Chryses



In Greek mythology, Chryses (English: /'krai si:z/; Greek: Χρύσης - Khrúsēs) was a priest of Apollo at Chryse, near the city of Troy.

According to a tradition mentioned by Eustathius of Thessalonica, Chryses and Briseus (father of Briseis) were brothers, sons of a man named Ardys (otherwise unknown).

During the Trojan War (prior to the actions described in Homer's Iliad), Agamemnon took his daughter Chryseis (Astynome)from Moesia as a war prize and when Chryses attempted to ransom her, refused to let her free. Chryses prayed to Apollo, and he, in order to avenge the cause of his priest, sent a plague sweeping through the Greek armies, and Agamemnon was forced to give Chryseis back in order to end it. The significance of Agamemnon's actions lies not in the fact that he kidnapped Chryseis (such abductions were commonplace in the Greek world) but in the fact that he refused to release her upon her father's request.

Chryses, with help from Orestes, was also responsible for the death of Thoas. He killed Thoas after finding out that the son of Chryseis, called "younger Chryses," was also the son of Agamemnon. After he killed Thoas, Chryses went to Mycenae with the statue of Diana still in perfect shape.