In Greek mythology, Opheltes (Ancient Greek: Ὀφέλτης), also called Archemorus (Αρχέμορος, Beginning of Doom), was a son of Lycurgus of Nemea. His mother is variously given as Eurydice, Nemea, or Amphithea. As an infant, he was killed by a serpent at Nemea. Funeral games were held in the boy's honor; according to some traditions these funeral games were the origin of the Nemean Games.
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Family
According to Euripides, Opheltes' parents were Lycurgus, the priest of Zeus at Nemea, and Euridice. However Hyginus' Latin text calls Opheltes' father "Lycus", rather than Lycurgus—probably an error—and here he is a king, rather than a priest. The Latin poet Statius, following Euripides, has Lycurgus and Euridice as the parents of Opheltes, however for Statius, Lycurgus is both the king of Nemea, and the priest of Zeus.
In agreement with Euripides, Apollodorus also says that Opheltes, "afterwards called Archemorus", was the son of Lycurgus (his father being Pheres, the son of Cretheus) and Eurydice, adding "or, as some say, Amphithea", but like Hyginus, Apollodorus has Lycugus as king of Nemea. Scholia to Pindar's Nemean Odes, say that in Aeschylus, Opheltes' mother is Nemea, presumably the eponymous nymph of Nemea.
Story
The infant Opheltes, killed by a serpent, is part of the story of the Seven against Thebes, and the origin of the Nemean Games. On their way to Thebes, the Seven, in need of water, stop at Nemea, where they encounter Hypsipyle, who is the nurse of Opheltes. While helping the Seven to get water, Hypsipyle sets Opheltes down, and he is killed by a serpent. The Seven kill the serpent, and the seer Amphiaraus, one of the Seven, renames the child Archemorus, meaning the "Beginning of Doom", interpreting the child's death as a harbinger of the Seven's own impending doom at Thebes. The Seven hold funeral games in the child's honor, which become the origin of the Nemean Games.