rejected her advances and, out of spite, Astydamia pretended to Acastus that Peleus had made advances to her. She told a similar story to Antigone, Peleus’s wife, who then hanged herself.

Acastus believed her story but was unwilling to have Peleus executed. Instead, he took him on a hunting trip to Mount Pelion, waited until he fell asleep with exhaustion, and abandoned him there, hiding his sword so that he would be defenceless against any wild beasts that might happen to pass.

When Peleus woke up and started to look for his sword, he was attacked by a group of centaurs, who lived on Mount Pelion, only being saved by the intervention of Chiron, who was not only the wisest and most civilised of the centaurs but also happened to be Peleus’s maternal grandfather.

Peleus and Thetis

The story now turns to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, who was a sea nymph and one of the many daughters of Nereus, also known as the Old Man of the Sea. She was exceptionally beautiful and desired by both Zeus and Poseidon. However, Zeus’s second wife, Themis, who laid down the rules on Mount Olympus and ensured good order, declared that Thetis would produce a son who would be greater than his father. This was the signal for Zeus and Poseidon to back off and seek a mortal suitor for Thetis, Peleus being their choice.

Thetis was not too pleased with the news that she was to be the wife of a mortal and did everything she could to escape Peleus’s advances. Being a sea nymph, this was quite a lot. She had the ability to shape-shift into just about anything she liked. The list given by the various accounts includes a tiger, a bird, a cuttlefish and a snake, as well as even less tangible manifestations such as wind, water and fire.

Peleus consulted Chiron who advised him that he should wait by the water’s edge and grab her as she emerged. She would eventually get tired of her changes and give in to him, which is indeed what happened.

The wedding of Peleus and Thetis took place on Mount Pelion and just about everybody was invited, including the full complement of major and minor gods. As this was to be a happy occasion, it was decided to leave Eris, the goddess of strife, off the guest list as she was bound to cause trouble. In the event this proved to be a big mistake, because she turned up anyway and was determined to live up to her billing. She threw into the middle of the feast a golden apple inscribed “For the Fairest”, and three of the goddesses present immediately laid claim to it.

Thus Hera, Athene and Aphrodite were able to set in train the events that would lead to the Judgement of Paris and the Trojan War. The moral of the story is clearly that one should be very careful about who gets invited to the wedding and who does not, although 10-year wars do not usually result from getting this wrong.

However, inviting such distinguished guests did have its advantages, because the wedding presents were definitely above average. They included two immortal horses, courtesy of Poseidon, a suit of armour, and a lance made by Chiron, polished by Athene and tipped with a blade made by Hephaestus.

Peleus and Thetis had a very famous son, Achilles, who did indeed achieve greater things than his father. There are various accounts of how Thetis tried to make her son immortal, one of them being that every night she burned away the mortal parts of the infant’s body and replaced them with ambrosia. She had already killed her previous six children by this method, but was convinced that she would get it right eventually. However, Peleus discovered her one night and forced her to stop. She then abandoned them both and went back to live in the sea.

Peleus sent Achilles to be educated by Chiron, and he was later to be recruited by Odysseus to fight in the war of which his parents’ wedding feast had been the initial cause, making good use of his father’s wedding presents. You might wonder whether a child of the marriage that started the Trojan War might be a tad young to fight in the same war, but this is Mythology after all!

Another story told of Peleus is that he returned to Iolcus and killed Astydamia. Another is that Psamathe, the mother of Peleus’s half-brother Phocus, sent a wolf to ravage Peleus’s flocks but was persuaded by Thetis to turn the wolf into stone.

Peleus is therefore one of the more “involved” characters in Greek mythology who plays relatively minor parts in the stories of a number of more important personalities. Keeping tabs on Peleus is almost as difficult as doing so on his slippery wife Thetis!

© John Welford