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(Πολύφημος/ Polýphēmos, Latin Polyphemus). [German version] [1] Lapith, Argonaut who fought agains the centaurs A Lapith (Lapithae) from Larisa in Thessaly, son of Elatus [2] and Hippea (the daughter of Anthippus), brother of Caeneus. P. fought against the centaurs (Hom. Il. 1,264) and was one of the Argonauts (Apoll. Rhod. 1,40-44). Having stayed behind in Mysia with Heracles [1] in search of Hylas, he founded Cius und fell in battle against the Chalybes (Apoll. Rhod. l.c. und 1,1240 ff.; Apollod. 1,113 und 117). In Euphorion he is the son of Poseidon and lover of Hyl…

[German version] (Φρονίμη; Phronímē). Daughter of Etearchus, the mythical king of Oaxus in Crete, and his first wife; mother of Battus [1], the mythical founder of Cyrene. Hdt. 4,154f. tells her story evidently according to a Cyrenian source: on the basis of a slander by his second wife, Etearchus hands his daughter over to the merchant Themison to be drowned. He does throw her into water in accordance with his promise, but pulls her out again. In Thera Polymnestus takes her as a concubine and fathers Battus with her. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) Bibliography W. Aly, Volksmärchen, Sage und Novel…

[German version] (Προῖτος/ Proîtos, Lat. Proetus). Mythical king of Argos (Hom. Il. 6,157; Pind. Nem. 10,77), or Tiryns (Apollod. 2,25; Schol. Eur. Or. 965), son of Tersander and father of Maera [1] (Pherecydes FGrH 3 F 170b), more commonly however son of Abas [1] and Aglaea (Schol. Eur. Or. 965; Paus. 2,16,2; Apollod. 2,24 f.). P.' conflict with his twin brother Acrisius originates as early as their time in the womb (Apollod. 2,24 f.) or after P. has seduced Acrisius' daughter Danae (Apollod. 2,34 f…

[German version] (Ποδαλείριος; Podaleírios). Son of Asclepius and Epione, brother of Machaon, and like him a heroic or divine physician (Hom. Il. 11,833; cf. ibid. 2,731). He is mentioned among the suitors of Helen [1]  (Apollod. 3,131). In the cyclic epics he heals Philoctetes (Apollod. epit. 4,8; cf. Soph. Phil. 1333), diagnoses the madness of Ajax [1] and is finally cast away in Caria, where he founds Syrnus (Apollod. epit. 6,2; 6,18; Paus. 3,26,10). Apart from that, like Asclepius's other child…

[German version] (Νυκτιμένη/ Nyktiménē). Daughter of Epopeus, the mythological king of Lesbos; after seducing her father (or being raped by her father) she is transformed into an owl by Athena (Ov. Met. 2,590ff.; Hyg. Fab. 204; 253). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)

[German version] (ᾨλεύς/ Ōileús). Mythological king of Locris [1], son of Hodoedocus and Agrianome or Laonome, the daughter of Perseon; also son of Apollo (Hyg. Fab. 161); son of Eriopis, father, by her, of 'Little' Ajax [2], also father of Medon (illegitimate, by Rhene). He was one of the Argonauts (Hom. Il. 2,726-728; 13,694-696, Apoll. Rhod. 1,74-76; Hes. Cat. 82). For the original form of the name (ιλεύς) and its meaning see [1]. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) Bibliography 1 W.A. Oldfather, s.v. O., RE 17, 2175-2187.

[German version] (Φλεγύας; Phlegýas). Eponym of the Phlegyans, a mythical people in Thessalia (Hom. Il. 13,302), also localized in Boeotia, Phocis or Epidaurus (Erythraean Paean [1. 372-374]). Son of Ares and Dotis, father of Ixion (Eur. TrGF fr. 424) and Coronis [1], mother of Asclepius (H. Hom. 16; Pind. Pyth. 3,8-11; Isyllos IG IV2 1, 128,37-56 = Paean 40 E Käppel [1. 382]). The Phlegyans were a people of brigands (H. Hom. 3,278), and P. himself set fire to the temple of Apollo in Delphi, thus becoming one of the penitents in the Underworld (…

[German version] (Ἴσυλλος; Ísyllos) from Epidaurus, son of Socrates. Around 300 BC, poet of a consecutive series of poems (in trochaic tetrametres, dactylic hexametres, ionics, elegiac distichs), extant as inscriptions, for the cult of  Asclepius of  Epidaurus (IG IV 12 128 = [1. 380-383]). In these, I. creates on the one hand a specific Epidaurian mythology of Asclepius, which relocates the roots of the god to the healing sanctuary that had been of increasing importance since the 5th cent. BC. The traditional myth, on the other hand…

[German version] (Μόλος/ Mólos). Mythical Cretan, son or brother of Deucalion, uncle or brother of Adomenes, father of Meriones (Hom. Il. 10,269; Apollod. 3,17; Diod. Sic. 5,79). There is a report about a Cretan festival in Plut. De def. or. 14, in which a headless doll called M. makes an appearance: this doll symbolises M.'s beheading as a punishment for ravishing a nymph. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) Bibliography Nilsson, Feste, 440, 468f.

[German version] (Φόβος/ Phóbos, Latin Pavor ). Personification of terror, esp. terror in war (cf. Aesch. Sept. 45); therefore, along with his brother Deimos, son of Ares and Aphrodite (Hes. Sc. 195f., 463f.). The brothers are found in Homer in connection with their father's chariot (Hom. Il. 4,440f.; 13,299f.; 15,119f.); they appear on the shield of Agamemnon together with Gorgo [1] (Hom. Il. 11,36f.), P. alone appears on the aegis of Athena (Hom. Il. 5,739) and of Heracles [1] (He…

[German version] (Νασάμων; Nasámōn). Son of Amphithemis (Garamas according to Apoll. Rhod. 4,1492) and the nymph Tritonis, great-grandson of Minos. N. was the progenitor and eponym of the Nasamones in Libya (schol. Apoll. Rhod. 4,1322). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)

[German version] (Ὄχιμος/ Ochimos). Mythological king of Rhodes, the oldest of the Heliadae. His brother Cercaphus married Cydippe [3], the daughter of O., although she was betrothed to another man, and the couple had to flee; following their return Cercaphus became O.'s successor (Hellanicus FGrH 140 F 37; Diod. Sic. 5,56f.). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)

[German version] (Οὐροβόρος; Ourobóros). Snake biting its own tail, frequently used as a symbol by ancient alchemists but also appearing frequently in Graeco-Egyptian magical papyri (PGM 7, col. 17; cf. PGM 1,145f.; 12,203f.; 12,274f.; 36,184). It represents the unity of all forces and processes in the cosmos. By investigating a single matter accurately one understands everything: the macrocosm is reflected in the microcosm. The formula that explains the symbol is evidently meant to express the pri…

[German version] (Τυφωεύς/ Typhōeús, Τυφῶν/ Typhôn; also Τυφάων/ Typháōn, Τυφώς/ Typhṓs). Gigantic mythical monster, according to Hesiod the offspring of Tartaros and Gaia, with a hundred dragons' heads (spitting fire) and serpents' feet (for pictorial representations, see [1]), set up by Gaia as a rival ruler to Zeus after the fall of the Titans but defeated by him and cast into the underworld. From then on, he causes storms and volcanic eruptions (Hes. Theog. 820-880). His union with Echidna produces more monster progeny: Orthus, Cerberus, Hydra [1], Chimaera and others ( ibid. 306-…

(Μενέσθιος; Menésthios). [German version] [1] Boeotian at Troy Son of Areithous and Philomedusa, from Ame in Boeotia, killed in Paris in the Trojan War (Hom. Il. 7,9; Tzetz. ad Hom. Il. 132). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] Myrmidonian, a general of Achilles Myrmidonian, one of Achilles's generals in the Trojan War, son of Polydora and the river god Spercheus or the giant Pelor (Hom. Il. 16,173; Str. 9,433; Apollod. 3,168 with various genealogical and matrimonial variations for Polydora). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)

[German version] (Τύννιχος; Týnnichos) from Chalcis (Euboea). Choral lyricist of the 7th cent. BC (?), composer of a paean often sung in Delphi (Plat. Ion 534d), which, according to an anecdote, even Aeschylus placed above everything he could have written himself (Porph. De abstinentia animalium 2,18 p. 148 Nauck). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) Bibliography L. Käppel, Paian, 1992, 359  I. Rutherford, Pindar's Paeans, 2001, 28.

(Πολυξώ/ Polyxṓ). [German version] [1] One of the Hyades One of the Hyades. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [2] Mother of Antiope Wife of Nycteus, mother of Antiope [1]. Käppel, Lutz (Kiel) [German version] [3] Wife of Tlepolemus Wife of Tlepolemus. After he fell in the Trojan War, she holds funeral games for him in Rhodes where she had fled with him from Argos. When her friend Helena [1] flees to her, she has her - as the guilty party in the war in which her husband died - hanged on a tree by female servants dressed as Erinyes…

[German version] (Νάννακος/ Nánnakos, according to Steph. Byz. Ἀννακός/ Annakós). Mythological king of Phrygia who supposedly lived to be over 300 years old. He predicted the flood of Deucalion and prayed with his people to be spared. Numerous proverbs relating to his great age and his tearful pleading are associated with him (Zenob. 6,10; Macarius Chrysocephalus 2,23; 8,4; Apostolius 15,100; cf. already Herondas 3,10). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)

[German version] (Τροφώνιος/ Trophṓnios, or Τρεφώνιος/ Trephṓnios). Hero of the Boeotian Lebadia, stepson or brother of Agamedes (Paus. 9,37,5; schol. Aristoph. Nub. 508). The following are mentioned as parents: Apollo and Epicaste (Paus. loc. cit.; schol. Aristoph. loc .cit.), Zeus and Iocaste (schol. Aristoph. loc. cit.), Valens/Ischys and Coronis [1] (Cic. Nat. D. 3,56), Erigonus (Hom. h. 3,296 f.; Paus. 9,37,4 f., etc.). Children: Alcander [1] and Hercyra. In the myth, T. and Agamedes are the famous builders of Delphi's first temple of Apollo  (Hom. h. 3,2…

[German version] (Μάκρις; Mákris). Daughter of Aristaeus [1], wet-nurse of Dionysus on Euboea. After she was banished by Hera she lived on Corcyra, which was named M. after her, in a grotto which was later the place where Iason and Medea got married (Apoll. Rhod. 4,540; 990; 1130ff.). Käppel, Lutz (Kiel)