Toynbee "Flegiàs"
Phlegyas, son of Mars and Chryse was king of the Lapithae and lived near Orchomenus in Boeotia; he was the father of Ixion and Coronis; the latter having been violated by Apollo, by whom she became the mother of Aesculapius, Phlegyas in fury set fire to the temple of Apollo at Delphi, for which sacrilege he was slain by the god and condemned to eternal punishment in Tartarus, the most dread region of the lower world, the region reserved for those who had sinned against the gods.

D. places P. as ferryman on the Styx, where the Wrathful are punished, [Inf. viii. 19, 24]; galeoto, [Inf. viii. 17]; nocchier, [Inf. viii. 80] [Iracondi: Stige]; he conveys D. and Virgil across the marsh and lands them under the walls of the city of Dis, [Inf. viii. 10-81] [Dite]. D. and V., having arrived at the foot of a lofty tower on the edge of the marsh of Styx, notice that two beacons have been lighted at the top of it as a signal which is answered by another beacon in the far distance (Inf. viii. 1-6), D. asks V. the meaning of the signals, who draws his attention to a small boat rapidly approaching them across the slimy waters (Inf. viii. 7-16), seated alone in the boat at the helm is Phlegyas, who calls to D. and V., taking them to be damned souls (Inf. viii. 17-18); V. undeceives him, telling him that they are to be under his charge only so long as he is ferrying them across the marsh (Inf. viii. 19-21); they then enter the boat, and Phlegyas, fuming with rage at his disappointment, conveys them to the other side, and shows them the entrance into the city of Dis (Inf. viii. 22-81). (Cf. {Aen. vi. 618-620} and Statius, {Theb. i. 713-715}.

D. has transformed Phlegyas into a demon comparable to the guardians of the other infernal circles--into a symbol of wrath, blind rage, and desire for vengeance.

©Oxford University Press 1968. From A Dictionary of Proper Names and Notable Matters in the Works of Dante by Paget Toynbee (1968) by permission of Oxford University Press