Extract

Adrastus (1), described in the Iliad as former king of *Sicyon (2. 572), was worshipped there at least until the 6th cent. (Hdt. 5. 67). Best known as the leader of the first Argive expedition against *Thebes (1) (and possibly the second as well), he was the only one to survive, escaping on the semi-divine horse *Arion (1) (Il. 23. 346–7; Thebaid fr. 6 Davies). He had undertaken the expedition to restore one son-in-law, Polynices, to the throne, and was to have done the same for the other, *Tydeus of Calydon (Hutchinson, on Aesch. Sept.575).

The tradition which made Adrastus king at *Argos (1) may owe something to the interpolation of a patrilineal descendant into a matrilineal regal line (Finkelberg). His connections with cult sites other than Sicyon (Colonos Hippios, *Eleusis, *Megara) derive from the influence of the epic.