AGAMEDES

[Greek heroic] The son of the Boeotian king Erginus. Together with his brother Trophonius he built the temple of Apollo at Delphi. The oracle told them to indulge themselves in all pleasures for six days and on the seventh their heart's desire would be granted. They did, and on the seventh were found dead in their beds. Thus the saying: 'Those whom the gods love die young'. According to another tradition, they built a treasure chamber for King Hyrieus of Boeotia. However, during the construction they made a secret entrance, accessible only to them, and robbed the chamber of its treasures. Noticing the thievery but unable to find out how, the king laid a snare. Agamedes got trapped and was unable to free himself, upon which Trophonius cut off his brother's head to make identification impossible.