Αιγιαλεια
The fourth daughter of Adrastus, she married Diomedes, king of Argos but shortly afterwards he left to fight against Thebes and then against Troy. Aegiale remained faithful to him for a long time but later had intrigues with various heroes of whom the last was Sthenelus' son, Cometes. One explanation sometimes given for her behaviour is that Aphrodite, who was wounded by Diomedes in the fighting before Troy, sought her revenge by implanting in Aegiale passions which she was unable to control: alternatively, Aegiale's changed attitude was attributed to the slanders of Nauplius, the father of Palamedes whom the Greeks had stoned to death. In revenge Nauplius went from town to town saying that the husbands were making preparations to bring back from Troy concubines who would take the places of the legitimate wives.
When Diomedes finally returned from Troy he had to extricate himself from the traps set for him by Aegiale and her lover, and escaped to Hesperia in the western Mediterranean.
{E2 DICTIONARY OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY}
Table of Sources:
- Hom. Il. 5, 412
- Apollod. Bibl. 1, 8, 6; 1, 9, 3; Epit. 6, 9
- Stat. Silv. 3, 5, 48