A/N: This is not The Tales of version of Percy Jackson and the Greek Gods or Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes, but rather The Tales of version of a book I got of Greek and Roman Mythology I got in Rome Italy. The settings will be after 'The Tales of the Heroes of Olympus: The Blood of Olympus' so please read that before getting in this story. Think of this story as something to pass by until The Trials of Apollo books.
Alcmaeon
First thing to know about Alcmaeon was that he was the son of Amphiaraus and elder brother. Amphiaraus was said to have the power of divination and knew he was meant to die in Thebes during the expedition before the one Adrastus took that I mentioned earlier, but it took a bit of encouragement from his wife Eriphyle. However he planned a head and charged his children to avenge him after his death. To achieve this Alcmaeon and Amphilochus were to undertake an expedition against Thebes and also kill their mother. Alcmaeon took part of it as a follower of Adrastus in his campaign of Epigoni, which were promised victory by the oracle if led by Alcmaeon.
The thing was, Alcmaeon showed no enthusiasm for leaving to fight against Thebes. But like his father, he was persuaded to do so by Eriphyle, who had been hired by the gift of the robe of Harmonia. In the fighting, Alcmaeon killed Laodamas, king of Thebes. The Thebans fled during the night on the advice of their soothsayer, Tiresias, and on the following day the victorious troops entered the town. They dedicated part of the booty to Apollo and put Thersandrus in charge of the town.
After the battle Alcmaeon went to the Delphic oracle to ask about the murder of his mother. The oracle replied that he must do this without fail, and Alcmaeon killed Eriphyle, either with the help of his brother Amphilochus or, more probably, by himself. After this the avenging Furies pursued him. In his distraction he went to his grandfather Oracles and then to the protection of Phegeus. The latter purified him, brought him back to health and gave him his daughter Arsinoe (or in other accounts Alphesiboea) in marriage. Alcmaeon gave her the necklace and the robe of Harmonia. But Phegeus' land was attacked by barrenness and the oracle directed that Alcmaeon must be purified again, this time by the river-god Acheloud. Yep, the same river god Hercules wrestled. Because if you remember one of the islands he created was from the body of a woman name Eriphyle-who turned out to be Alcmaeon's mom. Alcmaeon was welcomed by Oeneus at Calydon, then driven out by the Thesproti in Epirus. Eventually, he found at the mouth of the Achelous a piece of ground created after his mother's murder and there the river god purified him and gave him his daughter Callirhoe in mariage. But Callirhoe demanded the robe and necklace of Harmonia as a condition of their living together. In order to comply with her wishes Alcmaeon set off again to Phegeus and demanded that his first wife should return the presents, on the grounds that he had to dedicate them to Apollo to gain final pardon for the murder of his mother. Phegeus permitted his daughter to return the fights, but one of Alcmaeon's servants disclosed Alcmaeon's true purpose, In his dignation Phegeus ordered his sons Pronous and Aegenor (sometimes said to be Temenus and Axion to set a trap for Almaeon and kill him.
Alcmaeon's sons however, lost no time in avenging their fathe. One of which you might remmeber as Acarnan who was aged right to adulthood by Zeus. although some stories said it was by Alcmaeon's first wife herself.
There are some stories that said while Alcmaeon was being pursued by the Furies, he had two children, Amphilochus and Tisiphone, but Manto, the daughter of Tirestas. Subsequently he brought them both to Corinth and entrusted them to Creon to bring up. Tisiphone became so beautiful that the queen, fearing that the king might make her his wife, had her sold as a slave. The girl was brought by her true fother, Amazon, who did not recognize her. When Alcmaeon returned to Corinth Creon could give back only his son, but it was later realized that the slave that Alcmaeon had brought was Tisiphone and in this way Alcmaeon.
Whew, talk about mess up family. Well, next us is the mother of one of the greatest hero of all time Hercules (+cough+ formerly greatest )