Introduction
Rhadamanthus is a son of Zeus and Europa, brother of Minos and Sarpedon, celebrated throughout Greek tradition for his exceptional wisdom and fairness, qualities that earned him, after death, a place as one of the three judges of the underworld.
Family
- Father: Zeus
- Mother: Europa
- Siblings: Persephone, Athena, Apollo, Artemis, Hermes, Dionysus, Ares, Hephaestus, Hebe, Eileithyia, Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, Urania, Perseus, Heracles, Arcas, Epaphus, Aeacus, Dardanus, Minos, Sarpedon, Pollux (Polydeuces), Helen, Amphion, Zethus
Life and reputation
Rhadamanthus was known as a wise lawgiver, sometimes credited with establishing legal codes in Crete or in the Aegean more widely, and his name became, in later Greek usage, virtually synonymous with strict, impartial justice, giving rise to the adjective "rhadamanthine".
Judge of the dead and Elysium
After death, Rhadamanthus joined Minos and Aeacus as one of the three judges who weigh the souls of the dead. In Homer's Odyssey and later tradition, he is also associated with ruling over or dwelling in the Elysian Fields, the blessed portion of the afterlife reserved for heroes and the virtuous.