Prophet King Phineus Revealed The Future To Humans And Unleashed God Zeus’ Fury

Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com – Going against gods’ wishes can be dangerous and King Phineus certainly made the Greek deities furious.

Having received the gift of prophecy, King Phineus used it to reveal gods’ plans and the future to humans. His behavior unleashed god Zeus’ fury and King Phineus was punished by becoming a blind and tortured man, but after some time a hero came to his rescue.

Who Was King Phineus?

In Greek mythology, King Phineus is an interesting character whom we learn more about in the tale of Jason and the Argonauts.

To the left and right, the winged Boreads rescuing Phineas from the Harpies. Credit: Leningrad Painter, Public Domain

King Phineus ruled over the northeastern region of Greece known as Thrace. It’s uncertain who his parents were. Ancient sources provide conflicting information about his parentage and three different fathers are commonly named. Apollonius of Rhodes who wrote the epic poem Argonautica, about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece, said Phineus was a son of Agenor, a Phoenician king of Tyre who lived around 2,000 B.C.

Other ancient authors state he was a child conceived by Poseidon, who was the god of sea, storms, earthquakes, and horses. A third possibility is that Phineus was the son of Phoenix and Cassiopeia.

King Phineus married twice and had several children, both daughters, and sons.

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