"Rhadamanthys" redirects here. For the fictional character in
Saint Seiya, see
Wyvern Rhadamanthys.
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 Sarpedon and Minos (also a king and later 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 is the right-hand man of Cronus (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 is not in keeping with the Cretan pederastic tradition, and there is no record of this Miletus prior to the second century BC.[citation needed]
Other uses
- In Thomas Mann's novel The Magic Mountain, Rhadamanthys is the cynical nickname Mr. Settembrini uses for Doctor Behrens, head of the Davos Sanatorium, who decides who gets to leave and who has to remain hospitalized.
- 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 Wild Arms 2, one of the major antagonists of the game is named Vinsfield Rhadamanthus.
- 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.
- In John C. Wright's trilolgy The Golden Age, Rhadamanthus is the name of the artificial intelligence, called a Sophotech, that advises and serves the household of the protagonist, Phaethon, and his father, Helion, who in turn are named after the mythical Greek characters Phaëton and Helios.
- In Charlotte Bronte's Villette, John Graham Bretton refers to himself as Rhadamanthus in his response of justice to the behavior of Ginerva Fanshawe, a young girl with whom he had been infatuated.
- In the PC Game Diablo II, there is an undead boss called Radament, possibly influenced by Rhadamanthus.
- In the Playstation Game Persona 2, one of the first Personae available in the game is called Rhadamanthys.
- In Farmer Philip Jose's World of Tiers , Rhadamanthus is the ruler of Atlantis Tier.
