AMPHITRYON, in Greek mythology, son of Alcaeus, king of Tiryns. Having accidentally killed his uncle Electryon, king of Mycenae, he was driven out by another uncle, Sthenelus. He fled with Alcmene, Electryon's daughter, to Thebes, where he was cleansed from the guilt of blood by Creon, his maternal uncle, king of Thebes. Alcmene, who had been betrothed to Amphitryon by her father, refused to marry him until he had avenged the death of her brothers, all of whom except one had fallen in battle against the Taphians. Amphitryon accordingly took the field against the Taphians, accompanied by Creon, who had agreed to assist him on condition that he should slay the Teumessian fox which had been sent by Dionysus to ravage the country. The Taphians, however, remained invincible until Comaetho, the king's daughter, out of love for Amphitryon, cut off her father's golden hair, the possession of which rendered him immortal. Having defeated the enemy, Amphitryon put Comaetho to death and handed over the kingdom of the Taphians to Cephalus. On his return to Thebes he married Alcmene, who gave birth to twin sons, Iphicles being the son of Amphitryon, Hercules of Zeus, who had visited her during Amphitryon's absence.
The modern use of Amphitryon in the sense of a generous host is derived from Moliere's comedy on the subject, iii. 5.
See Apollodorus ii. 54-62 ; Herodotus v. 59 ; Pausanias viii. 14, ix. 10, II, 17; Hesiod, Shield, 1-56; Pindar, Pyth., ix. 81.