Everything about Rhadamanthus totally explained
In
Greek myths,
Rhadamanthus (Ῥαδάμανθυς; also
transliterated as
Rhadamanthys or
Rhadamanthos) was a wise king, the son of
Zeus and
Europa. Later accounts even make him out to be one of judges of the dead. His brothers were
Minos and
Sarpedon. Minos was also a king and a judge of the dead. Rhadamanthus was raised by
Asterion. He had two sons,
Gortys and
Erythrus.
In Greek and Roman accounts
According to one account, Rhadamanthus ruled
Crete before Minos, and gave the island an excellent code of laws, which the
Spartans were believed to have copied.
Driven out of Crete by his brother, Minos, who was jealous of his popularity, he fled to
Boeotia, where he wedded
Alcmene.
Homer represents him as dwelling in the
Elysian Fields (
Odyssey, iv. 564), the paradise for the immortal sons of Zeus.
According to later legends (c. 400 BC), on account of his inflexible integrity he was made one of the judges of the dead in the lower world, together with
Aeacus and
Minos. He was supposed to judge the souls of
Asians,
Aeacus those of
Europeans, while Minos had the
casting vote (
Plato,
Gorgias, 524A).
Virgil (69 - 18 BC) makes Rhadamanthus one of the judges and punishers of the damned in the Underworld (
Tartarus) section of
The Aeneid.
Pindar says that he's the right-hand man of
Kronos (now ruling
Elysium) and was the sole judge of the dead.
In another version, Minos, Sarpedon and Rhadamanthus quarreled over a beautiful boy they were all in love with, by the name of
Miletus, son of Apollo and Areia. The youth however preferred Sarpedon, so Minos in revenge went to war and conquered the whole island. Sarpedon and his beloved escaped to Lycia, where Miletus founded the city that bore his name. Other mythographers claimed that the beloved youth's name was Atymnios, and that he was the son of Zeus and
Cassiopeia. (Apollodorus III.1.2)
Bernard Sergent claims that the story is a late invention in that the theme of competition for a beloved youth isn't in keeping with the Cretan pederastic tradition, and there's no record of this Miletus prior to the second century BC.
Other uses
- Rhadamanthus also lends its name to the English word 'Rhadamanthine
', an adjective describing any just but inflexible judgment. (The Aeneid, vi. 566)
- The Kuiper belt object 38083 Rhadamanthus is named after this figure.
- In Stephen King's Rose Madder, Rhadamanthus is the name of the white pony tied to the broken cart in Rosie's picture.
- In Diablo II, Radament (name obviously derived from the mythological figure) is a greater mummy that the player can slay to complete an optional quest.
- In the popular manga series Saint Seiya, Wyvern Rhadamanthys is the name of one of the generals of hades.
- In the Hyperion Cantos, Rhadamanth Nemes is sent after the main characters, encountering them on two occasions.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Rhadamanthus'.
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