Necklace of Harmonia

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The Necklace of Harmonia was a fabled object in Greek mythology that, according to legend, brought great misfortune to all of its wearers or owners, who were primarily queens and princesses of the ill-fated House of Thebes. It could loosely be compared to the Hope Diamond of real life.

Contents 1 Background 2 Description and Magical Power 3 Those Who Wore or Possessed the Necklace 4 References

[edit] Background

When Hephaestus, blacksmith of the Olympian gods, discovered his wife, Aphrodite, goddess of love, having a sexual affair with Ares, the god of war, he became enraged and vowed to avenge himself of Aphrodite's infidelity by cursing any lineage of children resulting from the affair. Aphrodite bore a daughter, Harmonia, from Ares' seed. Harmonia grew up and was later betrothed to Cadmus of Thebes. Upon hearing of the royal engagement, Hephaestus presented Harmonia with an exquisite necklace and robe as a wedding gift. In some versions of the myth, only the necklace is given. In either case, the necklace was wrought by Hephaestus' own hand and was cursed to bring disaster to any who wore it.

[edit] Description and Magical Power

The magical necklace, referred to simply as the Necklace of Harmonia, allowed any woman wearing it to remain eternally young and beautiful. It thus became a much-coveted object amongst women of the House of Thebes in Greek myths. Although no solid description of the Necklace exists, it is usually described in ancient Greek passages as being of beautifully wrought gold, in the shape of two serpents whose open mouths formed a clasp, and inlaid with various jewels.

[edit] Those Who Wore or Possessed the Necklace

Harmonia and Cadmus were both later transformed into serpents (dragons in some versions of the myth). The extent of their suffering as a result of Harmonia wearing the Necklace is debatable because Cadmus and Harmonia are usually described as ascending to the paradise of the Elysian Fields after their transformation.

The Necklace then went to Harmonia's daughter Semele, who wore it the very day that Hera visited her and planted the seeds of doubt in Semele's mind as to whether Zeus was really the latter's husband. This resulted in Semele being burnt to death by her own misguided insistence at seeing Zeus display himself in all his glory as the lord of heaven.

Several generations later, Queen Jocasta wore the legendary Necklace which allowed her to retain her youth and beauty, and under such conditions she was able to marry her own son, Oedipus, upon the death of her husband King Laius. When the truth about Oedipus was discovered, Jocasta, unable to bear this discovery, committed suicide by hanging herself, and Oedipus tore out his own eyes with golden brooches (pins) from Jocasta's dress. The descendants and relations of Oedipus all suffered various personal tragedies, as described in Sophocles' "Three Theban Plays:" Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone.

Polynices then inherited the Necklace, who gave it to Eriphyle, so that she might use it to persuade her husband, Amphiaraus, to undertake the expedition against Thebes. This led to the death of Eriphyle, Alcmaeon, Phegeus, and the latter's sons. Through Alcmaeon, the son of Eriphyle, the Necklace then came into the hands of Arsinoë, then to the sons of Phegeus, Pronous and Agenor, and lastly to the sons of Alcmaeon, Amphoterus and Acarnan. Amphoterus and Acarnan then dedicated the Necklace to the Temple of Athena at Delphi, in an attempt to prevent further disaster amongst human wearers.

The tyrant Phayllus, one of the Phocian leaders in the Sacred War (352 B.C.), then stole it from the Temple and gave it to his mistress. After she had worn it for a time, her son was seized with madness and set fire to the house, and she perished in the flames along with all her worldly treasures.

No additional myths about the cursed Necklace of Harmonia exist after the story of Phayllus's mistress, so it is generally assumed that, after laying waste to generations of Harmonia's descendants, the dreaded Necklace was either destroyed in the fire or was otherwise removed from the human world by divine means.

[edit] References

Stewart, Michael. "People, Places & Things: Necklace of Harmonia", Greek Mythology: From the Iliad to the Fall of the Last Tyrant. <a href="http://messagenet.com/myths/ppt/Necklace_of_Harmonia_1.html">http://messagenet/myths/ppt/Necklace_of_Harmonia_1.html</a>

http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Harmonia.html

http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/Robe.html