Search

[German version] (Γραικός; Graikós). According to Hes. fr. 5, 3 M.-W., the son of Zeus and Pandora (or the brother of Latinus, though according to Theog. 1013 the latter's mother is Circe) and the eponymous hero of the Greeks before they acquired the name Hellenes from  Hellen. The name suggests an Illyrian origin [1]. Vi…

[German version] (Κιναίθων; Kinaíthōn). Epic poet from Sparta, thought to have lived in the 7th or 6th cent. BC. Nothing of his works survives in the original, but testimonia indicate that their basic characteristic was the representation of genealogies. A reference in the …

…

[German version] (Γανυμήδα; Ganymḗda). Female deity in Phleius, patroness of prisoners, later equated with  Hebe because of the linguistic similarity to  Ganymede, the cup-bearer of the gods. The only source is Paus. 2,13,3f.…

[German version] (Μηκιστεύς; Mēkisteús). Son of the mythical king Talaus of Argos, brother of Adrastus [1]. In the ‘Iliad he is only mentioned as the victor in boxing at Oedipus' funeral games (Hom. Il. 23,678-680; likewise in Paus. 1,28,7). A passage in Herodotus (Hdt. 5,67), according to which he was killed by Melanippus together with Tydeus, indicates that his name was among the ‘Seven against Thebes’. However, Aischyl. Sept. 488 names Hippomedon [1], another son of Talaus (as does Apollod.…

[German version] (Καινεύς; Kaineús, Lat. Caeneus). The name of a Lapith ruler, father of the Argonaut  Coro…

[German version] (Ἑκηβόλος; Hekēbólos). Epic epithet for  Apollo in his role as an archer (Hom. Il. 1,14 et passim), for  Artemis in early Greek texts only attested in the Nikandre inscription (SEG 19, 507 5); later with a considerably widened field of reference. In antiquity understood as ‘hitting far away into the distance’ (for ἑκάς and βάλλειν) (schol. T for Hom. Il. 1,14; cf. Aesch. Eum. 628: τόξοις ἑκηβόλοισιν), more probable is a derivation from ἑκών (roughly: ‘hitting at will’). Visser, Edzard (Basle) Bibliography Frisk, s.v. H. Chantraine, s.v. H.

[German version] (Ἴτωνος; Ítōnos). Father of  Boeotus (only in Diod. Sic. 4,67,7 his son); eponym of the town of  Iton, situated close to Coronea in Boeotia, with an important sanctuary of Athena Itonia [1]. The homonymous place and sanctuary in Thessaly (situated between Larisa and Pherae) is an important indication of the conquest and settlement of Boeotia, starting from the north, which allegedly began sixty years after the fall of Troy (Thuc. 1,12,3). I. is, however, mentioned as eponymous hero only in connection with Boeotian settlement. Visser, Edzard (Basle) Bibliography 1 Sch…

[German version] (Ἰλιονεύς; Ilioneús). Trojan warrior, son of a farmer by the name of Phorbas who was very wealthy due to his close connection to  Hermes; killed in battle by  Peneleus, the Minyaean prince (Hom. Il. 14,487-507). Virgil uses this name for the oldest leader of the Trojan refugees (A. 1,521 et passim). Visser, Edzard (Basle) Bibliography P. Wathelet, Dictionnaire des Troyens de l'Iliade, 1988, no. 161.

[German version] (Μάκαρ/ Mákar, Μακαρεύς/ Makareús; Latin Macareus). Mythical king of Lesbos who resettled this island after it was depopulated through the Deucalian flood ( Deucalion) and thus gave it the name of Macaria; Lesbos is already called ‘seat of Macar’ by Homer (Hom. Il. 24,544; H. Hom. 1,37). In the last-mentioned reference, the information ‘son of Aeolus’ is added; this patronymicon was probably a reflection of the Aeolian settlement of Lesbos. The most detailed depiction of M. is provided by Diod. Sic. 5,81f.: according to this, M. was a grandson of Zeus (already represented in this way in Hesiod) and originally lived in Achaean Olenus that was at that time still settled by Ionians; M.'s followers are therefore called Ionians. On Lesbos, M. enacts good laws and creates i…

…

(Κηφεύς; Kēpheús). [German version] [3] see  Constellations [German version] [1] Arcadian hero Arcadian local hero, son of  Aleus [1],…

[German version] (Κορωνός; Korōnós). Ruler of the  Lapithae, son of  Caeneus; C.'s son Leonteus, together with Polypoetes, led the contingent of the Lapiths before Troy. Homer mentions C.'s name in the catalogue of ships in order to give prominence the little-known Leonteus; in early mythology C. was probably associated with the  legend of the Argonauts, where Apoll.…

[German version] (Κάρμη; Kármē). By Zeus the mother of the Cretan local goddess Britomartis, who according to Paus. 2,30,3 and Diod. Sic. 5,76 is to be equated with  Dictynna. C. is the daughter of Eubulus and granddaughter of Carmanor [1], one of the close companions of Apollo, who atones him of the killing of …

[German version] (Κάνθος; Kánthos). Argonaut from Euboea, in Apollonius Rhodius the son of Canethus, the eponym of a Euboean mountain, and grandson of Abas [1c], the eponym of the whole island under its old name Abantis (1,77). In Valerius Flaccus, C. is the son of Abas. C. scarcely makes an appearance in the story of the Argonauts, on…

[German version] (Ἰάλμενος; Iálmenos). Son of  Ares and  Astyoche. Along with his twin brother  Ascalaphus [2], he led the Minyan contingent at Troy (Hom. Il. 2, 511), and is therefore also mentioned as a suitor of  Helen (Apollod. 3,130). After the capture of Troy, he makes his home in the Crimean region with Minyan settlers (Pherecydes, FGrH 3 F 143; Str. 9,2,42). Like his brother, I. was probably a figure of pre-Iliadic myth. Visser, Edzard (Basle) …

…

[German version] (Γουνεύς; Gouneús). Leader of the 28th contingent described in the Homeric catalogue of ships (Hom. Il. 2,748-755). His territory, clearly defined by the place names Kyphos and Dodona as well as the tribal names of the Aenianes and Peraebians, comprises approximately the centre of the Pindus Massif and links Thessaly with Epirus. In the epic Kyklos, G. then only reappears in the  Nostoi; here i…

[German version] (Γηρυονεύς; Gēryoneús; also Geryónēs, Geryṓn, Γηρυόνης, Γηρυών; Etruscan Cerun). Mythical giant with three heads and three bodies, residing on the island  Erytheia in the far west of the inhabited world (later generally identified with Gadeira/Cadiz: Hdt. 4,8, et al., in Ptolemy's Geographia 4,1,16, identified with Mauretania, euhemeristically relocated to Ambracia by Hecataeus FGrH 1 F 26), where he tends an especially splendid breed of red cattle. His father is Chrysaor, originated from Medusa, and his mother, an  Oceanid (Callirhoe). In the Greek myth, G.…

[German version] (Κεστρῖνος; Kestrînos). Eponym of the Greek region of  Cestrine, previously Cammania, in southern Thesprotia opposite the island of Cercyra (Steph. Byz. s.v. Καμμανία). C. is the son of  Helenus [1] and  Andromache; after the death of Helenus, Molossus, the son of Neoptolemus and Andromache, took power in Thesprotia, as a result of which C. emigrated to Cammania; as the new ruler he gave it its name (Paus. 1,11,1f.; 2,23,6). Visser, Edzard (Basle)